China bids to host High Seas Treaty secretariat, even as US exits UN bodies

China has proposed to host the secretariat of a new treaty governing the high seas, in what observers say is the latest effort by Beijing to proactively play a bigger role in shaping international rules of order. Days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pull the US from 66 international organisations, including United Nations commissions and major bodies set up to tackle climate change, China has bid for Xiamen in Fujian province – a coastal hub that sits on the Taiwan...