Daniel Andrews has hit back at critics of his decision to attend China’s military parade alongside Russian president Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying it was a chance for him to “meet and engage with regional leaders”. The former Victorian premier, known for his interest in bolstering his state’s ties with China while he was in the job, was pictured at the ceremony on Wednesday and was quickly criticised for posing with the so-called “axis of upheaval”. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Myanmar’s junta leader, Min…
Day: September 4, 2025
Chinese stocks slide the most in 5 months
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese stocks slid the most in five months on Thursday, a day after President Xi Jinping projected his nation’s global ambition with a landmark military parade in Beijing. The blue-chip CSI 300 benchmark fell 2.1 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1 per cent. China’s tech-focused Star 50 index shed 6.2 per cent. The CSI 300 surged more than 10 per cent in August, fuelled by a…
China targets US fibre-optic firms after Washington sanctions chemical producer
China has slapped American fibre-optic firms with anti-dumping tariffs – a move announced hours after the US Treasury imposed sanctions on a Guangzhou-based chemical firm, over fentanyl claims. Advertisement The duties, ranging from 33.3 to 78.2 per cent, went into immediate effect and are to remain in place until April 2028, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday in an online statement. Specifically, OFS Fitel faces a 33.3 per cent tariff, Corning a 37.9 per cent levy, and Draka Communications Americas, along with other unidentified US firms, were hit with…
Chinese stocks slide most in five months
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Chinese stocks slid the most in five months on Thursday, the day after President Xi Jinping projected his nation’s global ambition with a landmark military parade in Beijing. The blue-chip CSI 300 benchmark fell 2.5 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped more than 1 per cent. China’s tech-heavy STAR 50 index shed more than 5 per cent. The CSI 300 index surged more than 10 per cent…
Taiwan’s criticism of military parade in Beijing exposes its own weaknesses
Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te must be having a brain melt. His ideological attacks on Beijing have become more incoherent by the day. Advertisement His ruling Democratic Progressive Party is now a premature lame duck after its abject failure to unseat a single one of the 31 Kuomintang lawmakers targeted in Taiwan’s recent recall votes. Maybe that’s why it is lashing out in all directions. Its latest attack? Shen Yu-chung, a deputy minister with the island’s Mainland Affairs Council, has accused Beijing of squandering the equivalent of 2 per cent…
Thursday briefing: China flexes its muscle in the tussle for global dominance
Good morning. All eyes have been on China this week as the second biggest global economy flexed its muscles. Dozens of world leaders, including from the global south, authoritarian pariah states and the EU, attended China’s largest ever military parade on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, which China calls the war of resistance against Japanese aggression. China’s president, Xi Jinping, was flanked by the Russian and North Korean leaders, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, in what has widely been called a…
Venice’s Lion of St Mark’s Square was at least part made in China, study suggests
The great bronze statue of a winged lion perched atop one of two granite columns in Venice’s St Mark’s Square has watched over the city for centuries. But Italian scientists have now found evidence to suggest the iconic statue was at least in part made in China, and possibly ended up in Venice via the Silk Road after being brought back by the father and uncle of the merchant and explorer Marco Polo. In research due to be published in the journal Antiquity, scientists from the University of Padua found…
Car sector calls for EU to copy China and include hybrids in emissions push
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the European companies myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Europe should follow the Chinese “playbook” and include hybrids in its push to lower emissions from cars, industry bosses have said, as they warned Brussels that sticking to its 2035 ban on petrol engines put the bloc’s biggest industry at risk. Ola Källenius, the president of European car industry body ACEA, told the Financial Times that China was the most advanced country in “decarbonisation of mobility” thanks to a policy…
Chinese hold nuanced views of US rivalry and Russia, North Korea friendships
Americans tend to believe that China wants to create a new world order to knock the United States off its perch, but the results of a survey released this week suggest Chinese people are far more nuanced and flexible in this view, providing avenues to reduce US-China tension, experts said on Wednesday. Advertisement The survey of ordinary Chinese, by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and The Carter Centre, depicts a public that is optimistic about their nation’s future, economy, military and culture. They also regard their country as the…