China’s space agency has unveiled a unique detailed map illustrating the best view of the lunar surface ever seen by a Chinese spacecraft. The map is made up of high-resolution photos taken by China’s second lunar probe, Chang’e 2 orbiter, which have been stitched together into a complete view. “The Chang’e 2 lunar map is the highest-resolution view of the moon ever recorded,”... 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Despite Beijing’s outright refusal to join the EU and US-sponsored unilateral sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arranged a visit to China to convince the country to reduce Iranian oil import. A German government source told a news briefing on Tuesday that “It is in German interests that China does not raise its imports... 

A senior political analyst says Moscow and Beijing should not just sit by and watch the current anti-Iran threats and moves by the West as they are bound to be the next targets, Press TV reports. “People like Russia and China had better figure out that if they just sit there and let these things happen, eventually they’ll be next,” Webster Griffin Tarpley, author and historian, said in an... 

New Western sanctions seek to prevent other countries from importing Iran's crude oil. India has agreed to pay the price of crude oil it imports from Iran in gold, which makes it the first country to drop the US dollar for purchasing the Iranian oil. According to a report published by DEBKAfile news website, unnamed sources have stressed that China is also expected to follow suit. India and China... 

India's Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri The permanent representatives of China and India to the United Nations say the US-led sanctions on Iranian oil sector are neither logical nor economically viable. Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong said that US officials should reconsider their move on sanctioning Iran’s oil sector since these requests are irrational and contrary to other... 

Russia and China will be a headache for US President Barack Obama if he decides on a military confrontation with Iran. A political analyst says Russia and China consider a US military action on Iran as an attack on their own borders and a threat to their own national security. “The US is assuming that Russia or China will not respond militarily, but they’ve been wrong before,” Shamus Cooke... 

Chinese submarines on patrol in Pacific Ocean Speaking on the presence of US missile defense systems in the Pacific region, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Vladimir Dvorkin says this shield is more of a threat to the nuclear forces in China than it is to Russia’s.­ Major Gen. Dvorkin, a senior fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, revealed that... 

Iran's Navy is currently conducting 10-day Velayat 90 naval drills in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman says his country hopes that stability will continue in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and no action will be taken to destabilize this international waterway. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Hung Lei said Chinese public opinion is very sensitive about... 

US-China relations can only be expected to worsen as the US expands its influence in Asia. Obama says US influence will turn from the Middle East towards the “vast potential of the Asia-Pacific region”. When it comes to China policy, is the Obama administration leaping from the frying pan directly into the fire? In an attempt to turn the page on two disastrous wars in the greater Middle... 

China's Ambassador to Iran Yu Hongyang China’s Ambassador to Iran has reiterated Beijing’s determination to expand ties with Tehran amid Western-led efforts to impose more unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic. During a Saturday visit to the Iranian central city of Arak, Ambassador Yu Hongyang described Iran-China relations as satisfactory and added, “Considering the long history... 

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged the Navy to prepare for military combat, amid growing regional tensions over maritime disputes and a US campaign to assert itself as a Pacific power. The Navy should “accelerate its transformation and modernisation in a sturdy way, and make extended preparations for military combat in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security,”... 

A day after Australia’s ruling Labor reversed its policy of not selling uranium to India, China on Monday gave a guarded response to the move, saying all countries are entitled to peaceful use of nuclear energy. “China always believes countries are entitled to peaceful use of nuclear energy and at the same time they should fulfill the international obligations of nuclear non-proliferation,”... 

Chinese Major General Zhang Zhaozhong US dispatches three more warships to Middle East. A military General from the Chinese National Defense University says that China should not hesitate to protect Iran, even if it means launching world war three, as more US warships are dispatched to the region amidst heightening tensions. According to NDTV, a Chinese news station based outside the country, in regard... 

China may be using thousands of miles of underground tunnels to hide a nuclear missile arsenal that is far bigger than current estimates, according to researchers. They spent three years translating secret military documents, scouring the internet and studying satellite images for clues – and concluded that China may have as many as 3,000 missiles, compared with general estimates of between 80 and... 

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin China has expressed opposition to the new unilateral sanctions imposed against Iran by some Western states, warning that they would “exacerbate” the situation. “We believe pressuring and sanctions cannot fundamentally solve the Iranian nuclear issue. On the contrary, they will complicate and exacerbate the issue and intensify confrontation,”...