Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the United States, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Wednesday.
Zhu made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing when asked to comment on U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's keynote speech at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore which made no mention of Taiwan, and instead highly praised the series of achievements from U.S. President Donald Trump's recent visit to China.
"The Taiwan question is China's internal affair and brooks no external interference. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the United States," Zhu said.
Maintaining peace across Taiwan Strait biggest common denominator between China, US: spokeswoman
Gold became the largest component of global official reserves in 2025, surpassing holdings of U.S. Treasuries and the euro as rising prices boosted its share, the European Central Bank (ECB) said Tuesday.
Gold made up 27 percent of the total official foreign reserves, including foreign exchange and gold holdings, at the end of 2025, compared with 22 percent for U.S. Treasuries and 15 percent for the euro, according to an ECB report.
Data released by the ECB showed that global central bank gold purchases surged in 2022, peaked in 2024, and then eased in 2025.
Gold purchases by central banks fell to around 850 tons, below the average level between 2022 and 2024, which topped 1,000 tons. Despite historically high prices, demand for gold remained elevated.
The increase in gold's share of official reserves was driven largely by soaring prices, the ECB said. Gold prices soared by 60 percent and 30 percent in nominal terms in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Apart from diversification, central banks use gold as a hedge against geopolitical risk. However, compared to fiat currencies, gold's status as part of reserves has limitations, the ECB report argued, citing price volatility, the inability to be remunerated, high storage costs, and inelastic supply.
Gold surpasses US Treasuries, euro in global official reserves: ECB
