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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in China for a three-day visit as the two countries try to keep relations on an even keel amid differences.

Blinken landed in Shanghai on Wednesday afternoon where he will meet students and business leaders. He'll later head to Beijing and hold talks with top Chinese officials there.

The two sides are expected to discuss issues such as Ukraine, regional peace and stability, and fentanyl.

This is Blinken's second visit to China in less than a year, following up on recent phone talks between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden.

Xinhua News Agency noted that bilateral ties have begun to stabilise since the two leaders met in San Francisco last November, with significant exchanges in various fields.

"China remains committed to open dialogue and communication with the United States. However, Washington must recognise that dialogue must be based on equality and respect, and actions must align with words," Xinhua said. (Agencies)

China has condemned the latest package of US military assistance to Taiwan.

The US Senate on Tuesday passed US$95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The package included US$8 billion for the island.

In Beijing, the Taiwan Affairs Office said the aid seriously violates US commitments to China and sends a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

“The Taiwan issue is purely China’s internal affair and does not tolerate any external interference," spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian said.

The Foreign Ministry said US military support for the island only increased the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

"I'd like to emphasise that the United States and Taiwan strengthening military ties will not bring about security for Taiwan," spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

"It will only increase tensions and the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait, and will ultimately be an act of shooting oneself in the foot." (Agencies)

Unionists on Wednesday called on the government to improve labour protection, boost benefits for public servants and increase the city's minimum wage.

Nine labour and civil service unions issued a "Labour Day Declaration" ahead of May 1, with 10 policy suggestions, including an end to further labour imports and improving occupational safety.

The chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council, Lee Kwok-keung, said the city’s minimum hourly wage should be increased by HK$15.

“While our proposed increase from HK$40 an hour to HK$55 seems substantial, we should bear in mind the fact that a basic lunch can easily cost HK$55. If the minimum wage doesn't even cover the cost of a meal, it's not really reasonable,” he said.

Unionist lawmaker Lam Chun-sing, meanwhile, noted a recent 0.1 percentage point increase in Hong Kong's unemployment rate, meaning an extra 9,400 people – 111,700 in total – were out of work.

Lam, who is also the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, urged the government to provide a job-matching service for businesses participating in labour importation schemes, with the aim of getting them to prioritise local people.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Federation of HKSAR Civil Servants, Lee Fong-chung, said there is a need for the government to come up with policies to address staff shortages.

Lee said the annual retirement rate for senior government positions has hit 10 percent and there has been a "huge" number of resignations in recent years.

“We think it's very important for the government to refill the vacancies as soon as possible, through regular recruitment or transferring some contract [workers] onto permanent terms,” he said.

Lee said the number of government workers in their 20s and 30s resigning has been particularly high and more family-friendly policies are needed to keep hold of them.

“Like [increasing] maternity leave… And also, the government may amend some policy on the long-term investment for the civil servants, like they can use a portion of their pension fund for them to buy a house or to buy medical insurance,” he said.

The chairman of the Government Employees Association, Cheung Hoi-wing, added that many civil servants have chosen to retire in mainland cities in recent years and the government should extend civil servant healthcare benefits to cover the whole Greater Bay Area.

The number of emergency dental appointment slots at government clinics has fallen by almost half since the pandemic, the Audit Commission said on Wednesday, as it called for improvements to services.

In a report, the government auditor said there was an annual quota of around 40,000 appointment slots at the city’s 11 public dental clinics in the year 2018/19, but this had fallen to about 20,000 by 2022/23.

It cited the Department of Health as saying the reduction was due to the pandemic, but also a shortage of dentists.

The auditor said it found instances of people queuing up for hours at clinics just to try to get an appointment the following day under the first-come-first served system.

At one clinic, people who had pre-registered to see the dentist still had to arrive in the morning to pick up a disc for an appointment that wasn’t until the afternoon.

The auditor noted that the government is aware of the public demand for more appointment slots for emergency dental care and urged it to address the manpower shortage and bring the quota back up to at least the level before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the public spending watchdog said health officials should beef up support for NGOs involved in the Outreach Dental Care Programme, which provides free dental services to elderly people in care homes.

The auditor said the attendance rate for the programme needs to be improved, noting that the target of 43,000 service users was not met from 2020/21 to 2022/23.

Two NGOs served less than half the number of people they aimed to for three consecutive years, the auditor added.

The China Manned Space Agency on Wednesday introduced the crew for the Shenzhou-18 mission, the latest in a programme that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

The trio of astronauts will be led by Ye Guangfu, a fighter pilot and veteran astronaut who took part in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021.

Ye, along with Li Cong and Li Guangsu are scheduled to blast off at 8.59pm local time on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. They will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team who are currently on the Tiangong space station.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Jiuquan, Ye said the mission will be a special one.

"It's a very special time and also carries special meaning. During the mission this time in China's space station, we will celebrate China's 75th anniversary of its founding and today is also China's ninth Space Day."

Ye also stressed that China believes in international collaboration when it comes to space exploration.

"For us, we all actually pursue our dream to establish a space station, explore space, and also to make contributions. I believe we'll make great contributions to build a community of shared future for mankind.

"We also sincerely invite our international peers to explore the vast universe together and to create a better future for mankind with joint efforts, and a China space station you can always look up to."

The Tiangong is the crown jewel of Beijing's space programme – which has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon – and made China the third country to put humans in orbit.

It is constantly crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts.

The new crew will replace the Shenzhou-17 team, who were sent to the station in October, and stay in orbit for six months.

The Shenzhou-17 crew is scheduled to return to Earth on April 30. (Additional reporting by AFP and Xinhua)

The Shenzhou-18 crewed space mission on Tuesday completed its last joint practice before launch.

The combination of the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket has been transferred to the launch site.

Both the rocket and spacecraft have completed the electrical performance test, and the astronauts and all systems at the launch site have carried out the launch drill, with everything reported to be in good condition.

The Shenzhou-18 is expected to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the coming days. (Reporting by Xinhua)