With the Ukraine crisis putting further strain on China’s ties with the United States and the West as a whole, Beijing has set its eyes on mending fences with its neighbours. China’s diplomatic frenzy in the past two weeks shows the importance of its neighbours in Beijing’s hierarchy of relations. (https://news.yahoo.com/china-reaches-asian-neighbours-ukraine-093000863.html) On the heels of a whirlwind tour of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who travelled abroad for the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Wang also chaired an Afghanistan-focused meeting attended by the foreign ministers from Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaki and the US special envoy on Afghanistan also attended the talks in Anhui province on Wednesday. China also welcomed foreign ministers from Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia, which holds this year’s Group of 20 presidency, last week.