Month: April 2024

Hong Kong’s bubble tea IPO flop is a sign of the market times

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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. Bubble tea — a combination of tea, milk, sugar and chewy tapioca pearls — has been around since the 1980s. Yet among younger Asians, the drink is a modern necessity. Endless variations from strawberry white chocolate to passion fruit keep interest levels high. Markets have not shown the same enthusiasm for the listing of Chinese bubble-tea maker Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial Co — widely known as Chabaidao. It plunged more…

Amid China tensions, India delivers supersonic cruise missiles to Philippines 

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New Delhi —  India has begun delivery of supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines as the two countries tighten defense and strategic ties amid rising tensions between the East Asian nation and China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea. The BrahMos missiles are being acquired by the Philippines under a $ 375 million deal signed in 2022. “Now we are also exporting BrahMos missiles. The first batch of this missile is going to the Philippines today,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday at an election rally. India…

US business group says policy ‘inconsistency’ hurting China investment

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Policy “inconsistency” in China is discouraging foreign investors despite Beijing’s efforts to reassure international companies, a leading American business lobby group has said. China’s President Xi Jinping last month sought to boost confidence among foreign investors, telling visiting US chief executives that his country’s growth prospects remained “bright”. But an annual report issued by the American Chamber of Commerce in China on Tuesday highlighted concerns about a lack…

German staffer in EU parliament arrested on China spying charges

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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. Police have arrested a staffer working for a German far-right member of the European parliament on charges of spying for China. Jian Guo, an employee of Maximilian Krah, was accused by Germany’s federal prosecutor on Tuesday of being covertly employed by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS). The arrest is the latest of several cases in which alleged Chinese spies have been unmasked in high-level parliamentary positions, including in the…

North Korea says it has tested ‘nuclear trigger’ counterattack system

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North Korea says it carried out its first-ever nuclear counterattack drills on Monday. The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised the drills of its nuclear weapons management and control system, which it calls its “nuclear trigger.” The drills included the firing of several “super-large” artillery rockets fitted with mock nuclear warheads from multiple rocket launcher units. KCNA says the rockets flew about 352 kilometers before successfully hitting an island target, and that Kim expressed “satisfaction” over the results. South Korean and Japanese military…

Germany arrests far-right EU lawmaker’s aide on suspicions of spying for China

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It is the second German spy scandal involving China to emerge in as many days, after three people were arrested on Monday on suspicion of passing hi-tech secrets to China’s Ministry of State Security. Germany arrests 3 on suspicion of spying for China, as Britain charges 2 A statement released by Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office on Tuesday said the suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service. Since 2019, he has been working for a German member of the European Parliament”. “He also spied on Chinese opposition figures in…

Apple adds suppliers in China despite efforts to spread out production, underscoring country’s major supply chain role

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Apple added eight Chinese suppliers and removed four contractors on the mainland during its past financial year ended September, the first time since 2021 that the US tech giant introduced more suppliers from the country than it cut, according to its newly published supplier list. Despite Apple’s recent efforts to diversify its supply chain and shift more production elsewhere in Asia amid geopolitical risks, mainland China remains the firm’s main manufacturing base, home to over a third of the factories run by its 187 disclosed suppliers, according to a Post…

German prosecutors accuse aide to European lawmaker of spying for China

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German prosecutors said Tuesday that an aide to a German lawmaker in the European Parliament had been arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Prosecutors identified the man only as Jian G., in line with German privacy laws, and said he repeatedly passed information about European Parliament negotiations to a Chinese intelligence service. The man also spied on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, prosecutors said. China’s foreign ministry said Tuesday the allegation is an attempt to “smear and suppress China and to destroy the atmosphere of cooperation between China and…

AfD politician’s aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

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An aide to a German far-right politician standing in the European elections in June has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors have said. The man, named only as Jian G, was accused of sharing information about negotiations at the European parliament with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said. The suspect was arrested on Monday night, hours after three German nationals were arrested on suspicion of working with China’s ministry of state security to hand over technology…

China leads improvements in fossil fuel engine efficiency to fill electric gap

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China continues to break fossil fuel engine efficiency records with new technology, at the same time as a growing number of car companies ceases to fund combustion engine research. Weichai Power marked a new industry milestone on Saturday, unveiling the world’s most efficient commercial diesel engine – with a thermal efficiency of more than 53 per cent – at the World Congress on Internal Combustion Engines in China. The diesel engine developer and manufacturer, based in the eastern province of Shandong, is a leader in breakthrough technologies, such as high-expansion…