Edward White
@edwardwhitenz
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FT China correspondent. @FT. Normal disclaimers.
Joined April 2016
Top five stories from a memorable first year in China. (1/5): Documenting how the disappearance of Rahile Dawut is emblematic of Beijing's crackdown on Xinjiang moving from the re-education phase to long-term imprisonment. (thx to @mattvella!)
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Elon Musk spent years forging strong bonds with CCP leaders. His business empire now sits across a minefield of US-China conflicts from security, tech competition, tariffs and supply chains to free speech and the future of Taiwan. via @FinancialTimes
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Health officials in #Taiwan said they alerted the @WHO in December about the risk of human-to-human transmission of the new #coronavirus but the concerns were not passed on . Scoop via @FinancialTimes @primroseriordan @KatrinaManson et al .
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China’s energy transition will reshape geopolitics — it might also save the planet. @FinancialTimes big read
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Shut out of the US by Biden's tariffs and facing a backlash in Europe, China's high-tech carmakers are poised to dominate the world's most important emerging markets. Via @FinancialTimes reporters in China, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan and Australia.
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Sinologist Li Cheng has lunch with the FT … ‘I explained my theories of Chinese leadership. I was branded as a spokesperson for China … The old days of China, the time I grew up, the pendulum swings back.’ .
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What became of Rahile Dawut? The Uyghur academic pursued her life’s work under an increasingly authoritarian Chinese state. Then she vanished @FTMag
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A stark warning from South Korea on the ongoing battle against #coronavirus as fatigue from lockdowns and distancing takes hold: “We must shake off the fantasy that we can go back to the past we were accustomed to." via @FinancialTimes
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Latest from the @FT in Seoul (1/3): .South Korea’s export-oriented economy is in greater jeopardy from Donald Trump’s trade policies than from the political crisis unfolding at home, the country’s central bank governor has told FT bureau chief @crsdavies
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#China is fast cementing its position as the Saudi Arabia of clean tech, near complete global dependence on Beijing for the main materials key to wind turbines, solar and electric vehicles. via @FinancialTimes w @cheng_leng_
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Two North Korean defectors: a tale of secrets, lies and love -via @FinancialTimes @ftweekend @FTMag (w thanks to @estherbintliff and @Sokeel among others. ) .
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Journalists at China Times and CTiTV (in #Taiwan) told the FT that their editorial managers take instructions directly from the Taiwan Affairs Office, the #China government unit handling #Taiwan issues. via @KathrinHille and the @FinancialTimes
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China's rich pull trigger on escape plans . 'The motto has always been: keep a fast junk in the harbour with gold bars and a second set of papers. Now its a private jet, a couple of passports and foreign bank accounts.' w @mjruehl via @FinancialTimes.
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Is China's regulatory storm over? Two trillion dollars suggests not. What's more, uncertainty and confusion to get more acute as Xi rules with echoes of Mao (w @Tabby_Kinder @KangHexin @cheng_leng_ and analysis via @kendraschaefer @vshih2 @PlenumChina
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BYD has become synonymous with China's rapid rise in electric vehicles. Wang Chuanfu's true ambition goes far beyond cars, and far beyond China. @FinancialTimes
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China is nearing the completion of a new Communist party body overseeing the country’s financial sector and directing economic policy (while weakening the power of state institutions and strengthening Xi's control over the $61tn sector) . w @cheng_leng_
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The lessons from Asia: The good news for governments now scrambling to respond is that the measures taken by #Taiwan, #SouthKorea #Singapore and #HongKong have been able to slow and blunt the impact of #coronavirus . via @FinancialTimes
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The US government is pushing Taiwan to restrict its biggest chipmaker, #TSMC from producing semiconductors for #Huawei, and to institute stricter controls on technology exports to #China . via @FinancialTimes & @KathrinHille
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A few months after reports showed VW misled investors over an audit at its Xinjiang factory, the German company now says it is selling the site for 'economic reasons' . via @FinancialTimes @patricianilsson
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“We are in a very, very dangerous period”. North Korea: fears rise over food security, economic downturn, no clear plan to coronavirus vaccinations.
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#China’s financial sector is being battered by a wave of #corruption probes as Xi cleans house. Not just the usual suspects in state banks: executive pay, commodity exchanges and venture funds all targeted in crusade. via @FinancialTimes w @cheng_leng_
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While Washington and Brussels fret over the rising wave of Chinese exports many are missing what might be the bigger story: the tsunami of outbound investments in clean-tech factories and green energy projects around the world. via @FinancialTimes
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World Health Organization team trying to investigate the origins of coronavirus did not visit Wuhan, fuelling concern over China's commitment to identifying the source of the pandemic. via @FinancialTimes @cdcshepherd @katrinamanson @JamieSmythF
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In 2020 Xi declared #China's pandemic response proved the CCP's superiority. Today there is still no clear exit path as cases and lockdowns surge while low elderly vaccination rates and health system healthcare vulnerabilities remain. via @FinancialTimes .
