Month: May 2025

Tariff revenues and the deficit

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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. This article is an on-site version of our Unhedged newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters Good morning. After Nvidia reported a 69 per cent year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue on Wednesday evening, its shares rose more than 3 per cent yesterday. Have a look at a longer-term chart, though: the…

Leftwing ‘brawler’ on verge of South Korea presidency

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Since losing the last presidential election by a margin of less than 1 per cent, South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has endured a barrage of criminal indictments and an assassination attempt. Now, he stands on the brink of victory. Opinion polls show the pugnacious leftwing former factory worker — who has campaigned in a bulletproof jacket — leading his rightwing rival Kim Moon-soo by a comfortable margin ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, which is likely to have far-reaching implications for South Korea’s democracy and its relations with the US,…

UK activist fund Palliser takes stake in Japanese tyremaker

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Japanese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. A UK-based activist fund has become a top shareholder in a leading Japanese tyremaker, betting it can pump up returns, shrink its balance sheet and even push for a sale as the global car sector goes through a period of rapid disruption. Palliser Capital is expected to announce on Friday at the Sohn Conference annual gathering of hedge fund managers in Hong Kong that it has taken a roughly…

China’s ‘cure’ to Hyperloop flaw, paraglider cheating death: 7 highlights

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We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US’ 500 military personnel in Taiwan an ‘open test’ of Beijing’s red lines Washington’s disclosure that around 500 US military personnel are stationed in Taiwan signals more open and substantial defence support for the island – a pivot from a previously discreet partnership that is…

‘Xenophobic’: US ban on Chinese student visas provokes backlash

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The Chinese embassy in Washington lodged a “solemn démarche with the US side without delay” on Thursday amid a growing backlash, including accusations of xenophobia, within the United States towards its decision to “aggressively” revoke Chinese student visas. Advertisement The démarche – a form of official diplomatic protest – comes a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that his department would work with the Department of Homeland Security to cancel the visas of Chinese students, including those in “critical fields” and with “connections” to the Communist Party, as…

Economist warns that financial sanctions could become new US-China battleground

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A prominent Chinese economist has cautioned that financial sanctions and countermeasures could “become a new battleground” in China-US rivalry, while adding that the chance of Washington launching full-scale financial sanctions against Beijing remained slim. Advertisement Lian Ping, chairman of the China Chief Economists Forum, a government advisory think tank, said that although the odds of full-blown measures remain low, Washington could adopt a strategy of “first targeting specific Chinese entities, then gradually expanding the scope to eventually push China out of the US dollar system”. His remarks, published on Thursday…

Hong Kong releases second group of democrats jailed for four years in national security trial

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Four people jailed in the landmark national security trial of the “Hong Kong 47”, the pro-democracy figures accused of conspiracy to commit subversion, were freed on Friday after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was longtime political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. CHRF was one of the largest pro-democracy groups in the former British colony and helped to organise…

India’s Ola Electric has a rough ride

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This article is an on-site version of the India Business Briefing newsletter. To receive it in your inbox regularly, sign up if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription here. Good morning. This has been a strange week, news-wise. Much like the rains in Delhi there seems to be a lot brewing beyond the horizon, and some storms impending, but very little to show for it at the moment. Quarterly GDP numbers will be out later today. Send me your predictions before the announcement. In today’s newsletter: India is trying…

Chinese tech groups prepare for AI future without Nvidia

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Artificial intelligence myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. China’s biggest technology companies have begun the long and difficult process of switching their development of artificial intelligence to homegrown chips, as they contend with a dwindling stockpile of Nvidia processors and tightening US export controls. Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu are among those starting to test alternative semiconductors to meet surging AI-related internal demand and client needs, according to industry executives. They have been forced to step up contingency planning…

China unveils world’s first AI nuke inspector

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Advertisement The technology, disclosed in a peer-reviewed paper published in April by researchers with the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), could bolster Beijing’s stance in stalled international disarmament talks while fuelling debate on the role of AI in managing weapons of mass destruction. The project, which is built on a protocol jointly proposed by Chinese and American scientists more than a decade ago, faced three monumental hurdles. These were – training and testing the AI using sensitive nuclear data (including real warhead specifications); convincing Chinese military leaders that the…