Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen has convinced US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to meet in California rather than Taipei to avoid an aggressive Chinese military response, as tensions run high between Beijing and Washington. Several people familiar with the situation said Tsai and McCarthy had agreed to meet in the US because of Taiwanese security concerns.
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History shows that heavy spending on armaments may reduce rather than increase stability. Still, the two goals align nicely for delegates at China’s annual National People’s Congress. Within Chinese business, this will create winners among defence companies and losers across many other sectors. Chinese premier Li Keqiang mentioned the word “stability” 33 times in his
Starbucks has shelved plans to sell its owner-operated UK coffee shops and instead committed to opening 100 outlets this year, after a proposal to move to a fully franchised business model angered existing franchise partners. Duncan Moir, Starbucks president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea), on Monday said that despite being “cautious about
Xi Jinping has called Vladimir Putin his best friend. But now the Russian leader is in urgent need of help from China. Putin’s army is bogged down in Ukraine and running short of ammunition. Should Xi prove that he is a friend indeed by supplying Russia with weapons? China’s decision will say a lot about
CBI boss Tony Danker has stepped aside following an allegation over his workplace conduct at the UK’s largest business group. The CBI on Monday said it had been told in January of an allegation regarding its director-general, which was investigated and dealt with “in line with CBI procedure”. It said the investigation “determined that the
European stocks rose in morning trade on Monday, extending a short rally, as investors awaited economic data and comments from central banks to provide more evidence on the future path for interest rates. The benchmark Stoxx 600 rose 0.1 per cent, with Germany’s Dax up 0.3 per cent. The FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent,
Estonia’s prime minister Kaja Kallas has won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections, a triumph for one of the EU and Nato’s most pro-Ukraine voices. Kallas’s liberal Reform party came in first place in Sunday’s vote, taking 37 seats of the 101 in Estonia’s parliament and putting her in pole position to carry on as
Of the hundreds of climbers who set out every year to scale Mount Everest, only about two-thirds reach the summit. EY’s global chair, Carmine Di Sibio, thinks he has better odds for his own ambitious adventure: a plan, known internally as Project Everest, which would split the Big Four accounting firm by spinning off its
Technocrats and politicians reflexively justify power grabs by citing external threats. That authoritarian tendency has found an improbable exponent in Jon Cunliffe. This respected deputy governor of the Bank of England recently launched a programme to develop a digital pound. The central bank anticipates overlapping with commercial banks in some key activities while gaining sweeping
America leads on innovation, and Europe on regulation, or so the conventional wisdom goes. But recently, the US seems to have taken the lead in the latter, particularly in politically powerful industries like technology, pharma and finance. Just last week, Eli Lilly, the producer of popular insulin medications Humalog and Humulin, pledged to reduce its
The UK tax authority has prosecuted only eight cases in the past two years for the enabling of tax evasion, despite pledging to pursue the lawyers, accountants and financial institutions that help clients carry out tax fraud. Instead, there has been a steep drop from the 43 prosecutions brought by HM Revenue & Customs in
The UK government risks squandering a “God-given” opportunity to kickstart the economy and accelerate the shift to renewable energy by failing to reform the planning process for big infrastructure projects, the head of Scottish Power has warned. Keith Anderson, chief executive of Scottish Power, said that almost two years into the energy crisis the government
Unite the Union, one of the UK’s biggest trade unions, on Sunday announced that ambulance strikes due to take place in England this week had been called off after it agreed to participate in talks with the government over pay. The union, which planned strike action on Monday and Wednesday across seven ambulance trusts, had
A leading business group has called on the UK energy regulator to take urgent action against providers that are found to be mistreating corporate customers, as high gas and electricity costs continue to put many small companies at risk of collapse. In a letter seen by the Financial Times, the Institute of Directors urged Ofgem
Beijing is pressing Hong Kong’s elite to give up their western passports in order to be selected for the Chinese parliament as it tries to stamp out foreign influence and tighten control of the territory. Officials told politicians and tycoons wishing to represent Hong Kong at China’s top decision-making body to renounce passports or travel
One of Credit Suisse’s longest-standing shareholders has sold its entire stake in the scandal-hit Swiss bank after losing patience with its strategy amid persistent losses and a client exodus. US investment manager Harris Associates, whose deputy chair and chief investment officer David Herro was for years among the Swiss bank’s most prominent supporters, owned as
The boss of BP’s US business has insisted that the company is sticking with its promised transition away from fossil fuels even though it plans an aggressive oil output increase in the country and is slowing down its planned production cuts elsewhere. BP announced a scaling back of its climate goals last month as it
The UK government’s flagship pledge to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 has been hit by inflation and officials are debating which projects to delay as the NHS capital budget faces a shortfall of close to £2bn by 2027/8. As Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, prepares for the Budget on March 15, people close to the
Prime minister Rishi Sunak will introduce new laws this week barring anyone arriving in the UK by small boats across the English Channel from claiming asylum. The government is expected to put forward a bill on Tuesday that will also place a legal onus on the home secretary to remove anyone using irregular routes into
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has defended her government’s actions in the hours before a deadly migrant shipwreck just metres from shore, amid intensifying allegations that the tragedy could easily have been averted. “I wonder if there is really anyone in this country who in conscience believes that the government deliberately let more than 60 people
Last month the governor of Xinjiang, the Chinese region where the UN warns that crimes against humanity may be taking place against interned Uyghur Muslims, was planning a trip to Europe. It was an initiative from which no one emerged with credit. Erkin Tuniyaz’s visit became a political trap for officials in London and Brussels,