Month: April 2024

DNA database to help fight against illegal wildlife trafficking

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SYDNEY —  Scientists from Australia and the United Kingdom are developing genomic sequencing technology to save parrots caught in the illegal wildlife trade. They say their forensic methods are similar to a database used by INTERPOL, the international police organization. Parrots are among the most trafficked birds in the illegal international wildlife trade. By using samples from feathers or a speck of blood, researchers from the Australian National University and King’s Forensics in the United Kingdom are working to build a genetic database of threatened bird species. They hope to…

Hong Kong’s biggest IPO of 2024 flops

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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. Hong Kong’s biggest initial public offering of the year flopped on Tuesday as shares of Chinese bubble tea chain ChaPanda dropped as much as 38 per cent from its listing price in its trading debut. ChaPanda, also known as Chabaidao, raised almost HK$2.6bn (US$331mn), with shares priced at HK$17.50. The public offering, only 0.5 times subscribed, comes as the city struggles to revive its stock market. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang…

Tech war: China acquired US-restricted Nvidia AI chips in Super Micro, Dell and Gigabyte Technology servers, tenders show

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The 11 sellers of the Nvidia chips were little-known Chinese retailers. Reuters could not determine whether, in fulfilling the orders, they used stockpiles acquired before the US tightened chip-export restrictions in November. A review of hundreds of tender documents showed that 10 mainland Chinese entities acquired advanced Nvidia chips built in servers made by Super Micro Computer, Dell Technologies and Taiwan’s Gigabyte Technology. Image: Shutterstock Contacted by Reuters, Nvidia said the tenders specify products that were exported and widely available before the restrictions. “They do not indicate that any of…

South China Sea: as tensions mount, Wang Yi vows Beijing to be by Cambodia’s side no matter what

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China will be Cambodia’s “most reliable friend and the firmest supporter”, regardless of the international environment, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Cambodian leader Hun Manet on Monday amid growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. During the meeting in Phnom Penh, Wang said China would continue to invest more in Cambodian infrastructure and promote production capacity cooperation, according to China’s foreign ministry. In response, Hun Manet said Phnom Penh’s China policy had been “consistent”, adding that his country would firmly support China’s position on Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. There was…

Taiwan hit by new series of strong earthquakes

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Taiwan was hit by a series of strong earthquakes over several hours between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, nearly three weeks after at least 17 people were killed by a powerful magnitude 7.4 quake. The first quake was a magnitude 5.5 detected Monday evening in the eastern county of Hualien, the epicenter of the April 3 quake, followed by a series of smaller tremors. The strongest quake hit several hours later, which Taipei’s Central Weather Administration’s seismology center measured as magnitude 6.3, coming several minutes after a magnitude 6.0 quake.…

Taiwan pledges to remove 760 statues of Chinese dictator Chiang Kai-shek

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Taiwan’s government has pledged to remove almost 800 statues of Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese military dictator who ruled the island for decades under martial law, but whose legacy remains a point of contentious debate. In 2018 the government established a transitional justice committee to investigate the rule of the former generalissimo, who was president of the Republic of China (ROC) – in China and then in Taiwan – until his death in 1975. Among its recommendations was to remove the thousands of statues from public spaces. Speaking to Taiwan’s legislature…

TikTok fortune of billionaire Republican donor Jeff Yass threatened by Washington

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More than a decade ago, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming sketched out an idea for a new social media company on a napkin in a Beijing coffee shop. Faith in Zhang led the local partner at Jeff Yass’s Susquehanna International Group to invest $80,000 in the parent company of TikTok and follow up with another $2mn months later. SIG, a global quantitative trading firm, became Zhang’s first big backer, helping kick-start a social media revolution. SIG now owns roughly 15 per cent of ByteDance, a stake worth about $40bn that represents…

Middle East conflict: Israeli delegation visits Taiwan in show of commitment to ties as war continues at home

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“With your support, bilateral interactions have recently been very close,” Tsai said at a meeting with the delegation. During their 30-year informal relationship, Taiwan and Israel have signed 33 agreements to strengthen exchanges in education, public health and other areas, including most recently a tourism agreement signed last month. 03:47 World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel World leaders call for de-escalation after Iran launches air attack on Israel In February, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) established its own Taiwan-Israel parliamentary friendship group. And…

Slow train to Penang: the return of the Eastern & Oriental Express

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Looking out from the observation deck, I watch a burnished parade of green-and-cream carriages file through the single-track, palm-lined corridor. The Eastern & Oriental Express, identified by the gilded lettering on every car and the rampant tiger logo above it, is a train to be admired from without as well as within. Lineside smallholders and schoolchildren have been doing just that, hands on hips and mouths slightly agape, ever since we eased across the causeway from high-rise, regimented Singapore into the jungles of Malaysia. Belmond, doyen of luxury retro rail…

The White House knows that the global south has a point

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Global Economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Economic policy in many countries has entered a new era of supports and subsidies. But global financial markets have yet to catch up. Consider some of the headlines over the past week or so. At the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington, the so-called Bretton Woods institutions came under siege as leaders from the global south decried the hypocrisy of rich-country creditors demanding austerity from borrowers while running up huge debt…