Month: September 2023

EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis says bloc doesn’t intend to decouple from China

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In 2022, the EU racked up a deficit of almost €400 billion (US$426 billion) out of a total trade volume of €865 billion. Two-way trade dropped 7.8 per cent in US dollar terms in the first eight months, according to Chinese customs authorities. EU trade chief urges US ‘de-risking’ strategy, not China dependency Dombrovskis is the highest-ranking EU official to visit China this year as Beijing and Brussels navigate a complex geopolitical situation. Advertisement Both sides have a long list of gripes and demands. The EU has long complained about…

Gita Mehta, writer and journalist, 1943-2023

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It took only a few books, published over two decades, for Gita Mehta to introduce western readers to an India that veered sharply away from stereotypes of the exotic east. As a writer, documentary film-maker and effortlessly charming host in New York, London and New Delhi, she had a gift for belonging everywhere, bringing disparate worlds together with irreverence and insight.  Mehta, who has died aged 80, blended glamour with grit all through her colourful life. She wore chiffon saris at Manhattan parties with élan, but was equally at home…

Taiwan is developing another, more destructive suicide drone. It won’t fit in a backpack

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It can change or abort its attack missions mid-flight as needed, Chi noted. Because it is configured for multi-tube launches from such platforms as trucks, planes, unmanned aerial vehicles and ships, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be dispatched from land, air and sea, Chi said, during a presentation ahead of a defence technology show held in Taipei last week. Advertisement Chi said that the drone – with its prowling capabilities, larger size and bigger warhead payload – will be 10 times more lethal than its predecessor. 03:02 Taiwan’s defence…

China Evergrande scraps creditor meetings in risk to US$20 billion debt restructuring as homes sales sag, lawsuits snowball

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China Evergrande Group, struggling under US$327 billion of liabilities, has surprisingly scrapped creditor meetings scheduled for next week as home sales sagged and lawsuits snowballed, dragging bondholders back to the drawing board in the country’s biggest corporate restructuring. The developer cancelled four meetings for two classes of its creditors in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands set for September 26, according to an exchange filing late on Friday. Two meetings on September 25 for another group of bondholders in Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands were also halted. The…

Video games become part of the furniture in Japan as suppliers read the room

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Receive free Technology sector updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Technology sector news every morning. Companies seeking their fortunes in the $188bn global games market, an industry of cutting-edge hardware, software and creativity, are betting on a low-tech way in: furniture. Efforts to become gamers’ favourite provider of sofas, chairs and interior decor now occupy a central spot at the Tokyo Game Show, traditionally the turf of Sony, Konami and Sega, but increasingly a showcase for upholsterers, soundproofers and living room co-ordinators.  The…

China puts localities’ feet to the fire to protect farmland, prevent illegal dumping

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A massive build-up of illegal waste, resting on what was once arable farmland, is being cleared by authorities in northern China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region after years of wanton dumping – the result of a state television exposé aired as Beijing stresses the need for food security. Three officials from the capital city of Yinchuan have been suspended after the Monday report by CCTV revealed a 20-hectare field covered in layers of waste up to three metres thick, the Yinchuan government said on Thursday. The muck had accumulated over the…

How Beijing is using ‘fishing militia’ to assert its claims in the South China Sea

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One was a coastguard vessel but the other eight Chinese ships were apparently fishing boats. Four of the steel-hulled civilian ships sailed with the Chinese coastguard vessel, taking turns to block the Philippine coastguard ships BRP Cabra and BRP Sindangan from getting close to the reef. Four more civilian ships were standing by as three more Chinese coastguard vessels surrounded the Philippine boats. The Chinese ships came within metres of the BRP Cabra’s hull, video footage released by the Philippine coastguard showed. The Philippines said the Chinese vessels’ “dangerous manoeuvres”…

Hun Manet tells UN Cambodia’s elections were fair

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A month after he succeeded his father as Cambodia’s prime minister in the wake of the country’s latest election without an opposition, Hun Manet falsely told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday that the July 23 ballot was “free and fair” and “credible and just.”  Hun Sen handed power to his son after claiming victory in an election in which he banned the last remaining opposition party, the Candlelight Party, and threatened prison time and disenfranchisement for any Cambodians who joined the party’s efforts to boycott the vote. His ruling…

Feminist journalist Sophia Huang stands trial for subversion

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Feminist journalist Sophia Huang and labor activist Wang Jianbing stood trial in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Friday for “incitement to subvert state power” as dozens of rights groups called for their release. Huang and Wang were detained on Sept. 19, 2021, and later charged with “incitement to subvert state power,” a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Huang had planned to leave China via Hong Kong the following day – Sept. 20, 2021 – for the United Kingdom, where she…

U.S. Issues Final Rules to Keep Chip Funds Out of China

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The Biden administration on Friday issued final rules that would prohibit chip companies vying for a new infusion of federal cash from carrying out certain business expansions, partnerships and research in China, in what it described as an effort to protect United States national security. The regulations come as the Biden administration prepares to disburse more than $52 billion in federal grants and tens of billions of dollars of tax credits to build up the U.S. chip industry. The new rules aim to prevent chip makers that benefit from U.S.…