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ISLAMABAD — Russia said Tuesday that it is engaged in an “active dialogue” with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban and is working toward removing them from Moscow’s list of terrorist organizations.  "The fact is that this is our neighboring country. In one form or another, we maintain communication with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Russian news agency TASS.  “We have to resolve pressing issues, which also requires dialogue. In fact, we are in contact with them just like everyone else,” Peskov stated. “They are actually the ones who are in power in Afghanistan."  He did not elaborate, but his statement came just days after gunmen stormed a concert hall outside the Russian capital and killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in the country in two decades.  Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, with U.S. intelligence officials saying the terror group’s Afghan branch, IS-Khorasan, was behind it.  Russian President Vladimir Putin quickly tied the attack to Ukraine — claims the neighboring country and the United States strongly rejected.   "You have said yourself that the option is under consideration. Let’s wait until this process ends,” Peskov said when asked for his response to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Monday about possibly removing the Taliban from the terrorist blacklist. The Taliban condemned the Moscow attack as “a blatant violation of all human standards” and urged regional countries to take “a coordinated, clear and resolute position” against such incidents.  “Daesh, which has targeted civilians in Afghanistan and other regions of the world as well, again clearly demonstrated through this incident that it is a group in the hands of intelligence agencies aimed at defaming Islam and posing a threat to the entire region,” stated the Taliban Foreign Ministry, using a local acronym for IS-Khorasan.  The Taliban reclaimed power in 2021 after the U.S.-led foreign troops withdrew from Afghanistan, but they remain on a list of organizations Russia designates as terrorists.   No foreign country has formally recognized the government in Kabul, citing a lack of political inclusiveness and sweeping restrictions on Afghan women’s access to education and work.  Zamir Kabulov, the Russian special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, told TASS earlier this week that Moscow had invited a Taliban delegation to take part in an international economic forum, called "Russia - Islamic World: KazanForum,” in the city of Kazan from May 14 to 19.  Russia is among several regional and neighboring countries that have retained their diplomatic presence in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. The U.S. and Western countries at large have since moved their Afghan diplomatic missions to Qatar. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

DAKAR, SENEGAL — Bassirou Diomaye Faye was sworn in Tuesday in Diamniadio as Senegal’s fifth president, having defeated main rival and ruling party coalition candidate Amadou Ba and winning the delayed election with over 54% of the vote. Following the ceremony in Diamniadio, which is about an hour from the center of the capital, Dakar, Faye reassured the people who elected him that he’s ready to move Senegal forward, saying the election results showed a profound desire for systemic change. The Senegalese people have chosen to build a country that is just, he said, adding that he will work tirelessly to preserve the peace and national cohesion. At 44, Faye is the youngest man elected president in Senegal. Maimouna Dieye, who leads the women's wing of the opposition Pasteef party, has been working with Faye for the past 10 years. She said Faye might not have much experience in running a country, but he has a lot of experience in his field, including 15 years as a tax inspector. Dieye said she believes Faye will deliver on his proposed solutions to the everyday problems of ordinary Senegalese. Jean Charles Biagui, researcher and political science professor at the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, said it will be important for the new government to make some changes right away, primarily reducing the advantages associated with government officials’ lifestyles. That way, he said, the ordinary Senegalese can see that those who are running the country are serving the nation and not serving themselves. Biagui also said it’s time to think about what constitutes good governance. Governments of the past few decades have provided little to no assessments of what they have accomplished, he said, but the Senegalese people want their leaders to account for what they’ve done. Meanwhile, many of the new president’s supporters who witnessed the swearing in are hopeful the tensions of the last few months will fade away and be replaced by the hope that their country’s reputation as a beacon of democracy in West Africa is restored. The presidents of neighboring Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria, as well as high-level officials from other African nations, attended.

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As rocket fire from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group intensified in northern Israel, towns along the Israel-Lebanon border emptied, with no plan for its thousands of residents to return. From Metula, Israel, Pilar Cebrian reports on the ghost towns left behind. Narration by Veronica Villafane.

