in that sense of what xi jingping says makes sense, in that sense of what xi jingping says makes sense the wider world to work together. it's if the us is bound into a broader arena and into more coalition partners on this then there will be less incentive for midnight tweets. in that sense, very good. as you mentioned, there's a little bit where you can feel a certain detente and there is a very good serendipity that the olympics are in south korea. indeed, a global sporting event to the rescue yet again. absolutely. to make it clear, trialer daily for those that don't know is a state—sponsored newspaper, so it's seen as the mouthpiece for the government. which is encouraging —— china daily. the government. which is encouraging -- china daily. you talk to many clients all over the world in many different areas, what is their sense of this story right now? last year there was a lot of concern and fear that geopolitics was up and centre, do people feel more positive now?l little bit, it is a wait and see, this is a good first step and thank goodness there's the olympics and there's a so

i don't think xi jingping looks to russia as anything more than an occasional foil. somedea that there is benefitsendi, that russia and china -- i don't favor that goes. i got here as a kid, 29 years .ld and running for the senate at the time, there was this great thing, this connection running from moscow to beijing. it was going to overtake the world. it, ioking back on remember saying, i don't get that. it is one of the most guarded orders in the world. i don't understand where the mutual interest lie. i don't see that here either. there are places where each will use the other for their benefit relative to us. and i can see that happening, but the idea of there being a , alliance,artnership between moscow and beijing in the near term, i don't think it is in the stars at all. >> mr. vice president, i wonder if you might expand on the earlier questions about syria. this has been touted as a great foreign-policy success for the united states. especially forward, with the delicate balance between all the players and region,lly iran in the is there a way forward for t

the china daily reports on a phone call between donald trump and chinese president xi jingping about ump that china would like nations involved to keep up would like nations involved to keep up momentum to ease the tensions. trump reportedly said the united states values china's role in this matter in the korean peninsular. shifting our attention to the straits times and it headlines a deal between singapore and its neighbour across the border, malaysia, to build a rapid transit system link between the two countries. it says in seven years singaporeans and malaysians will be able to hop on and of train every eight minutes to get across the border. finally you have the international edition of the japan times and it reports on flu cases in the country. it says the health ministry expects the peak flu season to run until february this year. the ministry asks the public to wear masks or cover their mouth so as to not spread the flu through sneezing 01’ not spread the flu through sneezing or coughing. those are the top stories from major publications around the world. now, babita, what st

macron is in china for a state visit that will test his ability to simultaneously win over his host, xi jingpinge threatening to make life harder for him. a very controversial trade decision on his first trip to asia since winning office. the french leader is seeking orders for airbus while calling for greater market access in china. bloomberg's caroline connan joins us now from paris. caroline, good morning. emmanuel macron will see a few headlines about him calling for establishing a trusted relationship between xi and france. is trying to open china up to european corporate's. what is he trying to achieve on this trip? caroline: he's really setting the tone for this three-day visit to china. xian, is in the city of which is a symbolic location, because it was the departure of the former silk road. in this symbolic location, he is setting the tone, asking for reciprocity with china in terms of trade, asking to restore global balances. the message that macron wants to get to president xi during this visit. he is doing what donald trump called for when he visited china in november. macron is of