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Kim Jong Un and the triads: blockbuster investigation by @FinancialTimes @crsdavies @primroseriordan @ThomasHHChan @samjoiner and team. Can't recommend highly enough.
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China’s new Belt and Road investments in Russia have fallen to zero for the first time amid fears over sanctions in the wake of the Ukraine war. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has become one of the biggest BRI beneficiaries . via @FinancialTimes
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Xi's U-turn on the need for Beijing to shore up the Chinese economy: 'This isn’t ‘bazooka’, this is more ‘steady flame-thrower' via @FinancialTimes
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Changes in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh could mean just 25GW of new coal-power projects will remain in pre-construction in 2021 - down 80% from 125GW planned 5 years ago as pressure builds over climate change. via @FinancialTimes .
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Brussels to announce additional 25% tariff on EVs made in China, raising more than €2bn a year (though hitting more non-Chinese branded cars than Chinese, at current levels). @AndyBounds scoop via @FinancialTimes
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China unprepared: One million Chinese people are at risk of dying from Covid-19 during the coming winter months if Xi Jinping pursues his pivot to rapidly remove strict pandemic controls, new modelling shows. via @FinancialTimes w @imandylin2
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One of China's biggest fishing groups, Zhejiang Ocean Family, faces allegations of environmental and labour abuse, putting the spotlight on a billionaire who advises the government in Beijing and has deep US ties. via @FinancialTimes @ejfoundation.
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#US approves proposed $330m arms sale to #Taiwan, in a fresh sign of Washington’s support for the government in Taipei amid rising pressure from #China w @lfdickey @Ian_M_Easton & @TaiwanPresSPOX
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The rise and rise of China's BYD and Wang Chuanfu . "Tesla need not worry too much . Everyone else who builds cars should be gripped by panic" @FinancialTimes
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Samsung is being criticised by investors and environmentalists after research seen by @FinancialTimes suggests the South Korean conglomerate's insurance units were involved in financing of $14bn of fossil fuel linked investments over the past decade.
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The world’s biggest asset management, state pension and sovereign wealth funds are passively invested in companies which have allegedly been involved in China's Xinjiang repression . w @KangHexin data/from @hk_watch & @SHULawCrim
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US affirms #Taiwan support after #China's carrier enters Taiwan Strait . US “commitment to the Taiwan people, to their security, to their democracy, has never been stronger" via @financialtimes.
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Xi Jinping’s Covid tsar returned to Beijing from Hong Kong under no illusions: China’s zero-Covid policy could be overwhelmed by Omicron, inflicting mass casualties among tens of millions of Chinese elderly. via @FinancialTimes w @primroseriordan
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NZ’s new foreign minister @NanaiaMahuta to @JamieSmythF of @FinancialTimes: “We need to be clear that as we respect opportunities that we have with China, we should also message out our beliefs around our values. That is the message around Hong Kong
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Highlights from Bill Russo’s excellent newsletter: .~ EV sales now higher than ICE on a monthly basis (10 years ahead of schedule) .~ Chinese brands hold 63% of domestic car sales.~ 20% of cars made in China are exported .(78% are ICE)
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#Mongolia, the landlocked democratic nation stuck between #Russia and #China, is undertaking sweeping reforms and calling for investment to unlock its vast mineral wealth. A dispatch from beneath the Gobi. via @FinancialTimes
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A reminder for countries with upcoming elections: South Korea in April demonstrated how to do it. Early polls, booth sterilisations, temperature checks, masks, gloves, separate areas for vulnerable and symptomatic. record turnout.
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Naver is abandoning Hong Kong as a base for data storage because of privacy fears. The move by the South Korean tech giant is the first by a major foreign tech group after China’s new security law. via @FinancialTimes w @mjruehl @primroseriordan .
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“Wiping out the name of #Taiwan off the internet will not wipe out our existence in the world.” via @FT with @EmilyZFeng.
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More China auto upheaval: the rapid uptake of low-cost hybrid EVs is exacerbating the demise of foreign auto groups. BYD is dominant. Tesla, after strong growth for years, is under threat. Via @FinancialTimes w @automobilityltd @SinoAutoInsight @leixing77
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Top #US diplomat in #Taiwan: US-Taiwan friendship “rooted in shared values – democracy, human rights, freedom” … the new de facto embassy is “a tangible symbol that the United States is here to stay” via @FT w @iingwen @MarieTPRoyce @lfdickey @TiffanyMa2
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The rise and rise of China's world-beating EV industry has masked the staggering decline of sales of cars with internal combustion engines. Hundreds of zombie factories will emerge unless they can be repurposed for exports or EVs. via @FinancialTimes
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Qin Gang: Xi’s vanishing foreign minister who was iced out in DC and has roots among Beijing’s spooks … w @leahyjoseph @Dimi @JKynge @EleanorOlcott via @FinancialTimes
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'I fear climate change more than I fear China' . sums up a key paradox many countries face, whether they like it or not, in deciding whether to partner with China's world-beating EV and battery companies to fight global warming. via @FinancialTimes.