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Gabon’s National Dialogue, called to pave the way for a return to constitutional order and an end to the 55-year Bongo dynasty, began Tuesday in the central African state. Transitional President General Brice Oligui Nguema opened the dialogue, telling a crowd of several thousand civilians and soldiers that Gabon’s citizens are looking forward to what is billed as the country’s Inclusive Major National Dialogue.  During the ceremony at the Libreville Sports Complex, broadcast live on Gabon state TV, Nguema said he expects the head of the dialogue, Catholic Archbishop Jean-Patrick Iba-Ba, to come up with a roadmap that will determine the duration of the transitional government.   Nguema has ruled Gabon since the military ousted President Ali Ben Bongo in a bloodless coup last August. Before then, the Bongo family had ruled Gabon with a tight grip for more than 55 years.   Iba-Ba said the massive turnout of politicians, civil society members, youth leaders, traditional rulers, clergy and people living with disabilities indicates how much Gabon’s citizens want better living conditions and freedom to express themselves without fear of harassment.  Iba-Ba said the ongoing dialogue should heal the wounds inflicted on the people of Gabon by the central African states' former leaders who were more interested in power than the people they were called upon to lead.   He said the dialogue should not be like previous conferences, which gave Gabon's former leaders more powers and failed to solve the country's economic, social and political problems.  Iba-Ba said participants in the dialogue will examine some 50,000 suggestions on how to make Gabon a better place to live.   Officials say the dialogue will propose the political, economic, and social organization of the central African nation after the transition.   In an initial timeline published by the transitional government, General Nguema was to rule for 24 months, until the holding of elections in August 2025.  But Gabon's transitional government now says the dialogue will examine a draft constitution that would be approved by a referendum on a date chosen by Nguema. After that, the government would hold elections to transfer power to civilian rulers.  Opposition and civil society groups say the general invited about 100 senior military officers and about 250 people who were loyal to the ousted Bongo regime because he wants to extend his stay in power.   They say Nguema, while serving as commander of Gabon's presidential guard, collaborated with acting and former senior state functionaries.  Political analyst Romuald Assogho Obiang told Gabon's state TV that Nguema should have organized elections to hand power to civilians who would have the mandate of the people to decide if an inclusive national dialogue is a priority. Obiang, a member of Gabon's Civil Society, a coalition of concerned political groups in the central African state, said there are indications that Nguema wants to extend his mandate after the dialogue under the pretext of implementing resolutions of the major national dialogue attended by people loyal to the military ruler.  The dialogue may mean nothing if another leader takes power and has other preferences, Obiang added.  Nguema and his supporters say the dialogue will set the rules for future elections and will decide who can be a candidate in Gabon's presidential elections. Nguema said he will respect those resolutions.

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Amuda, Syria — Thirteen years after the start of Syria’s conflict, countless woes remain for millions of Syrians. For people in the Kurdish-majority northeast, one concern tops all else: whether neighboring Turkey will carry out another ground invasion that could put an end to their semiautonomous region, carved out in the wake of the civil war.  “People here have been accustomed to shortages of electricity and water, lack of basic services and bad infrastructure, but one thing that they will never like is a Turkish military operation in their region,” said Mahir Qerno, a senior editor at Arta FM, a local radio station that broadcasts in Kurdish, Arabic and Syrian.   Arta FM’s headquarters is in the town of Amuda, about 2 kilometers (just over 1 mile) from the Turkish border. Amuda is one of many Syrian border towns that have been under the control of U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.   The SDF has been a major U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, also known by its Arabic acronym, Daesh. The Kurdish-led military alliance is viewed by Turkey as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, an insurgent group that has been fighting for greater Kurdish rights in Turkey. Ankara and Washington regard the PKK as a terrorist organization, but the U.S. makes a clear distinction between the SDF and PKK.  In recent years, the Turkish military has carried out several campaigns in northern Syria, dislodging Kurdish forces from areas such as Afrin, Ras al-Ayn and Tel Abyad.  Turkish leaders have threatened to wage another ground invasion in northeast Syria.  “After those invasions in Afrin and Ras al-Ayn, people certainly don’t want to see Turkish tanks rolling from over there,” said Qerno, pointing toward the Turkish border as he stood in his office.   One glimmer of hope for Kurdish residents in northeast Syria is the presence of several hundred U.S. soldiers stationed at seven facilities across the region. The U.S. says it has about 900 troops in the area as part of a global coalition to defeat Islamic State terrorists.   The U.S.-Kurdish partnership in Syria has led to the physical defeat of IS’s so-called caliphate.  Kurdish officials say nearly a decade of close partnership has created trust between the Americans and Kurdish forces.   “This trust should not be squandered,” said Salih Muslim, co-chair of the Democratic Union Party, the de facto ruling party in northeast Syria.   “Unlike other U.S. deployments elsewhere, the U.S. military engagement in Syria has been cost-effective,” he told VOA. “With a minimal military presence, the U.S. has been able to achieve major successes here. That’s because our partnership is so unique in that our forces do the actual fight, while the Americans provide advice and assistance.”  Muslim said Americans have assured them that they will keep troops in Syria until a political settlement for the war-torn country has been reached.   