There comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued. Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against absent leaders. Keir Starmer is in transit between those two zones of decline. His position is not yet imperilled by the row over Andy Burnham’s thwarted ambition to run in the Gorton…
Month: January 2026
Xi’s purge of top general sends China’s military into uncharted waters
On the day Xi Jinping publicly purged his top general, it was business as usual for the People’s Liberation Army, which sent 29 aircraft and six warships towards Taiwan, as it trains for taking the island the Chinese leader insists Beijing must eventually control. But analysts and intelligence officials believe that President Xi’s toppling of General Zhang Youxia, the crowning act of what has become the most sweeping purge in the PLA’s history, means China’s military is entering uncharted waters. While many experts argued that Zhang’s downfall, which was announced…
Stable genius? How a defective ‘crying horse’ toy went viral in China
On 17 February China will celebrate the start of the year of the horse, the zodiac sign symbolising high energy and hard work. But the runaway success of a defective stuffed toy suggests that many Chinese are not feeling the vibe. A red horse toy produced by Happy Sister in the city of Yiwu in the west of China was meant to wear a broad grin, but a factory error meant it hit the shops sporting a despairing grimace. Because the smile was placed upside down, the horse’s nostrils could…
Taiwan’s defence ministry slams TPP’s ‘unworkable’ military spending plan
Taiwan’s defence ministry on Tuesday pushed back against an opposition party proposal to cut a planned NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special military budget to NT$400 billion and drop plans for the “T-Dome” layered air defence system. It said the plan would not only be unworkable but could also undermine the island’s defence readiness in the face of mounting military pressure from Beijing. The warning came as Taiwan’s legislature remained deadlocked over the special funding bill, which was blocked for the 10th time on Tuesday by opposition lawmakers. Advertisement The latest…
Indonesian shares plunge after MSCI warns about market’s investability
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Indonesian shares have plunged after index provider MSCI warned about the market’s investability and a potential downgrade. The Jakarta Composite index opened 7 per cent lower on Wednesday before paring some losses. It was recently down 5.3 per cent. MSCI on Tuesday said it had concluded consultations on Indonesian securities’ free-float assessment and found persisting “fundamental investability issues”. Recommended The index compiler said it would stop making changes to Indonesian…
‘Dirt cheap’ shoppers become Japan’s key voters
At the OK discount supermarket in Tokyo’s Togoshi district, Fumiko Kobayashi is loading her bicycle basket and rucksack with shopping she increasingly struggles to afford. Purchases that cost ¥6,000 ($39) three years ago are now ¥10,000, she complains. “Our household budget has been compressed, and my income isn’t going up,” said the 74-year-old pensioner, who said her vote in Japan’s general election next month would not go to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and the long-incumbent Liberal Democratic Party. Across the city 36-year-old office worker Yukie Ohara used to shop at…
AI will not lead to mass layoffs, says head of India’s largest IT services company
The head of India’s largest IT services company has dismissed fears that AI will upend the $300bn outsourcing industry and lead to mass lay-offs, as companies in the sector signal signs of stabilisation after the disruptive launch of ChatGPT. Tata Consultancy Services chief executive K Krithivasan said he did not expect further large-scale cuts after India’s largest private employer lost nearly 30,000 people, or 5 per cent of its workforce, through lay-offs and voluntary exits over the past two quarters. “There will always be some segment within some small pockets…
China has a drug that could help India battle deadly Nipah virus outbreak: study
A Chinese drug could help manage outbreaks of Nipah and prevent the spread of the deadly virus that has no vaccine or cure, researchers said. The virus has a fatality rate of up to 75 per cent and the most recent outbreak in the Indian state of West Bengal has infected at least five people. While the virus has no approved treatment, researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology have found that VV116 – an oral antiviral drug originally developed to treat Covid-19 – allowed two-thirds of… South China Morning…
China’s slowing overseas investment reflects caution, not retreat
China’s latest outbound investment numbers look underwhelming at first glance. At the commerce ministry’s recently concluded national conference on outbound investment and foreign aid, officials revealed that outward direct investment grew by just 1.3 per cent in 2025, a sharp slowdown from the double-digit pace seen in 2024 and 2023. On paper, it appeared to confirm a cooling of China’s overseas expansion. That conclusion misses what is actually changing. The more important story is not the… South China Morning Post
Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight amid threats from climate crisis and AI
Planet closer to destruction as Russia, China and US become more aggressive and nationalistic, says advocacy group Earth is closer than it has ever been to destruction as Russia, China, the US and other countries become “increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic”, a science-oriented advocacy group said on Tuesday as it advanced its Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds until midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist members had an initial demonstration on Friday and then announced their results on Tuesday. Continue reading… The Guardian