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For decades China-watchers labelled the country’s massive SOEs as 'dinosaurs'. New research suggests they are now helping the world's biggest coal user make a historic green turn. via @FinancialTimes
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Allegations of worker abuse involving Warren Buffett-backed Tesla rival BYD in Brazil highlight a question for scores of Chinese clean-tech groups: can they adopt higher labour and environmental standards as they embark on a rapid global expansion? via @FT
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How has North Korea, this poor and isolated nation, managed to build weapons of mass destruction? --- via @FinancialTimes w @nktpnd @oryxspioenkop, & research from @IISS_org, @38NorthNK, @JamesMartinCNS & @SIPRIorg
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Taiwan electric scooter maker has attracted $300m in funding from a basket of new investors including Al Gore
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Western governments are alarmed at the pace of Chinese military tech development. Here is our FT big read on why Xi is only just getting started. via @FinancialTimes .
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For 10 years, Xi Jinping has deployed the CCP's internal watchdogs to eradicate political treachery and corruption across almost every facet of Chinese officialdom. Now, these investigators have a new target: themselves . via @FinancialTimes
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Whether the Godfather of Chinese education, Yu Minhong, is able to rise again and rebuild New Oriental’s business is a litmus test of Beijing’s attitude towards companies damaged by Xi’s stunning regulatory crackdown . via @FinancialTimes
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Interesting (maybe predictable) upshot from EU's China derisking policy is Chinese clean tech investment has boomed in Hungary. Also means Hungarians gain auto jobs just as Germany et al close factories. via @FinancialTimes @fDiIntelligence w @mdunai
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Xi Jinping’s credibility ‘badly wounded’ as China’s Covid death toll mounts. War games with Russia and aggression against Taiwan are failing to distract from public health crisis. @FinancialTimes
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The sudden disappearance in July last year of Gao Songtao, the bespectacled former vice-president of government fund manager Sino IC Capital, was a warning of a coming storm. via @FinancialTimes w @QianerLiu @yuenyuenang et al.
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'They're not treating us like humans' . China's civil servants, charged with instituting Xi Jinping's s zero-Covid policy decry brutal conditions as local governments run out of cash. via @ftchina @EleanorOlcott
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Just to add spice to the upheaval in the global auto sector…. China’s Huawei makes a quiet entrance with a $16bn EV division, driverless tech collaboration with BYD and partnerships with a handful of massive Chinese SOEs… via @FT
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#China has started pulling mainland-based Taiwanese businesspeople and students into 'brainstorming' sessions on the future of #Taiwan, as Xi Jinping eyes unification via @FinancialTimes and @KathrinHille
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Robin Zeng's undisputed dominance of EV batteries has the CATL boss in the crosshairs of officials in the US and China as the superpowers fret over one corporation’s dominance of the highly strategic industry @FinancialTimes w @cheng_leng_ & @Claire_Bushey
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China's property meltdown is spilling into the 'Big Four’ banks -- the world's biggest lenders and the backbone of China’s financial sector. via @ftchina w @cheng_leng_ .
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Chinese companies, including the country's biggest puréed food producer, are pivoting to lithium batteries at an eye-watering pace, in a rare bright spot for the world's second-biggest economy. via @FinancialTimes w @ruiyanggloriali
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South Korea’s population shrank for the first time in 2020 -- data highlights rising demographic challenges as country faces healthcare, labour and pension strains . via @FinancialTimes
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Japan pushed ahead with a decision to remove South Korea from its export control “white list” in a move that could roil global supply chains and sink relations between the two US allies to a new low. via @financialtimes.
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China is now the Saudi Arabia of clean tech. In a cold war with the US and its allies in the west this dominance can be used for leverage or weaponised. via @FinancialTimes
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EVs will outsell cars with internal combustion engines in China in 2025, this is a historic inflection point years ahead of the west. But it also means factories set up to make tens of millions of ICE cars will soon have almost no domestic market. Via @FT
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North Korea’s pretrial detention system is rife with forced labour, sexual abuse and filthy prison conditions, according to testimony obtained by @hrw. Trump & Moon not focused on human rights in nuclear talks with Kim Jong Un, says @duyeonkim of @CNASdc
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From Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg, American tech titans have long had a love-hate relationship with China and the CCP. Now Elon Musk is fast discovering why. via @ftchina w @EleanorOlcott
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#China exports draconian laws to #Hongkong while #Taiwan rolls back authoritarian legacy. @FT with @benjaminbland.
