Month: October 2025

Taiwan becomes largest importer of Russian naphtha

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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. Taiwan has been buying millions of tonnes of oil product naphtha from Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, raising concerns that China could lean on Moscow to choke off supplies and threaten Taipei’s economic security. Monthly imports of the hydrocarbon liquid, which is used to make chemicals for technology and semiconductor manufacturing, have surged over the first half of 2025 to an average of six times higher than 2022…

Taiwan’s soaring Russian naphtha imports raise economic security fears

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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. Taiwan has been buying millions of tonnes of oil product naphtha from Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, raising concerns China could lean on Moscow to choke off supplies and threaten Taipei’s economic security. Monthly imports of the hydrocarbon liquid, which is used to make chemicals for technology and semiconductor manufacturing, have surged over the first half of 2025 to an average of six times higher than 2022 levels,…

China’s military sees threat in expanded US drills with Japan and South Korea

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The US military’s expanded joint cyber and AI-integrated exercises with Japan and South Korea pose a risk to regional security, a Chinese military commentary has warned. Advertisement “[The exercises] … have gone beyond traditional military cooperation and are evolving into strategic tools for the external power to destabilise regional security dynamics,” Ji wrote. The article said “exaggerated regional threats” about China and North Korea were used to justify the drills, which had increased in frequency, geographic reach and operational domains. South Korea’s Lee says Seoul prepared to shoulder defence costs…

China surpasses 10,000km of subsea pipelines, boosting offshore energy network

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China has reached a major milestone in offshore energy infrastructure, with the total subsea pipeline network now exceeding 10,000km (6,213 miles), as the country accelerates efforts to explore offshore resources to meet its energy-security needs. Advertisement The milestone was achieved as the final section of a deep-sea pipeline was installed on Sunday in northern China’s Bohai Bay, according to state broadcaster CCTV. As one of China’s largest offshore oil-production bases, Bohai Bay now hosts the country’s densest subsea pipeline network, with more than 3,200km (1,988 miles) of underwater oil and…

Albanese hopes China’s reported BHP iron ore ban ‘very much short-term’ as ASX dips

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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will meet with the boss of BHP amid a shock report that the world’s largest mining company faces a Chinese blockade on its iron ore shipments. Beijing’s state iron ore buyer has told steelmakers to pause imports of BHP ore, amid hardball negotiations over the price of the crucial resource, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Chalmers said the reports were “concerning” but ultimately a matter for the company to work through. “I’ll have discussions with [BHP chief executive] Mike Henry about that in due course, when we…

Why has the US government shut down and what’s next?

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At 12.01am on Wednesday, US Eastern time (12.01pm Hong Kong time), the US government shut down after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to reach a funding deal. Advertisement Here, the Post examines why this happened and what will be affected. Why has the government shut down? Government shutdowns occur when Republicans and Democrats in the US Congress cannot reach a deal to continue government funding by the time current funding lapses – in this case, at the end of the 2025 financial year on September 30, 2025. A US…

Europe will lose out to China in e-trucks without EU action, warns industry

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Electric vehicles myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Europe will fall behind China in the electrification of trucks if Brussels does not take urgent action to support the transition, industry has warned. Carmakers have become increasingly vocal in their calls for the European Commission to reconsider a ban on petrol engines starting in 2035.  But truck manufacturers have struggled with an even slower uptake of electric lorries due to the lack of investment in charging infrastructure and electricity…

US$1.4 billion Tazara rail deal puts China on fast track to Africa’s Copperbelt

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The Chinese state-owned construction giant that built the Mao Zedong-era Tanzania-Zambia railway is returning to the project with a US$1.4 billion commitment to overhaul and run the line as it increasingly becomes geoeconomically important for China. Advertisement In a deal struck on Monday, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) agreed to an initial US$1.1 billion investment plus a further US$238 million to be reinvested into the severely dilapidated Tazara Railway, as the line is known. The 1,860km (1,156-mile) line connects Zambia’s Copperbelt region to the Tanzanian port of Dar es…

Indonesia’s tycoons line up to buy ‘patriot’ bonds

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Indonesia’s richest tycoons are lining up to buy so-called patriot bonds despite below-market yields, in a show of support for President Prabowo Subianto.   People familiar with the matter said four leading tycoons — who have a combined wealth of $114.5bn, according to estimates by Forbes magazine — had committed to buying the bonds to be issued by sovereign fund Danantara. Danantara, which controls Indonesia’s state-owned businesses and has assets worth more than $900bn, plans to raise about Rp50tn ($3bn) by selling the bonds, primarily to fund waste-to-energy projects, according to…

Indonesia tycoons line up to buy ‘patriot’ bonds

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Indonesia’s richest tycoons are lining up to buy so-called patriot bonds despite below-market yields, in a show of support for President Prabowo Subianto.   People familiar with the matter said four leading tycoons — who have a combined wealth of $114.5bn, according to estimates by Forbes magazine — had committed to buying the bonds to be issued by sovereign fund Danantara. Danantara, which controls Indonesia’s state-owned businesses and has assets worth more than $900bn, plans to raise about Rp50tn ($3bn) by selling the bonds, primarily to fund waste-to-energy projects, according to…