The US has approached China seeking talks over Donald Trump’s 145% tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state media has said, potentially signalling Beijing’s openness to negotiations. “The US has proactively reached out to China through multiple channels, hoping to hold discussions on the tariff issue,” Yuyuan Tantian reported in a post published on its official Weibo social media account, citing anonymous sources. US officials, including the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, also expressed hope for progress in easing trade tensions. Hassett…
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China watches divided White House, C919’s EU endorsement delay: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China waits to see which Trump adviser will come out on top on tariffs: sources China will hold off on entering serious trade talks with the US while it waits to see which of Donald Trump’s advisers will have his ear and how other countries will respond to the 90-day pause on tariffs, according to sources. 2. China’s C919 stuck on tarmac in Europe…
Chinese PLA soldiers make first-ever appearance at Vietnam’s fall of Saigon parade
Soldiers from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday made their first ever appearance at Vietnam’s annual celebration of the fall of Saigon, marching in its biggest ever parade to mark 50 years since the end of Vietnam’s civil war. Advertisement Vietnam’s defence ministry invited a PLA honour guard to join the military parade in Ho Chi Minh City, a display that marked the end of the civil war 50 years ago, which saw the ruling party defeat the regime that controlled southern Vietnam. The celebration came as both sides…
Is China justified in still calling itself a developing country?
In a speech on April 23rd America’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, laid out the Trump administration’s vision for the global financial system. Rather than announcing that America was leaving the imf and World Bank, as some had feared, Mr Bessent’s “blueprint to restore equilibrium” put the Bretton Woods institutions clearly at its centre. They are now to police abuses of the system, he said, including those committed by China. The Economist
Edible rats are China’s latest live-streaming stars
Like millions of rural Chinese people before her, when Xing Jianli was younger she left her village and went to a big city, finding work in a clothes factory. But now the 38-year-old is back on the farm and making more money than she ever did at a sewing machine. She grows peonies—bright flouncy flowers that flourish in the countryside around the city of Heze, in her home province of Shandong in eastern China. To sell them, she live-streams from her fields to a virtual audience who pay for bouquets…
Former Harvard professor convicted over China ties joins Tsinghua University
Retired Harvard University chemist and nanoscientist Charles Lieber, who was convicted in 2021 for not disclosing his connections to a Chinese talent programme, has joined Tsinghua University as a chair professor. Advertisement Lieber, 66, a pioneer in the integration of nanotechnology for use in biology and medicine, will be researching at the Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, launched by the top Chinese university in 2019. Lieber said his goal in the next few years was to “work with everyone to build a global science and technology hub and realise more…
Papal inauguration risks raising tensions between China and Taiwan
Next week, 135 cardinals will gather inside the Vatican for the conclave, a secretive meeting to decide who will succeed the late Pope Francis. Around the world, people are speculating: who will the next pontiff be? But in Taiwan, a more common discussion has been: who are we sending to the inauguration? The former vice-president Chen Chien-jen recently returned from Vatican City, where he represented Taiwan at Francis’s funeral. But the committed Catholic hopes he won’t be asked to repeat the journey to welcome in the successor. Instead, he is…
A guide to Japanese woodblock master Hiroshige — according to his leading collector
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The American businessman Alan Medaugh, 81, has spent 50 years building up an unparalleled collection of woodblock prints by the famed Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). With 850 works, his collection is the largest in private hands outside Japan, and now Medaugh has donated 35 of them to the British Museum. They are part of a 117-strong exhibition of his holdings entitled Hiroshige: Artist of the Open Road. It will…
China’s ex-trade negotiator takes lesser role as Trump tariff war heats up
Wang Shouwen, China’s former vice-minister of commerce and one of its chief trade negotiators during the first Trump administration, has taken on a lesser role at a semi-official commerce body. Advertisement His new title at the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), the country’s largest non-governmental chamber of commerce, remains undisclosed, but the ACFIC website confirmed Wang had taken part in a study session as a member of its leadership team on Wednesday. Beijing announced last month that Li Chenggang, China’s envoy to the World Trade Organization, would replace…
South Korea’s acting president resigns to prepare election bid
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. South Korea’s interim leader has announced his resignation as he plans to stand for president in snap elections next month, throwing Asia’s fourth-largest economy into further uncertainty. Han Duck-soo, a career technocrat who has never held elected office, took over as acting president after the impeachment in December of conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law. Han, who also serves as prime minister, had…