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Efforts to build a floor under U.S.-China relations have yet to be successful and coming months will determine if it is possible to reestablish constructive diplomacy with Beijing, a top White House official said on Thursday, stressing the need for "Cold War"-era hotlines and other crisis mechanisms.

Speaking at a time of heightened tensions with China over a U.S. stopover by Taiwan's president, U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said Washington had made clear to Beijing it was ready to have another call between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"We're prepared and, from our perspective, we want to keep lines of communication open and it is our intention to keep those lines open," he said at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) think tank.

Biden said last month after a U.S. fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that he planned to speak to Xi about the episode and clear the air, but this has yet to happen and tensions have only risen since.

Campbell said the Chinese had been "reluctant to engage in discussions around confidence-building or crisis communications, or hotlines" and it would be a "responsible step" to have such mechanisms, given that Chinese and U.S. military forces operated in proximity to each other.

"We built those during the Cold War. We think that they're appropriate now," he added.

Campbell said the U.S. was in the early stages of a new phase of competitive relations with China.

"There's also a recognition that in many respects our efforts to build a foundation, a floor under the relationship and guardrails, have yet to be successful," he said, referring to U.S. priorities when Biden and Xi last spoke at a meeting in Bali in November.

"I think you will see in the coming months whether it's going to be possible to reestablish effective, predictable, constructive diplomacy between the United States and China.”

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen arrived in New York on Wednesday on her way to Central America. On her way back to Taipei next week, she will stop in Los Angeles, where she is expected to meet U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, an interaction China has warned could lead to a "serious confrontation" in U.S.-China relations.

The visit comes at a time when U.S. relations with China are at what some analysts see as their worst level since Washington normalized ties with Beijing in 1979 and switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei.

Campbell said the United States was stepping up its focus on the Indo-Pacific in spite of the war in Ukraine and this would been seen in its budgets, engagements, aid and assistance.

He pointed to India, which is due to take part in another summit of the so-called Quad countries in Australia expected in May, and said he believed its relationship with the United States was the most important of the 21st century.

"I believe we are destined to work more closely together,” he said, adding that Washington wanted to see more Indian students in American universities and more Americans in Indian colleges.

Campbell said the United States has an "ambitious agenda" for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit it hosts in November, and Biden would roll out steps to address U.S. determination to play not just a security, diplomatic and political role in the region, "but a vibrant economic and commercial role as well." (Reuters)

Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday China had rolled over a $2 billion loan that matured last week, providing relief during the South Asian nation's acute balance of payment crisis.

Locking in a rollover had been critical for Pakistan, where reserves have dipped to just four weeks' worth of imports and talks over an International Monetary Fund bailout tranche of $1.1 billion have hit a stalemate.

"I am happy to confirm that this had been rolled over on March 23," Dar told parliament, referring to the maturity date. He said all concerned documentation had been completed.

Neither the government in Beijing nor the Chinese central bank responded to requests for comment on the rollover.

Dar's comments were the first official announcement of the rollover after the loan matured. Dar did not give the new maturity date or other terms of the arrangement.

A top finance ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday that a formal confirmation of the refinancing would be made after the process was completed.

One of the IMF's conditions for the release of the next tranche is assurance of external financing to fund Pakistan's balance of payments.

Longtime ally Beijing has provided the only help Islamabad has got so far, with refinancing of $1.8 billion credited last month to Pakistan's central bank.

In its monthly Economic Update and Outlook, the Finance Division of the government noted that Pakistan was currently confronted with shortage in external liquidity.

Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since early February for the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package agreed in 2019. To unlock the funding, the government has cut back on subsidies, removed an artificial cap on the exchange rate, added taxes and raised fuel prices.

"Through demand management policies, the government is trying to limit the current account deficit, which will not transfer further pressure on dwindling reserves," read the report.

It added that inflation, which is already running above 30%, a near 50-year high, is expected to stay elevated.

The report cited market frictions caused by relative demand and supply gaps of essential items, exchange rate depreciation, and the recent upward adjustment in prices of prices of fuel as reasons behind higher inflation expectations. (Reuters)

Japan's foreign minister will visit Beijing for two days from Saturday to discuss a range of issues, including the detention of an Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T) employee, the minister said.

Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters he would meet Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during the visit for "an honest and frank discussion to create a constructive and stable relationship".

The visit comes after the close U.S. ally Japan announced plans to restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade with a U.S. push to curb China's ability to make advanced chips.

Also clouding ties is the case of a Japanese man employed by Astellas Pharma who a company spokesperson said this week had been detained in China for unknown reasons.

The Japanese government has asked Chinese authorities to release the man, media reported.

"We plan to make our position clear on a range of issues including these during my visit to China," Hayashi said on Friday when asked if he would raise the issue of the Astellas employee and the release of water from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Several of Japan's neighbours are alarmed by a plan by the Japanese utility that runs the crippled nuclear power station to release more than a million tons of radioactive water from it into the sea.

The utility and the Japanese government say the water, which has been mainly used to cool reactors in the aftermath of a 2011 tsunami that crippled the plant, has been treated, filtered and diluted and is safe.

Hayashi's visit to China follows talks between leaders of the two countries in November, the first in almost three years.

At the time, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he conveyed his concerns over China's increasing maritime military presence but also said the two leaders agreed to reopen diplomatic channels of communications including a visit by Japan's foreign minister to China in the near future.

China sees Hayashi's visit as important and in the interests of good ties, Mao Ning, a spokesperson at the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular briefing in Beijing.

"China and Japan are close neighbours and it is in the common interest of both countries and the region to maintain healthy and stable relations between the two countries," Mao said. (Reuters)

Japan's government laid out a fresh plan on Friday to boost childcare over the coming three years to stem a relentless drop in the country's birth rate, a move that may lead to another big spending package and strain its already tattered finances.

Under the plan, the government will take steps such as expansion of child allowances to be given without income limits.

While the government has earmarked 6.1 trillion yen ($45.90 billion) for steps to arrest the declining number of children, a senior ruling party lawmaker was quoted by media as demanding an additional 8 trillion yen to fund the new measures.

"A boost to child allowances alone could cost 2-3 trillion yen. It sounds like the same old spending spree, which did not necessarily help turn around the birth rate," said Takahide Kiuchi, a former central bank board member and now an economist at Nomura Research Institute.

"The government may end up issuing extra bonds, arguing that education-oriented bonds help future generations."

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has repeatedly vowed to double childcare-related spending but has steered clear of elaborating on details, which he said will firm up in June when the government decides on a mid-year key policy roadmap.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday Japan must come up with a "permanent source of revenue" to fund childcare policies, but voiced caution over the idea of issuing extra debt.

Ranil Salgado, the International Monetary Fund's Japan mission chief, urged Tokyo to target such financial incentives towards low-income households.

"Everyone acknowledges childcare support is important given Japan's need to boost the growth rate. But we still believe those measures could be, or any support, should be targeted," he told an online briefing on Friday.

Japan is among the world's fastest ageing societies, with the number of newborns falling below 800,000 for the first time, having peaked at 2.09 million in 1973 during the second baby boom.

The declining trend has been blamed for intensifying labour shortages and pushing down Japan's long-term growth potential.

Some analysts see the latest plan as a sign Kishida is trying to shore up support and gearing up to call a snap election in coming months, to solidify his standing within the ruling party.

"Opposition parties also have no objection to boost childcare spending," said political analyst Atsuo Ito. "Both sides appear to join in a race to boost reckless spending." (Reuters)