Month: March 2024

China Eyes US-Japan Security Upgrade Plan 

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washington —  Washington and Tokyo are gearing up to unveil plans to restructure the U.S. military command in Japan in what would be the biggest upgrade to their security alliance in decades. China has already objected, saying it does not want to be a target of the defense plans that Washington and Tokyo are expected to announce at a summit in April. “China always believes that military cooperation between states should be conducive to regional peace and stability, instead of targeting any third party or harming the interests of a…

China’s state-owned developer vows to cut debt as financial woes rise

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China’s troubled state-owned property giant Vanke Group says it will cut debt by 100 billion yuan (US$13.8 billion) in the next two years, as sales plunged and profit nearly halved in 2023 amid a deepening crisis in the sector. But Zhu Jiusheng, Vanke’s chief executive officer, pointed out in an earnings press conference on Friday that the company’s fundamental capabilities, without giving specifics, have not changed, despite the short-term “challenges and pressure.” The recent downgrade of its credit rating by global rating agency Moody’s to “junk”, in fact dealt “relatively…

Netflix adaptation of sci-fi novel ‘The Three-Body Problem’ sparks anger in China

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In the opening scenes of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of a Chinese sci-fi bestseller partly set in 1960s Beijing, an academic endures violent beatings from Red Guards because of this belief in the theory of relativity. While the depiction of the decade-long Cultural Revolution is largely faithful both to Beijing-born Liu Cixin’s acclaimed 2006 novel The Three-Body Problem and to many historical records, it is a period that…

China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi bets on EVs even as Apple pivots

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A month after the maker of the iPhone abandoned its decade-long project to build an Apple Car, its rival as the world’s third-largest smartphone maker has begun an audacious attempt to become a top-five auto manufacturer, with the debut of its first electric vehicle. China’s Xiaomi heralded its greater ambition in EVs with a launch event in Beijing on Thursday night for its Speed Ultra 7 sports sedan, announcing a…

China’s smartphone maker Xiaomi unveils EVs even as Apple pivots

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A month after the maker of the iPhone abandoned its decade-long project to build an Apple Car, its rival as the world’s third-largest smartphone maker has begun an audacious attempt to become a top-five auto manufacturer, with the debut of its first electric vehicle. China’s Xiaomi heralded its greater ambition in EVs with a launch event in Beijing on Thursday night for its Speed Ultra 7 sports sedan, announcing a…

Smartphone maker Xiaomi aims for top-five slot with electric car launch

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. A month after the maker of the iPhone abandoned its decade-long project to build an Apple Car, its rival as the world’s third-largest smartphone maker has begun an audacious attempt to become a top-five auto manufacturer, with the debut of its first electric vehicle. China’s Xiaomi heralded its greater ambition in EVs with a launch event in Beijing on Thursday night for its Speed Ultra 7 sports sedan, announcing a…

Netflix’s adaptation of sci-fi classic ‘3 Body Problem’ sparks anger in China

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. In the opening scenes of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of a Chinese sci-fi bestseller partly set in 1960s Beijing, an academic endures violent beatings from Red Guards because of this belief in the theory of relativity. While the depiction of the decade-long Cultural Revolution is largely faithful both to Beijing-born Liu Cixin’s acclaimed 2006 novel and to many historical records, it is a period that Chinese authorities often…

China Vanke boss acknowledges ‘pressure’ as 2023 profits slump amid liquidity distress rumours

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Net profit came in at 12.16 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) versus 22.68 billion yuan in the same period of 2022, according to a filing by Vanke made to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday night. Core profit, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange and changes in the value of assets and financial instruments, stood at 9.79 billion yuan, plunging by more than 50 per cent from the same period the previous year. Revenue fell 7.6 per cent to 465.7 billion yuan from a year earlier, while the company’s…

Western governments struggle to coordinate response to Chinese hacking

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With the announcement that the UK government would be imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity accused of targeting – without success – UK parliamentarians in cyber-attacks in 2021, the phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes to mind. But that would underestimate the iceberg. James Cleverly, the home secretary, said the sanctions were a sign that “targeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallenged”. But some experts saw it as a sign that the UK had been pushed into a corner by a decision in Washington…

Indonesia to accelerate nickel output despite low global prices

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indonesia will press on with plans to expand nickel output despite a supply glut that is forcing rivals to shut down mines, as the world’s top producer aims to keep prices low and protect long-term demand for the metal crucial to electric car batteries, a senior government official has said. The country’s production capacity for battery-grade nickel is expected to quadruple to 1mn tonnes by 2030, said Septian Hario Seto,…