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Taiwan's 'election results have introduced a high degree of uncertainty in cross-strait relations and the US-Taiwan security calculus' . via @FinancialTimes (w @jonlsullivan, @lfdickey, @timothysrich, Elizabeth Freund Larus, Jennifer Lu, Shen Ching-kai)
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Can the world trust China, the world's biggest polluter, to fulfil its climate change promises? On the one hand, spending on renewables is booming. On the other, more new coal was announced in the first quarter than all of 2021. via @FinancialTimes
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Forty-six years after a delegation from Beijing, dressed in Mao suits, travelled to Wolfsburg asking VW to build cars in China, the EU is now demanding EV technology from Chinese companies. via @FinancialTimes
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Meet Bai Houshan: the little-known billionaire Chinese metallurgist who has come to dominate the global market for cathode electrodes, one of the most important building blocks in an EV battery . via @FinancialTimes w @ruiyanggloriali
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The European auto industry faces an existential crisis. China’s EV leadership is not just a matter of cost. Another major gap is technology. Today's @FinancialTimes big read w @KanaInagaki & @SarahWhites
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The Hong Kong government has privately warned diplomats it is bracing for a bombing campaign by radical pro-democracy protesters. via @FinancialTimes w @alicemuwu & @JamilAnderlini
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#China's cyber espionage linked to #BeltandRoad is increasing, experts warning Beijing using the massive project to spy on companies and countries as well as to damp down dissent - exclusive via @stef_palma & @FinancialTimes
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China’s surgical retaliation… The response to what Beijing has described as a US-led ‘technology blockade’ reveals Xi’s strategy of narrowly targeting industries and companies with little risk of damage to China’s own interests… via @FinancialTimes
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As Xi Jinping secures a third term in power, his administration must orchestrate a soft landing from China's property meltdown. They also face a key question: without property as the key driver, how can China’s economy keep growing? via @FinancialTimes .
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Nearly 50 years since the Cultural Revolution, no Chinese woman has managed to get any closer to power than Madame Mao . fascinating read from @primroseriordan @ruiyanggloriali via @ftchina .
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#Taiwan feels the pressure from #China ahead of presidential election via @FinancialTimes & @KathrinHille.
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'There's a race going on between China and the US for tech supremacy . China is winning that race. It’s a level of innovation few thought possible in an authoritarian state.' FT legend @JKynge calls a spade a spade in new @FinancialTimes podcast series
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North Korea has rejected a South Korean offer to send a special envoy for urgent talks and reiterated plans for its military to re-enter disarmed border areas. via @FinancialTimes w @KatrinaManson & analysis from @SueMiTerry @WonkVJ @BruceKlingner et al.
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The UN-backed Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest climate finance institution, is facing a wave of internal misconduct complaints and criticism over the death of an employee from coronavirus. (Via @FinancialTimes with @lesliehook)
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#Taiwan military officials and experts will travel to the #US to propose new arms sales, as well as integration of Taiwanese companies into the US defence industry supply chain. via @KathrinHille and @FinancialTimes
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#China’s economy is around 12 per cent smaller than official figures indicate, and its real growth has been overstated by around 2 percentage points annually in recent years, according to new research. - via @gabewildau & @FinancialTimes
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Embarrassing U-turn from the Pentagon on China’s Hesai, the biggest maker of lidar (laser sensors for EVs), rare example of a Chinese company fighting back against US tech controls and winning (for now). Scoop via @Dimi @FinancialTimes
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Strong and smart dispatch from Seoul on the awkward questions facing South Korea in the Biden era from great new @FinancialTimes correspondent @crsdavies (w @VictorDCha @junepark @WonkVJ et al)
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Analysts said the change of senior personnel suggested that North Korea's Kim Jong Un was readying for a tougher approach in dealings with the US. via .@FinancialTimes w @nknewsorg scoop & reax from @mllesookim, @andreilankov and @davidkimdc
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Photographs showing Chinese aircraft refuelling in Pyongyang have raised suspicions over where North Korea is sourcing its fuel and whether China is defying international sanctions. #China #NorthKorea via @FinancialTimes & @nknewsorg
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The key Chinese rivals to Elon Musk's Tesla - like @XPengMotors - see themselves in an existential battle over the next five years. Interview via @FinancialTimes @ruiyanggloriali
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Latest from the @FT in Seoul (2/3): South Koreans are piecing together why the country’s military -- permanently on a war footing -- was unable or unwilling to execute the president’s audacious orders.
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