Good Morning. Welcome to The Wire’s daily news roundup. Each day, our staff gathers the top China business, finance, and economics headlines from a selection of the world’s leading news organizations.
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The Wall Street Journal
- Suspected Trump Gunman Touted Potential ‘Taiwan Foreign Legion’ — Ryan Routh proposed a force of thousands to defend the island against China.
- Opinion: TikTok’s Bad Free-Speech Case — The real question is foreign control, as the judges seem to realize. By The Editorial Board.
The Financial Times
- America should think twice before replacing sanctions with tariffs — Donald Trump complains that they are undermining the supremacy of the dollar.
- Hong Kong regulator relaxes rules on sharing China ETF research — Uptake of funds sold via ETF Connect has been hindered by strict interpretation of rules preventing promotion.
- China’s growing military activity makes a shift to war harder to spot, warns Taiwan — Defence minister says Taipei will not have as long to respond to any emergency as in the past.
- India overtakes China in world’s biggest investable stock benchmark — Red-hot Indian equities propel country past China weighting in MSCI All-Country index.
- Opinion: Must countries choose between the west and China? — The ‘in-betweeners’ have profited from diverse trade relations — but may increasingly have to choose sides. By Martin Sandbu.
The New York Times
- Chinese Automakers’ Answer to E.U. Tariffs: Build in Europe — BYD, which leads China’s electric vehicle sector, is constructing a plant in Hungary while its Chinese rivals expand through joint ventures in Europe.
- Tropical Storm Pulasan Nears Shanghai After Grazing Japan — Pulasan was expected to make landfall near the Chinese financial hub by Friday morning. Forecasters warned of potential floods and landslides.
- Opinion: America’s Role in the World Is Hard. It Just Got Much Harder. — The explosion of wireless devices across Lebanon casts in sharp relief the challenges of U.S. foreign policy facing Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. By Thomas L. Friedman.
Caixin
- China Mobilizes Non-Bank Financial Firms to Drive Industrial Upgrades — Leasing and consumer finance companies asked to ease the path to intelligent, eco-friendly industrial developments.
- Why and How China’s Overhauling Monetary Policy — In the final part of this three-part series, we explain why the PBOC restarted trading government bonds in the secondary market and how that can help monetary policy management.
- China’s Two Largest Shipbuilders Set Stock Swap Terms For $38 Billion Merger — After the merger, CSSC will emerge as a dominant player in the global shipbuilding industry.
South China Morning Post
- China’s home-grown C919 reaches new heights with flight to ‘roof of the world’ — C919 ‘smoothly landed’ at one of the highest airports in the world in western China on Thursday ahead of a series of ‘research and development test flights’.
- Mainland China puts exit ban on exec from Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group — The executive was detained on arrival in Shanghai and has not been able to return since, report says.
- China names and shames 8 authorities after warning struggling regions to curb hidden debt — Notices from top legislature and finance ministry come with debt management under the microscope amid scramble to achieve economic growth targets for 2024.
- Huawei’s Mate XT tri-fold smartphone sparks frenzy, prompting scalpers to raise prices — Scalpers at electronics marketplace Huaqiangbei aim to resell the Mate XT’s base model for up to US$9,866, above Huawei’s US$2,800 price tag.
- Opinion: How China is becoming the Saudi Arabia of renewables — China’s declining demand for fossil fuels and increased clean-energy capacity could usher in a new shift in global wealth distribution. By Andy Xie.
Nikkei Asia
- ‘Smash iron woks’ — a Great Leap Forward idiom returns to China — In Xi Jinping’s China, local government officials are using a metaphor about selling woks as scrap metal as they struggle to pay down their mountains of debt.
- North Korea’s trade with China on track to recovery from floods — August brings improvement in exports, imports over disaster-hit July.
- China-friendly Kiribati president aims for third and final term — Taneti Maamau seen as favorite after pro-Taiwan opposition leader fails to make cut.
- Hong Kong jails man 14 months for ‘seditious’ T-shirt — First Article 23 sentence comes as city spars with West, shows fealty to Beijing.
- Opinion: Huawei shows Chinese firms can profit by playing long game — Tech giant is challenging capitalist logic, and this is bad news for foreign rivals. By Antonia Hmaidi.
Bloomberg
- Xi Unleashes a Crisis for Millions of China’s Best-Paid Workers — China created a professional class in record time. Now, just as swiftly, many of their dreams are being crushed.
- Top Philippine Envoy Says No Deal With China on Ship Pullout — The Philippines did not enter into an agreement with China to pull out its ship from a South China Sea flashpoint, Manila’s top diplomat said Thursday.
- China’s Failing US Lobby Playbook Puts Tech Companies at Risk — US lawmakers are signaling to China that the world’s second-largest economy and its companies face a tough slog in America for the foreseeable future, regardless of who controls Washington after the November election.
- Polysilicon Prices Forecast to Rise on Chinese Production Cuts — The price of polysilicon — a key ingredient in solar panels — should rally through the year-end as producers cut capacity due to a slump in the sector, the China Silicon Industry Association said.
- Opinion: This Piece of Chinese Exceptionalism Couldn’t Last — The world’s second-largest economy is finally raising the retirement age like other countries. By Karishma Vaswani.
Reuters
- China to ramp up policy steps to revive economy but no ‘bazooka’ stimulus seen — Policymakers are navigating a complicated economic landscape, with China’s reliance on infrastructure spending to drive growth exacerbating debt risks.
- US keeps missile system in Philippines as China tensions rise — The Typhon system, which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was brought in for joint exercises earlier this year, both countries said at the time, but has remained there.
- Former US Secretary Kerry calls for new trade rules, cooperation with China on climate — The former Biden campaign worker took issue with the rising use of tariffs on Chinese imports that Biden and former President Donald Trump have relied on to rebuild U.S. industry and encourage clean energy businesses.
Other Publications
- The Washington Post: U.S. and allies seize control of massive Chinese tech spying network — FBI director hails successful action but calls it “just one round in a much longer fight.”
- The Guardian: ‘It breaks us deeply’: anguish as China closes door to foreign adoptions — For couples in the US mid-way through the adoption process, news of an end to international adoptions has been crushing.
