South China Morning Post

Beijing has announced that the United States and China will work toward a military crisis-communication agreement, according to reporting by the South China Morning Post. The announcement signals continued efforts by the two powers to keep open channels of communication between their armed forces amid ongoing tensions over Taiwan, trade and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Xi-Trump summit concluded without US export controls on semiconductors being a major talking point, according to the South China Morning Post. The omission is notable given that Washington's chip curbs on China have been one of the most contentious issues in bilateral trade and technology relations, and observers had expected the topic to feature prominently in the leaders' discussions.

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and US First Lady Melania Trump have opened a parallel channel in US-China diplomacy, according to a South China Morning Post report. The two first ladies' engagements and exchanges are being read as a soft-power complement to formal talks between their husbands, adding a personal dimension to an otherwise tense bilateral relationship.

Commentary is asking whether the most significant outcome of the recent Xi-Trump summit was not the widely reported trade truce, but an agreement or understanding on artificial intelligence. The South China Morning Post piece frames AI as a possible quiet breakthrough between the US and China alongside the headline trade deal. From the available post, the specific terms of any AI understanding and readers' reactions are not clear.

A South China Morning Post exclusive reports that the New Development Bank, the Brics bank headquartered in China and often called the Brics bank, is set to take on a leading role in a global alliance against hunger this year, according to Brazil. The report suggests Brazil has indicated the bank will head the hunger alliance effort within the Brics grouping. Beyond the single headline, there is little detail in the available posts about how the arrangement would work or what the bank's exact responsibilities would be, and broader public reaction is not visible.