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Trump-Xi meet likely in Shanghai or on the sidelines of Apec summit in South Korea: Report
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea, set for October 30 to November 1, offers a key opportunity for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump to meet, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing sources.
Trump might visit China beforehand or meet Xi on the sidelines of the Apec event in Gyeongju, where Xi plans to attend, though Trump's participation is unconfirmed, the Hong Kong based outlet reported.
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This month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met face-to-face, a step toward a potential leaders' summit.
Last month, Xi invited Trump and his wife to China, an invitation Trump reciprocated. Rubio noted a 'strong desire on both sides' for a presidents' meeting.
US-China relations have been rocky since Trump's January return to the White House, as the US leader issued threats of imposing 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods.
Both sides have since worked on stabilising ties, reaching a preliminary trade deal easing China's rare-earth export restrictions and US technology trade barriers.
Analysts suggest a pre-Apec meeting in China, possibly in Shanghai, is likely to differentiate from Trump's 2017 Beijing visit.
Diao Daming of Renmin University was quoted by SCMP as saying: 'Under favourable conditions and an appropriate atmosphere, any form of interaction between the two leaders will aid in the stabilisation and development of US-China relations.'
Bonnie Glaser of the German Marshall Fund noted that China sees a summit as stabilising.
'They maintain that a leaders' meeting could create greater stability in the relationship,' she said, adding it could allow Xi to push for eased technology restrictions and the US reaffirmation against Taiwan independence.
Beijing views Taiwan as its territory, to be reunited if necessary by force. The US, while not recognising Taiwan's independence, opposes forceful takeover and is obligated to arm Taiwan.
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Sun Chenghao of Tsinghua University said a summit could break deadlocks on issues like fentanyl and tariffs: 'If certain issues can be clarified directly through a summit between the two leaders, I believe we could see relatively swift breakthroughs in specific areas of US-China relations.'
Chen Qi of Tsinghua added: 'Both sides are indeed working to create a conducive atmosphere for a meeting.'
Cooperation on trade and export controls could foster positive interactions.
Observers note that Trump's greater eagerness gives Beijing leverage.
'It's up to China. Trump would be on a plane to Beijing tomorrow if he could,' said Jeremy Chan of Eurasia Group.
'China is very protocol driven and wants all agreements lined up well in advance while Trump would be happy to hash it all out over a Big Mac.'
However, Taiwan or hawkish US actions could derail plans. 'The summit will be well telegraphed in advance,' Chan said. 'But all it would take would be one slip up along the way to derail the whole thing.'
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28 minutes ago
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A failed Microsoft security patch is the latest win for Chinese hackers
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Last year, the Department of Homeland Security released a scathing report detailing Microsoft's mistakes during a 2023 hack in which China stole thousands of emails from top government officials. Two years before that, China-linked cyberattackers compromised more than 250,000 Microsoft Exchange servers. 'They are too big to keep failing like this," said Jeff Greene, a former top U.S. cybersecurity official who helped write last year's withering report on Microsoft's missteps. 'While I credit them for leaning into security after our report, they need to do better—and show publicly how they're doing better." In response to last year's report, Nadella promised to rededicate Microsoft to protecting its products and its customers from bad actors, something he called the Secure Future Initiative. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella onstage at a company conference in Seattle this year. 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Trend Micro said a technology company—which it declined to identify—was compromised in the attack that it observed. In the days after Microsoft's patches went out, security researchers examined them to learn more about how Dinh Khoa's hack had worked. On July 9, Microsoft learned it was possible to bypass its patches and began readying new fixes, the company said. Within a week, researchers were publicly claiming to have found the bypass, too. Last Friday, a security researcher publicly showed how this was possible. He said he discovered his technique with the help of Google's Gemini artificial intelligence technology. 'That post enabled a larger audience to do it as well," said Piet Kerkhofs, chief technology officer with cybersecurity company Eye Security. That same Friday, Eye researchers discovered an unauthorized script on a SharePoint server belonging to one of their customers. 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On Saturday, Microsoft took the unusual step of issuing two emergency patches, which contain 'more robust protections" to the bugs that Khoa had found, the company said. SharePoint customers should also change the cryptographic keys used by their servers, a move that—when combined with the new patches—effectively closes the back door created by the attack, Microsoft said. Some of the attacks have been on unpatched machines, Microsoft said. Johnson, the company's deputy chief information security officer, said she doesn't consider the July 8 patches a failure because they blocked the attack that was demonstrated at Pwn2Own, the Berlin hacking contest. On Wednesday, the Energy Department confirmed that it was a victim, but said that it had since restored its systems and it wasn't aware of any compromises of classified or sensitive information. 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