A Chinese research vessel 'Yuang Yang 5' entered Sri Lanka's Chinese-run southern port of Hambantota on Tuesday despite concerns from India and the United States about its activities.

China said Monday it had organised fresh military drills around Taiwan, as a delegation of visiting United States lawmakers were set to meet the island's leader just weeks after a similar trip by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi heightened fears of conflict.

China announced on Friday it was halting dialogue with the United States in a number of areas, including between theater-level military commanders and on climate talks, in an escalating furore over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan

Taiwan struck a defiant tone Wednesday as it hosted US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a furious China gearing up for military exercises dangerously close to the island's shores in retaliation for the visit.

China said on Friday it hoped "relevant parties" would refrain from interfering with its legitimate maritime activities, after New Delhi voiced concern over a Chinese military ship's planned visit to a port in India's southern neighbour Sri Lanka.

China on Friday launched its third aircraft carrier, the first designed and built entirely in the country, marking a major military advance for the Asian superpower.

The Taiwan Strait is an international waterway and Taiwan's government supports US warships transiting it, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday, rebuffing claims from China to exercise sovereignty over the strategic passage.

A Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May, Australia's defence department said on Sunday.

China sent three astronauts on Sunday on a six-month long mission to oversee a pivotal period of construction of its space station, whose final modules are due to be launched in the coming months.

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is considering granting $100 million in emergency support to Sri Lanka, the country's finance ministry said on Sunday.

China's Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine "as soon as possible", Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he praised his country's friendship with Russia as "rock solid".

Nicaragua inked a deal on Friday switching diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China in a political coup for Beijing as it seeks to isolate the democratic island it has vowed to one day seize.