It was the stuff of Bond villains. Two ageing autocrats, their younger ally in tow, ambled down a red-carpeted ramp before a military parade in Beijing when a hot mic picked up a question that seemed to be on their minds: how long could they keep going – and, between the lines, might science allow them to rule for ever? With advances in technology, Russia’s Vladimir Putin assured Xi Jinping via his translator that “human organs can be constantly transplanted, to the extent that people can get younger, perhaps even…
Category: Media Library
Thai tycoon who backed cannabis elected PM
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Thai lawmakers have elected a former businessman and political veteran known as the “cannabis king” as prime minister, the country’s third leader in just over a year. Anutin Charnvirakul, who comes from a family that owns a major construction company, received 311 votes on Friday, easily surpassing the 247 needed from lawmakers in the lower house of parliament. A conservative and staunch royalist who has been a kingmaker in Thai…
Fear of China denies Taiwan film businesses a ‘Zero Day’ payout
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
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?
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.…
India overhauls goods and services tax system to boost growth
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…
FirstFT: US and Taiwan held secret talks in Alaska
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…
Anthropic to stop selling AI services to majority Chinese-owned groups
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Anthropic will stop selling artificial intelligence services to groups majority owned by Chinese entities, in the first such policy shift by an American AI company. The San Francisco-based developer of Claude AI is trying to limit the ability of Beijing to use its technology to benefit China’s military and intelligence services, according to an Anthropic executive who briefed the Financial Times. The policy, which takes effect immediately, will apply to…
US and Taiwanese defence officials held secret talks in Alaska
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world 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 parade attended by fellow strongmen. Jed Royal, the Pentagon’s top Indo-Pacific official, met Hsu Szu-chien, then Taiwan’s deputy national security adviser, in Anchorage, according to several people familiar with the matter. The talks came months after a Washington meeting between more senior…
The Guardian view on Xi, Putin and Kim: heed China’s statement of intent, but don’t take it as fact | Editorial
On Wednesday morning, Beijingers living near Tiananmen Square were issued with cold breakfast packs and ordered to refrain from cooking, lest smoke from stoves cloud the skies above the mammoth military parade. China’s Communist party goes to extraordinary lengths to ensure that nothing obscures the message of such performances – in this case, that Xi Jinping is reshaping the global order and that China is, in his words, “unstoppable”. The parade marked 80 years since the end of the second world war, positioning China as the critical force in victory…