Xinhua China-related world news summary at 1400 GMT, July 8

A Chinese diplomat on Friday urged members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to guard against certain countries which he said were attempting to hijack the regional bloc over the South China Sea issue.

The maritime disputes in the South China Sea only involve certain ASEAN nations, so it is not an issue between China and ASEAN as a whole, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Xu Bu told Xinhua in an interview.

Four out of the 10 ASEAN members are claimants in the sea disputes, and only one or two nations have big differences with China over the issue, he said.(China-ASEAN-Ties)

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BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will pay an official visit to Mongolia from July 13 to 14, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said on Friday.

At the invitation of Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Li will also attend the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Mongolian capital Ulan Bator from July 15 to 16, according to Hong. (China-Mongolia-ASEM)

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BEIJING -- China has said it is "strongly dissatisfied" with U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in the Republic of Korea (ROK), warning that the move may destabilize the Korean Peninsula.

The ROK Defense Ministry announced earlier on Friday that the ROK and the United States have decided to deploy a U.S. THAAD anti-missile system.

"The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes to this," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.(China-THAAD)

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ANTANANARIVO -- Madagascar encourages direct dialogue between countries directly concerned in the South China Sea issue, according to a statement from Madagascar's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

"The Republic of Madagascar encourages parties directly concerned in the dispute in South China Sea to begin a direct dialogue between them to obtain not only a sustainable solution acceptable by all, but also a resolution in line with international rights and in particular to bilateral treaties and agreements of their home regions," the statement said.(Madagascar-South China Sea)

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BEIJING -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) said on Thursday that it respected China's position on the South China Sea issue and supported direct consultation between parties concerned.

PNG upholds that maritime disputes should be peacefully resolved by parties directly concerned through consultation and negotiation in accordance with international law, according to a joint press release between China and the PNG, issued after the meeting between President Xi Jinping and visiting PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.(China-PNG-South China Sea)

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BEIJING -- China's foreign exchange reserves increased 13.43 billion U.S. dollars in June from the previous month to 3.21 trillion U.S. dollars, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Market analysts expected June's data would have dipped by at least 20 billion U.S. dollars. (China-Reserve-Asset)

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NAIROBI -- Chinese digital television networks operator StarTimes says it has concluded multi-year agreements with French-based Eutelsat Communications setting the stage for accelerated roll-out of digital broadcasting services across Africa.

StarTimes Group chairman Pang Xinxing said Thursday StarTimes had renewed capacity contracts on two Eutelsat satellites as well as agreements for uplinking services provided by a partner teleport operated by Slovenia-headquartered satellite telecommunications network in anticipation of continued expansion of Africa's TV market.(Africa-Chinese firm) Endi