South China Morning Post
US-China trade war truce could help break-up efforts
Day: February 12, 2026
Free trade or fortress Europe? The battle for the soul of the EU economy
A 16th-century Flemish castle is the setting on Thursday as European leaders try to resolve a set of economic tensions haunting Europe that are almost as old: the pull between free trade and protection, integration and sovereignty. Seven years after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen first proclaimed a “geopolitical Europe”, the meeting will be a crucial test of how far the bloc is willing to stray from its free-market chops following a year in which at times, it seemed to be the only one still bothered with the…
SoftBank swings to profit, boosted by gain from OpenAI investment
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. SoftBank generated a net profit of ¥248.6bn ($1.6bn) in its fiscal third quarter, driven by a $4.2bn gain from founder Masayoshi Son’s large and growing investment in OpenAI. The figure for the three-month period to December compares with a loss of ¥369bn in the same quarter last year, the company said on Thursday. It missed analyst expectations of ¥398bn profit, according to LSEG data. SoftBank’s earnings were driven by uneven…
EU leaders to clash over ‘Buy European’ push at Belgium summit
EU leaders are expected to diverge on whether “Buy European” is an answer to Europe’s waning economic fortunes, at a summit on how to secure the continent’s future in a more volatile global economy. At a moated castle in the east Belgian countryside, the EU’s 27 leaders will gather on Thursday for a brainstorming session on how Europe can regain its economic competitiveness vis-a-vis the US and China, at a time of economic threats and political turbulence. The question of Europe’s declining competitiveness has long troubled the EU, but gained…
China’s Middle East arms edge overshadowed by Turkey and South Korea at Riyadh show
With jets forming complex formations overhead and displays on the ground of the world’s most advanced fighters, manufacturers from the US, China, South Korea and Turkey gathered in Riyadh to pursue deals of financial and strategic weight. China exhibited model J-10CE and J-35A fighter jets, along with Wing Loong and Rainbow series drones which have been making inroads into the Middle East. Analysts noted that while Chinese drones were continuing to attract buyers, challenges remained in securing Middle Eastern customers for its fighter jets, given the political landscape. Advertisement China…
ANZ shares soar as Matos’s cost-cutting shows early promise
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The turnaround of Australian bank ANZ under former HSBC executive Nuno Matos has shown early signs of promise after strong first-quarter results sent shares soaring to a record high. ANZ on Thursday reported net profit in the quarter to the end of December rose to A$1.9bn ($1.4bn). It said the figure was 17 per cent higher than the average over the second half, when excluding charges it booked last year…
China’s Wingtech faces setback as Dutch court keeps Nexperia CEO suspended, orders probe
A Netherlands court has upheld the suspension of Zhang Xuezheng, former CEO of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, and ordered an investigation into the company’s governance – another setback for Chinese parent company Wingtech. “The Enterprise Chamber … acknowledges that Nexperia faced complex dilemmas due to geopolitical developments. However, this does not mean that an investigation should be omitted in this case,” the court said in its ruling, published on Wednesday. Advertisement It said it had decided to maintain Zhang’s suspension to allow the company to exercise firm leadership free from internal…
Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity — brutality behind the propaganda
Ever since Frank Dikötter’s first book, The Discourse of Race in Modern China (1992), this prolific star of China studies has challenged conventional truths and broached taboo subjects. Earlier in his career, he often dealt in sexy topics such as race, sex and drugs — which was why, already in the 1990s, Dikötter’s histories sold like paperback novels. In the 2000s-2010s, Dikötter widened his reach, becoming perhaps best known for his stark trilogy on Mao Zedong’s years in power: The Tragedy of Liberation (2013), Mao’s Great Famine (2010), and The Cultural Revolution (2016). Mao’s Great Famine won much acclaim but…
Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity — the brutality behind the propaganda
Ever since Frank Dikötter’s first book, The Discourse of Race in Modern China (1992), this prolific star of China studies has challenged conventional truths and broached taboo subjects. Earlier in his career, he often dealt in sexy topics such as race, sex and drugs — which was why, already in the 1990s, Dikötter’s histories sold like paperback novels. In the 2000s-2010s, Dikötter widened his reach, becoming perhaps best known for his stark trilogy on Mao Zedong’s years in power: The Tragedy of Liberation (2013), Mao’s Great Famine (2010), and The Cultural Revolution (2016). Mao’s Great Famine won much acclaim but…