The Kurdish leader also said that he recognizes the U.S. relationship with Turkey, a NATO ally. But he still believes that any Turkish invasion into northeast Syria could disrupt U.S. anti-terror efforts in the region, especially as IS militants in recent months have stepped up attacks against SDF forces.    “The Americans are concerned that if a ground Turkish operation against us starts, it will force us to withdraw our forces from elsewhere to fight the Turks,” Muslim said. “This means our southern flank will be exposed to Daesh attacks. And Americans don’t want to see that.”     U.S. officials have in the past expressed concerns about military escalations in northern Syria, particularly about the impact on civilian populations and the effect it could have on anti-IS efforts. Turkey has periodically carried out drone and air strikes against Kurdish forces in Syria. Turkish officials say such attacks aim to destroy the organizational infrastructure and sources of income for “terrorist organizations,” referring to Kurdish forces.   Nicholas Heras, senior director of strategy and innovation at the New Lines Institute, said the U.S. military presence in northeast Syria is sufficient to maintain often-threatened stability for the local population.   “But [it is] insufficient to provide the security conditions for sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction of that U.S.-backed region,” he told VOA.    Heras, who has extensively researched Syria, said the U.S. strategy in the country emphasizes keeping a low profile on the ground while having a high impact on the calculations of adversaries such as Russia and Iran, two staunch allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.    “This approach is useful for Washington because it keeps northeast Syria out of sight, and out of mind ... to the average American voter,” he said. “But it is a tenuous policy that creates enough ambiguity regarding American intentions that multiple actors such as Turkey, Russia and Iran are constantly testing U.S. resolve in northeast Syria, often to the detriment of local Syrian partners.”

Washington — Reported discrimination and attacks against Muslims and Palestinians reached a record high in the U.S. in 2023, driven by rising Islamophobia and bias as the Israel-Gaza war raged late in the year, data from an advocacy group showed on Tuesday. Complaints totaled 8,061 in 2023, a 56% rise from the year before and the highest since the Council on American-Islamic Relations began records nearly 30 years ago. About 3,600 of those incidents occurred from October to December, CAIR said. Human rights advocates have similarly reported a global rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism since the latest eruption of conflict in the Middle East. U.S. incidents have included the fatal October stabbing of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume in Illinois, the November shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in Vermont and the February stabbing of a Palestinian man in Texas. CAIR's report said 2023 saw a "resurgence of anti-Muslim hate" after the first ever recorded annual drop in complaints in 2022. In the first nine months of 2023, such incidents averaged around 500 a month before jumping to nearly 1,200 a month in the last quarter. "The primary force behind this wave of heightened Islamophobia was the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine in October 2023," the report said. The most numerous complaints in 2023 were in the categories of immigration and asylum, employment discrimination, hate crimes and education discrimination, CAIR said. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has killed over 32,000 people, according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly all its 2.3 million population, put Gaza on the brink of starvation and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies. CAIR said it compiled the numbers by reviewing public statements and videos as well as reports from public calls, emails and an online complaint system. It contacted people whose incidents were reported in the media.

Taipei, Taiwan — China launched a fresh round of diplomatic outreach to Southeast Asia this week, as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto Monday and foreign ministers from Laos, Vietnam and East Timor began to arrive in Beijing Tuesday. The diplomatic charm offensive comes amid territorial disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, and efforts by the U.S. and its allies to strengthen maritime cooperation in the region. In his meeting with Prabowo on Monday, Xi promised to “deepen all-round strategic cooperation with Indonesia,” including joint efforts on maritime affairs. Prabowo said he hoped Beijing and Jakarta could strengthen cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade, and poverty alleviation. During the three-day visit by as many foreign ministers, Beijing hopes to “further work with the three countries to follow through the guidance of the important common understandings between General Secretary and President Xi Jinping and leaders of the three Southeast Asian countries,” said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson. Next week, the U.S. will hold a high-profile summit with Japan and the Philippines. Leaders from the three countries are expected to discuss contentious regional security issues, including the territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila. Some analysts say the string of high-level visits to Beijing by Southeast Asian officials follows a “tried and tested” pattern of Chinese diplomatic behavior. “With Timor-Leste, China has spent a long time trying to cultivate relations,” said Ja Ian Chong, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore. “And with Vietnam, Beijing is eager not to see Hanoi and Manila draw closer together.” In the case of Indonesia, Chong said China hopes to encourage Prabowo to “take a position that is more amenable to its interest.” “Beijing realizes that there are some tensions [in the region] so it needs to get down to work,” he told VOA by phone. While Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, some experts say these countries are still keen to ensure these differences won’t overshadow their overall relationships with Beijing. China and Indonesia both “don’t want to dwell too much on territorial disputes in the South China Sea,” said Ngeow Chow-Bing, an associate professor in China studies at the University of Malaya. He said most Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries, except the Philippines, believe that if they clearly express their concerns about territorial disputes to Beijing and ensure their interests are not violated, they