Day: September 4, 2025

Fear of China denies Taiwan film businesses a ‘Zero Day’ payout

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Taiwanese war drama Zero Day Attack has become a smash hit: the series, which imagines a Chinese attack on Taiwan, has topped viewer rankings on public television and streaming platforms in the month since its release. But most of Taiwan’s commercial film industry is watching from the sidelines. After venture capital funds and production companies shunned the politically sensitive script, its creator Cheng Hsin-mei produced the show like an experimental film, with a group of like-minded directors, money from a public film fund and investment from tech billionaire-turned anti-China campaigner…

Thai ‘cannabis king’ poised to be next PM

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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. Thai lawmakers are set to vote for a new prime minister on Friday, with a former businessman known as the “cannabis king” expected to become the country’s third prime minister in a year. Anutin Charnvirakul, from a family that owns a major construction company and who has been kingmaker in Thailand for the past decade, is best known for his support for the decriminalisation of cannabis. He stands to inherit…

Can Panasonic reinvent itself?

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The consumer electronics groups that led Japan’s golden era and put fear into industrial nations in the 1980s have almost all been reinvented or bought. With one glaring exception: Panasonic. Once a sponsor of the Olympic Games with its televisions, video players and microwaves in homes around the world, Panasonic is struggling to emulate its peers. Rivals Hitachi, Sony and NEC have been rewarded for executing painful business transformations, each surging six times in value over a decade, while Toshiba was sold in 2023 for $15bn to Japan Industrial Partners.…

China’s drone display at Victory Day parade signals new era of air power

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Among the many pieces of advanced military hardware showcased during Wednesday’s Victory Day parade in Beijing were at least four unnamed drones, at least one of which was a “loyal wingman”, a stealth attack drone supposedly capable of coordinated aerial warfare alongside crewed jets, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Advertisement The appearance left military observers to speculate about what they had seen, and raised many new questions. Some experts believe the advanced aircraft are capable of hypersonic cruising, improved stealth and elevated air combat power. “[The] reconnaissance-strike integrated drones, unmanned…

India overhauls goods and services tax system to boost growth

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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 from Delhi where we are finally seeing the first rays of sunshine after more than a week of relentless rain. I have been busy this week talking to leaders across various industries in preparation for the FT’s energy transition summit on September 16-17. I’ll be moderating panels on three topics: financing for renewable energy, what Indian states are…

Chinese province floats new use for digital yuan: paying long-delayed debts

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China is mulling the application of its digital yuan – the central bank-backed currency also known as the e-CNY – to tackle persistent payment defaults, a move that would broaden the asset’s scope beyond the set of use cases explored by Beijing since the currency’s launch in 2019. Advertisement Authorities in the central province of Hunan touched upon the subject when detailing plans to expand the digital currency’s application scenarios and scale, according to a document published last month. Hunan will “explore using the digital yuan to clear chain debts”…

US State Department employee sentenced for passing classified information

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A US State Department employee was sentenced to four years in prison in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday for conspiring to collect and transmit national defence secrets to individuals he believed were working for the Chinese government, according to the US Justice Department. Advertisement Michael Schena, age 42, sold “sensitive” US government documents to people who claimed to be international consultants, according to court documents, despite clear indications and his belief that they were working for Beijing, receiving at least US$10,000 in return…

China’s stablecoin bind: why US dollar tokens matter – and how Beijing may respond

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Once a niche corner of the cryptocurrency world, stablecoins have surged into the global spotlight this year, prompting analysts and industry insiders to declare that the digital asset’s time has come. Advertisement In July, US President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, establishing the first federal regulatory regime for stablecoins – a move many believe could pave the way for mass-market adoption. Shortly after, Hong Kong introduced its own ordinance, which took effect on August 1, requiring issuers to be licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Wall…

FirstFT: US and Taiwan held secret talks in Alaska

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This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here Good morning, happy Friday and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter: US and Taiwanese defence officials held secret talks in Alaska last week, days before President Xi Jinping flaunted China’s military might to the world at a massive parade in Beijing. What we know: Jed Royal, the Pentagon’s top Indo-Pacific official, met Hsu…

China’s vision of ‘true multilateralism’ resonates with Muslim world

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President Xi Jinping’s renewed call for a new global security and economic order that places the Global South at its core is more than rhetorical positioning against the United States. It signals a paradigm shift in the architecture of world politics. Advertisement Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday, Xi called on nations to “oppose hegemonism and power politics” and instead “practise true multilateralism”. The message was unmistakable: the dominance of the US in shaping global governance is being contested, and Beijing seeks an alternative…