Senior officials from the United States and China met in Beijing on Friday for what the State Department described as “substantive” and “candid” talks on maritime issues, including on the contested South China Sea. The talks were held in Beijing between Mark Lambert, the department’s China Coordinator and deputy assistant secretary for China and Taiwan, and China’s director-general for boundary and ocean affairs, Hong Liang. The department said the meeting was part of the Biden administration’s “ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication” with Beijing and “responsibly manage the U.S.-China relationship.” “The United States reiterated the need to resume military-military channels, including between operators, to avoid miscommunication and miscalculation,” it said in a statement on Friday....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/china/us-chinese-diplomats-hold-candid-discussion-on-maritime-issues-in-beijing-5522934
Leaders of Japan and the Philippines agreed Friday to begin talks on a possible reciprocal access pact, which would allow their troops to enter each other’s territory, amid concerns over China’s growing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was on a two-day visit to Manila, met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Nov. 3 for talks on bolstering their countries’ defense ties. The two leaders issued a joint statement (pdf) reaffirming the strategic partnership between their countries and their commitment to maintaining a free and open international order based on the rule of law.... 
A top CCP military official threatened to take Taiwan by military force at a recent forum in Beijing. The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan) responded to the threat by stating that Taiwan is not intimidated and prepared. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the CCP as a troublemaker that undermines peace in the Taiwan Strait and the region. Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission, said at the 10th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Oct. 30 that Taiwan is “the core of China’s core interests” and “the ‘one-China principle’ is the general consensus of the international community. No matter who wants to separate Taiwan from China in any form, The CCP military will never agree or show any mercy.”...
China’s most high-ranking officials paid their last respects to former Premier Li Keqiang amid swirling rumors of turmoil within the upper echelons of the leadership. Mr. Li died of a sudden heart attack on Oct. 26, after all rescue measures failed, according to an obituary published by the official news agency Xinhua. The sudden passing of Mr. Li came just seven months after he retired from the premier’s post, the country’s No. 2 position, triggering an outpouring of grief as well as skepticism of the official account of his death. Mr. Li’s funeral was attended by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, Xinhua reported. Other powerful members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) top decision-making body, also paid tributes at the funeral on Nov. 2....