China
The 25th meeting of the Special Representatives on the China–India boundary question was held in Beijing on 25 August. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, met India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. The two sides continued discussions on the boundary question, peace and tranquillity in the border areas, and other matters in the bilateral relationship. The official account also said they exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
The meeting continued the established Special Representatives mechanism through which the two countries address the boundary question. The public statements did not announce that the dispute had been resolved or disclose a new boundary agreement. The reported understandings and statements are outcomes described by the two governments and do not establish that conditions in the disputed areas have changed.
Australia
On 26 August, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles hosted Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono and Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in Melbourne for the tenth Australia–Indonesia Foreign and Defence Ministers’ 2+2 Meeting.
The Australian Government’s advance statement said the ministers would discuss the bilateral relationship, defence and security cooperation, and regional and global issues of shared concern. The meeting forms part of the ministerial coordination arrangements under the two countries’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. At the time of writing, the Australian Government had confirmed the meeting and its participants, but a complete joint outcomes document was not available on the official pages reviewed. This briefing therefore does not attribute specific agreements or follow-up measures beyond the published announcement.
United States
On 25 August, the United States Department of Justice announced that the Drug Enforcement Administration was temporarily placing three potent opioid compounds—mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, or MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16—in Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. The department said the temporary control followed a finding that the substances posed an imminent hazard to public safety.
The temporary scheduling subjects the manufacture, distribution and possession of the compounds to Schedule I controls and the associated administrative, civil and criminal sanctions. The department also defined the intended enforcement boundary. The action is directed at manufactured, concentrated, fortified or deliberately added compounds rather than traditional botanical kratom. For products otherwise consistent with botanical kratom in which only incidental trace amounts of MGPI are confirmed, the department said it would exercise enforcement discretion. It stated that this policy is not a legal exemption and does not alter MGPI’s Schedule I status. The discretion does not apply to MGM-15, MGM-16 or products containing deliberately added MGPI.
Sources
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 25th meeting of the Special Representatives on the China–India boundary question held in Beijing
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/
Xinhua, 25th round of talks on boundary question in Beijing
https://english.news.cn/
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia–Indonesia Foreign and Defence Ministers’ Meeting
https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/media-release/australia-indonesia-foreign-and-defence-ministers-meeting
Australian Defence Ministers, Australia–Indonesia Foreign and Defence Ministers’ Meeting
https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases
United States Department of Justice, Justice Department Announces Emergency Scheduling of Three Potent Opioid Compounds
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-emergency-scheduling-three-potent-opioid-compounds
Federal Register, Schedules of Controlled Substances: Temporary Placement of Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16 in Schedule I
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17429.pdf
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