can still try to collaborate with China on other issues. “Most ASEAN countries and China are sticking to the normal conduct of relationships while searching for more opportunities to collaborate,” he told VOA. At the same time, some ASEAN countries are building closer relations with the United States and its allies. Since last year, Vietnam has elevated bilateral ties with the U.S., Japan, and Australia. In response, Beijing has said bloc confrontation goes against “the common aspiration of regional countries." Before his trip to China, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, where they talked about issues including the peace and stability of the South China Sea. Ngeow in Malaysia said many Southeast Asian countries are trying to play a balancing act between Beijing and democratic countries led by the U.S. “These countries all want to diversify their foreign relations but the expansion of relationships is not necessarily targeting China,” he told VOA. However, Chong in Singapore said whether countries can “seek opportunities from all sides” remains questionable. “The intention will be to maximize benefits but there is the risk that these bets may not materialize unless they coordinate with each other,” he told VOA. For its part, Beijing will focus on rolling out more projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — its flagship infrastructure project — that benefit relations with Southeast Asian nations and align with its interests. “China will focus a lot of the ‘small and beautiful projects’ from the BRI in Southeast Asia, especially in terms of digital infrastructure,” Chong told VOA. A new survey released by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute shows that when asked whether their country should align itself with the United States or China, 50.5% out of 1,994 respondents across 10 ASEAN countries chose China while 49.5% preferred the U.S. Still, territorial disputes with the Philippines and other nations are likely to persist, and some observers say China may try to “score some rhetorical points” on the issue during its meetings with foreign ministers from the three Southeast Asian countries. “China has done similar things in 2016, when it gathered representatives of Brunei, Cambodia, and Laos to issue an agreement, saying that territorial dispute in the South China Sea shouldn’t affect relations between China and ASEAN,” said Hunter Marston, an adjunct research fellow at La Trobe University in Australia. While it remains unclear how China may address the South China Sea disputes, Marston said initiating a diplomatic charm offensive “certainly helps.”

An aid convoy from the World Central Kitchen is attacked in Gaza leaving seven dead. The Iranian embassy in Damascus is attacked and a top military official is killed. Shelling continues in Kharkiv, and a new look at the U.S. and NATO as election season ramps up.

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States has urged Israel to promptly investigate an Israeli airstrike in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of seven humanitarian workers. Blinken reiterated the call for Israel to prioritize the protection of civilian lives.  "We've spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident. We've urged a swift, a thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened," Blinken said Tuesday during a press conference in Paris.  Humanitarian workers “have to be protected,” Blinken added. “We shouldn't have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk.”  Hours before Blinken's meeting with French Foreign Minister Stephane Séjourné, the charity organization World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, said that seven of its personnel were killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza. The organization declared an immediate halt to its operations in the region. Séjourné expressed strong condemnation of the airstrike during the joint press conference, saying the situation in Gaza "is disastrous and is worsening day after day. Nothing justifies such a tragedy.”  Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his government will establish a joint situation room with international groups to facilitate the coordination of aid distribution in Gaza alongside Israeli military operations.  On Monday, France introduced a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council aimed at exploring options for U.N. oversight of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and suggesting ways to help the Palestinian Authority in taking on responsibilities.  Last month, the United States abstained from a vote that permitted the council’s 15 members to demand an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends next week.  Ukraine  Blinken also renewed calls for the U.S. Congress to release military aid for Ukraine.  “We are at a critical moment where it is absolutely essential to get Ukrainians what they continue to need to defend themselves, particularly when it comes to munitions and air defenses,” Blinken said during a visit to a defense facility in Paris with French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.  Congress is yet to approve the Biden administration’s supplementary budget request that would provide aid to resupply Ukraine’s armed forces and help the country fend off Russian offensives.    Biden has called on the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives to approve the military and financial aid package. House Republicans have delayed action on it for months, prioritizing domestic issues.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Ukrainian forces will have to retreat “step by step, in small steps,” if Kyiv doesn’t receive the U.S. military aid.  French Foreign Minister Séjourné was in Beijing earlier this week. He said after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that France expects China to convey "clear messages" to its close partner Russia regarding Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.  France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years. Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning a visit to France in May.  During meetings in Paris in February, Wang told French President Emmanuel Macron that Beijing appreciated his country's "independent" stance. But Paris has also sought to press Beijing on its close ties with Moscow, which have only grown closer since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.  U.S. and French officials said they are working closely to effectively prevent the transfer of weapons and materials to Russia from North Korea and China, which could fuel Moscow’s defense industrial base.  