Top US and Chinese officials will hold a meeting this week in Switzerland that will include negotiations about a possible virtual summit between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart.
Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, will today meet Yang Jiechi, China’s top foreign policy official, according to three people familiar with the situation. One person said the two sides were moving closer to arranging a virtual summit between the two leaders.
Biden last month spoke to Xi on the phone, their second conversation since he took office. He suggested that they hold an in-person summit, but Xi did not respond and urged the US to tone down its anti-China rhetoric. Beijing has played hard to get in recent months.
A planned visit to China by Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, almost fell through after Beijing at first refused to give her a meeting with Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister.
Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia — Emily
Five more stories in the news
1. Facebook whistleblower testifies to Congress Facebook repeatedly chose to maximise online engagement instead of minimising harm to users, as it struggled to retain staff and younger users, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager in its civic integrity unit, told the Senate commerce committee yesterday.
Go deeper: Here are the five problems Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen wants to fix.
2. China property sector woes intensify The debt problems afflicting China’s real estate market deepened yesterday after a developer defaulted on its bonds while the world’s most heavily indebted property group Evergrande extended a suspension of its shares into a second day without explanation.
3. Singapore law targets ‘foreign meddling’ in politics Singapore has passed a law prohibiting “foreign interference” that the government said was aimed at preventing threats to national security and sovereignty, but which critics warned would have a chilling effect on free speech.
4. Japan stocks suffer ‘Kishida shock’ Japanese stocks suffered a sell-off yesterday as foreign funds and retail investors bet that the country’s new prime minister will step back from efforts to make the world’s third-biggest economy more shareholder-friendly. Traders said some investors had been spooked by Fumio Kishida’s comments indicating he might push for a capital gains tax increase.
5. China unloads Australian coal despite import ban China has started unloading a small number of Australian coal shipments despite an unofficial import ban, analysts said, in a move underscoring the intensity of the power crunch facing the world’s second-largest economy.
Coronavirus digest
AstraZeneca has requested emergency approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its antibody combination treatment to prevent Covid-19.
International law firms are launching wellbeing programmes and hiring “burnout advisers” to keep staff as a boom in deals stokes a war for talent.
Johnson & Johnson has asked US regulators to authorise a booster shot for its single use Covid-19 vaccine.
PwC’s revenues in the Americas were flat last year as the audit firm was hit by a spending shutdown by clients at the start of the pandemic.
Sign-up to our Road to Recovery newsletter, an essential guide to business and the economy in a world transformed by the pandemic.
The day ahead
New Zealand central bank meeting The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic when policymakers meet today. (FX Street)
Tesco interim results The Tesco juggernaut is gathering momentum again as will be witnessed from its earnings call today. Away from the takeover battle for Wm Morrison, its sales outperformance against rivals has been the key story of the first half, according to analysts at HSBC.
Boris Johnson addresses Tory conference The British prime minister addresses the Conservative party’s conference in Manchester today. Yesterday Johnson denied that the UK is facing an economic crisis.
What else we’re reading and listening to
Why China is cracking down on crypto Beijing’s crackdown on bitcoin pits the unlimited power of an authoritarian government against a key selling point of cryptocurrencies — that the decentralised networks of computers that run digital currencies put them beyond the control of any central authority.
Go deeper: Peter McCormack, bitcoin bull and voice of the hugely popular ‘What Bitcoin Did’ podcast, joins Claer Barrett for a Money Clinic Investment Masterclass. Listen here.
No easy options to ease semiconductor squeeze The Biden administration wants chipmakers to hand over inventory data to help identify snags in the supply chain. It is not hard to see why such drastic action is being contemplated, given the scale of disruption. But the US government’s intervention is likely to be futile, writes Kathrin Hille.
How green is your electric vehicle? This interactive graphic explores under the bonnet of a new generation of vehicles. They are simpler, smarter and quieter. But are they cleaner? The answer may surprise you. This is the latest part in our electric vehicle revolution series.
Would you buy an electric vehicle? Do you already have one? Tell us in our latest poll.
Seoul watches on as US corrals allies to counter China Intensifying competition between the US and China is forcing South Korea, a crucial American ally that has long sought to maintain cordial ties with Beijing, to confront an awkward choice.
The mysterious decline of our leisure time One puzzle of modern life is that so many of us feel short of time, writes Sarah O’Connor. In the 19th century, unions campaigned for “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what we will”. They succeeded in their push for shorter working hours. But what happened to all that spare time?
Books
Author Jonathan Franzen has always excelled at writing about the tension between inner life and outer behaviour. In his new book Crossroads, Frazen paints a vivid portrait of a preacher’s family in the 1970s Midwest shows the novelist at his perceptive best.
Source: Economy - ft.com
