Month: April 2024

Volkswagen aims to launch 30 EVs in China in next 6 years as shift to green motoring erodes German giant’s market share

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Volkswagen Group, which saw its market share shrink in China last year, said it plans to launch 30 new electric cars on the mainland by 2030 as it vies to keep up with the rapid pace of electrification in the world’s largest vehicle market. Ralf Brandsatter, VW’s China chief executive, told reporters at a media briefing on Monday that the German carmaker is targeting 4 million deliveries annually to mainland customers by 2030, which could account for about 15 per cent of the overall market. Volkswagen has been a perennial…

UK ‘helping Russia pay for its war on Ukraine’ via loophole on refined oil imports

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The UK has been accused of “helping Russia pay for its war on Ukraine” by continuing to import record amounts of refined oil from countries processing Kremlin fossil fuels. Government data analysed by the environmental news site Desmog shows that imports of refined oil from India, China and Turkey amounted to £2.2bn in 2023, the same record value as the previous year, up from £434.2m in 2021. Russia is the largest crude oil supplier to India and China, while Turkey has become one of the biggest importers of Russian oil…

Japan’s moon lander still going after 3 lunar nights

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TOKYO —  Japan’s first moon lander has survived a third freezing lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Wednesday after receiving an image from the device three months after it landed on the moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the lunar probe responded to a signal from the earth Tuesday night, confirming it has survived another weekslong lunar night. Temperatures can fall to minus 170 degrees Celsius during a lunar night and rise to around 100 Celsius during a lunar day. The probe, Smart Lander for Investing Moon, or SLIM,…

US Senate passes $95bn bill including aid for Ukraine

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the US foreign policy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The US Senate has approved a $95bn bill to deliver security aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region with overwhelming bipartisan support, in a boost to President Joe Biden’s top foreign policy priorities. The final passage of the legislation in Congress on Tuesday ended a political logjam that had lasted for months and paved the way for Washington to quickly dispatch new weapons to Ukraine as it battles…

Australia and X’s Elon Musk clash over church stabbing video

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sydney —  Australia’s attempts to ban a graphic video of a stabbing in a church has turned into a global battle between the Canberra government and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform X. A service at an Assyrian Orthodox Church in Sydney was being live-streamed on April 15 when a bishop was repeatedly attacked at the altar. Four people were stabbed, and a teenager arrested. A 16-year-old boy was later charged with a terrorism offense. Soon after the attack, videos of the stabbing began circulating on…

China reveals Shenzhou-18 crew for next space station mission

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They will be received by the Shenzhou-17 trio, who will return to Earth on April 30 after six months in space. The Shenzhou-18 crew will stay in the Tiangong space station until late October. The Tianzhou-8 cargo ship and the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship are scheduled to arrive during their six-month mission. Chinese astronauts fix damaged solar panel on Tiangong space station Deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency Lin Xiqiang said the crew would begin China’s first in-orbit aquatic ecology project. Lin told reporters on Wednesday that the mission…

EU conducts ‘dawn raid’ on Chinese security equipment supplier

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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. Brussels has raided a Chinese security equipment supplier, deploying new anti-foreign subsidy powers in a move that will further inflame tensions between the trading superpowers ahead of a planned visit by President Xi Jinping to Europe. The raid by the European Commission and local law enforcement on the offices of an unnamed company in Poland and the Netherlands came as the EU opened a separate investigation into China’s medical device…

EU targets China medical technology market with launch of new procurement weapon

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A note published in the EU’s official journal said China’s rules favoured local suppliers in its procurement markets. It pointed to a “buy China” policy, the Made in China 2025 strategy that directs hospitals to procure an increasing level of domestically-made medical devices, and regulations that stipulate that local authorities must procure domestic products. 18:59 Why the EU, US are concerned about China’s overcapacity Why the EU, US are concerned about China’s overcapacity It bemoaned the “more stringent rules for the procurement of imported products compared to the procurement of…

Chinese business lobby hits back at EU ‘dawn raid’ on security equipment supplier

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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. The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU has attacked what it called a “dawn raid” by European authorities on a Chinese security equipment supplier, a move that will further inflame tensions between the trading superpowers. The European Commission and local law enforcement officers raided the company’s offices in Poland and the Netherlands on Tuesday morning, the chamber said. The raids, the first time the commission has conducted such an…

China’s security ministry hails move to reward postal and parcel workers for spy tip-offs in eastern province

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The new local regulation was jointly issued by Jiangsu’s anti-spy agency, the state security department and the provincial postal bureau and took effect on April 15, making it the first government document in China to reward delivery companies and delivery workers for tip-offs about spying. 05:29 China executes scientist for spying in 2016, among 10 ‘shocking’ cases revealed in documentary China executes scientist for spying in 2016, among 10 ‘shocking’ cases revealed in documentary The 25-article regulation states that courier companies and their employees are obliged to report “clues about…