Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that Asian countries are at risk of becoming “chess pieces” in the burgeoning geopolitical rivalry with the United States. Instead, he argued to the ASEAN Secretariat on Monday that “the future of our region should be in our own hands.” Wang’s comments come just days after he met for five hours with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of last week’s G20 meeting in Indonesia. (REUTERS)

Chinese mining giant CMOC insists operations at the strategically vital Tenke Fungurume cobalt/copper mine are proceeding as usual despite assertions from a court-appointed Congolese administrator that all extraction and production must stop. “The production and operations, including transportation and export, are normal,” said company spokesman Vincent Zhou on Friday. CMOC is embroiled in a bitter feud with its local partner Gécamines over royalty payments and allegations of misleading reserve assessments by CMOC. (BLOOMBERG)