The top U.S. diplomat is also set to express U.S. support for the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as he holds talks with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.    The United States and France have been among Ukraine’s top supporters in the two years since Russia launched the invasion of its neighbor.    The State Department said efforts to bring stability to Haiti would be another topic on the agenda for the meeting of U.S. and French officials.    Blinken will travel from Paris to Brussels for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers as the alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary.    While in Brussels, Blinken is also scheduled to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.    A three-way meeting of the United States, European Union and Armenia is set for Friday, with the State Department saying the session will focus on “U.S. and EU support for Armenia’s economic resilience as it works to diversify its trade partnerships and address humanitarian needs.”    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will lead their respective delegations.    Separate U.S.-EU trade and technology talks will close Blinken’s stop in Belgium.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Washington — President Joe Biden again warned Chinese President Xi Jinping against meddling in the November U.S. presidential election during the two leaders’ phone call Tuesday. The call is part of U.S. efforts to maintain “open lines of communication to responsibly manage competition and prevent unintended conflict,” the White House said. In various engagements, the U.S. has raised its “continual reinforcement of concern” against Chinese election interference, a senior administration official told reporters in a Monday briefing previewing the call.  Biden last raised the issue in his meeting with Xi in Woodside, California, last November. Beijing has repeatedly said it has no interest in meddling in U.S. internal affairs. “I don't think we ever really take the Chinese at their word when they say they will or will not do something,” the senior administration official said. “It is about verifying.” A declassified U.S. intelligence threat assessment released in February warned of Beijing’s “higher degree of sophistication in its influence activity,” including by using generative AI. The report warned of “growing efforts to actively exploit perceived U.S. societal divisions” online.  “Spamouflage, a persistent China-linked influence operation, has weaponized U.S. political, economic, and cultural wedge issues in its campaigns,” said Max Lesser, a senior analyst of Emerging Threats at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Spamouflage leverages specific issues to target Biden, Lesser told VOA. For example, a post sharing an article from Fox news covering a Pro-Palestinian protest was shared by a Spamouflage account with the added commentary “Biden's defeat is a foregone conclusion.” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said in a statement sent to VOA that China is “committed to the principle of non-interference” and that claims about Beijing influencing U.S. presidential elections are “completely fabricated.” The leaders also reviewed progress on key issues discussed at the Woodside Summit, including counter-narcotics cooperation to curb fentanyl trafficking and the recently re-established military-to-military communication, addressing AI-related risks, and efforts on climate change and people-to-people exchanges, the White House said in its readout of the call. US-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit The Biden-Xi call came as the White House prepares for a trilateral summit where Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. next week. The first-ever “minilateral” gathering is set to unveil a series of initiatives including increasing maritime cooperation to counter China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, overlapping claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.   Washington is concerned over the latest flare-up with China stepping up its use of water cannons against Philippine vessels to block a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal. Since 1999, Philippine soldiers have guarded a wrecked ship left on the shoal to maintain the country’s sovereignty claims over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.   The goal is to make clear to Xi that the U.S. “will not stand idly by if this gray zone coercion continues to escalate and potentially leads to the loss of lives of Filipino sailors,” Gregory Polling told VOA during a Center for Strategic and International Studies briefing Tuesday. Polling directs CSIS’ Southeast Asia Program and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. Grey zone tactics refer to activities and actions between peace and war that fall below the threshold of armed conflict. China’s firing of water cannons is an example of a grey zone action as it falls short of triggering the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. As Taiwan prepares to inaugurate its new president next month, Biden “emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said the White House. Beijing considers the self-governed island its wayward province, and cross-strait issues have been one of the sharpest sources of tension in U.S.-China rivalry. Chinese malicious cyber activity is another key concern. Last month, the U.S. sanctioned China-linked hackers for targeting U.S. critical infrastructure. Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, Limited or Wuhan XRZ is a front company for China’s Ministry of State Security that has “served as cover for multiple malicious cyber operations,” the administration said. The official highlighted continued diplomatic engagement including a visit to China by U.S. Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen in the coming days and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the coming weeks. The U.S. and China are also set to hold a dialogue on AI risk management in coming weeks. The leaders also discussed other regional and global issues, with Biden raising concerns over Bejing’s “support for Russia’s defense industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security,” the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and human rights protection in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Paris Huang contributed to this report.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.