Day: February 12, 2024

Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida seeks summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is intensifying efforts to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, as he pushes for a diplomatic breakthrough with the dictator in a bid to save his faltering premiership. The summit being pushed by Kishida would seek to secure the release of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago, according to people in Washington and Tokyo familiar with the diplomatic talks. Kishida stepped up efforts…

Year of the Dragon in Kenya: Chinese get a taste of home away from home at Lunar New Year gala in Nairobi

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Attendees were treated to Chinese music, dragon dance and kung fu performances, as well as plays and cultural exhibitions, including a fashion show featuring the traditional qipao. The hundreds of visitors also had the chance to try a range of traditional Chinese food. Zhang came to Nairobi two years ago to work at the Two Rivers Mall, a shopping complex in the city’s diplomatic blue circle built as a joint venture between Kenya’s Centum Investment Co and Chinese firm Avic. He said sampling food from different provinces helped him to…

Chinese biotech firm Wuxi AppTec should be sanctioned as a security threat, US lawmakers tell White House officials

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The US should review Chinese biotech firm Wuxi AppTec and its affiliate Wuxi Biologics for sanctions, a bipartisan group of lawmakers told top Biden administration officials on Monday. In a letter dated February 12 and seen by Reuters, the lawmakers told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that the global pharmaceutical giant’s links to China’s Communist Party and military threatened US national security. The letter, signed by the Republican chair and Democratic ranking member of the House select committee on China, Representatives Mike…

Year of the Dragon is now Year of the Loong, according to China

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As many celebrate the Lunar New Year this week, the English use of the word “dragon” has struck controversy in China, including its most international city, Hong Kong. Chinese state media like CCTV and CGTN have abandoned the use of “dragon” for a phonetic transliteration “loong”. “Loong” doesn’t follow the official romanization system used for Chinese in the country, hanyu pinyu, which would write it as “long”. CGTN also released a video about the “Long History of Loong,” in which the “dragon year” became the “loong year” and “dragon dance”…

US-based activist continues to speak up for Vietnam minority

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Vang Seo Gia arrived in the United States on Feb.1 with his wife and son after the ethnic Hmong family spent six years living in Thailand as refugees. The Hmong, many of whom are Christian, live mainly in Vietnam’s Central Highlands where they struggle to obtain ID documents and face land grabs from the local government. Gia, a founder of the Hmong Human Rights Coalition, told Radio Free Asia he fled Vietnam after police arrested and killed his nephew Ma Sea Sung. Gia and his family demanded an investigation into…

Nigerian rail projects drive home China’s commitment to African infrastructure development

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It came after a promise in October by Chinese President Xi Jinping to finance and complete the Abuja-Kano and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri railway projects during a meeting with Nigerian Vice-President Kashim Shettima on the sidelines of the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. China had agreed to provide 85 per cent financing for the construction of the two railway projects, while Nigeria was to pay the remaining 15 per cent. This money has since been earmarked by Nigeria for the project, according to Shettima’s office. Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima…

Latham & Watkins cuts off its Hong Kong lawyers from international databases

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Professional services myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. US law firm Latham & Watkins is cutting off automatic access to its international databases for its Hong Kong-based lawyers, in a sign of how Beijing’s closer control of the territory is forcing global firms to rethink the way they operate. The world’s second-highest-grossing law firm has told staff that while Hong Kong will have access by default to China documents, from this month they will not be able to…

Generative AI paints bleak pictures of Great Wall, Taj Mahal and other famous landmarks under climate change

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Extreme weather caused by climate change and pollution could break down parts of the Great Wall of China, dry out the water system that supports Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and destroy other renowned global landmarks, according to images generated by a British start-up using generative artificial intelligence (AI). Utility Bidder, a business-oriented energy consultancy, used text-to-image tool Midjourney to generate hypothetical pictures of monuments affected by acid rain, sandstorms and other environmental changes caused by global warming. One picture showed cracks on the Great Wall, a defence structure spanning more…

China’s Temu adopts tough tactics to secure suppliers in battle with Shein

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Chinese online marketplace Temu is scooping up manufacturers of cheap goods that had once worked with Shein, as its fast-fashion rival moves to clean up its supply chain ahead of a planned blockbuster US listing. Singapore-based Shein ditched a number of suppliers based in southern China last year after auditors found they had been violating the company’s certification standards, according to multiple industry insiders with knowledge of the move. Many of those suppliers responded by switching to selling items on Temu, owned by Nasdaq-listed PDD Holdings, which is spending billions…

Stranded Livestock Land in Australia After Red Sea Turn-Back

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Canberra, Australia —  Thousands of sheep and cattle stuck on a ship that was forced to abandon a passage through the Red Sea last month have begun disembarking at the same Australian port they left nearly six weeks ago, Australia’s agriculture ministry said late Monday. The MV Bahijah sailed from Fremantle, Western Australia on January 5 for Israel with about 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle onboard but diverted from its route due to the threat of attack by Yemen’s Houthi militia before being ordered home by the Australian government. Animal…