He’s grinned through countless national TV shows and public appearances, but backstage at a Beijing bookstore, China’s ‘most famous foreigner’ is feeling a little nervous. A minute or so into his Dashan & Friends comic ensemble, the Mandarin-fluent Canadian comic Mark Rowswell comes perilously close to choking.

Last Saturday, May 3, was annual World Press Freedom Day. This year, the state of press freedom is especially grim; journalists face imprisonment, kidnapping, and death for doing their jobs. “Unfortunately, we really don’t have a lot to celebrate,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Many Chinese fans of American television are feeling aggrieved. They cannot understand why their government is robbing them of even the small pleasures in life. Earlier this month, four US shows - The Big Bang Theory,The Good Wife, NCIS and The Practice - were removed from Chinese internet streaming sites on the censors' order. No reason was given.

On Monday China and Iran agreed to deepen defense ties, according to Chinese state media. The announcement was made following a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Dehqan.

The U.S. and Philippine militaries have launched a large, 10-day, annual military exercise amid increasing tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

So Philippine and American officials formally inked a basing agreement during President Obama’s visit to the archipelago. Rather than reestablish permanent bases, the deal will allow U.S. military units to rotate through three to five Philippine facilities — the details are still being sorted out — and to stage equipment and munitions there for combat and disaster-relief missions. Huzzah!

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang started an Africa tour on Sunday with his arrival in Ethiopia, where he will also visit the headquarters of the African Union (AU). Ethiopia is the first leg of Li's ongoing four-nation Africa tour, his first to the "Land of Hope" since he took office last year and the latest stroke of the frequent high-level diplomacy between the Asian giant and the promising continent.