Taiwan looms over summit aimed toward easing US-China tensions

Keep knowledgeable with free updates

Merely signal as much as the World Economic system myFT Digest — delivered on to your inbox.

Good morning. Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are anticipated to carry frank talks about Taiwan when the US and Chinese language presidents meet in San Francisco tomorrow in a renewed effort to stabilise relations between the 2 powers.

One yr after their first assembly as leaders — on the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia — Biden and Xi will resurrect makes an attempt to halt the steep deterioration in ties, that are of their worst state in 4 many years.

US officers have careworn that the summit wouldn’t produce large agreements, significantly as tensions stay excessive over Taiwan, which holds a presidential election in January.

“The objectives right here actually are about managing the competitors, stopping the draw back threat of battle and making certain channels of communication are open,” stated one US official.

Over 4 hours of talks, Biden and Xi will talk about a variety of points, from US issues about Chinese language army exercise within the South China Sea to China’s anger at export controls on delicate US know-how. Right here’s what to anticipate from the assembly — and the way it might assist ease concern within the Indo-Pacific.

And skim how Beijing’s propagandists are making ready for the summit: by pushing a hotter message on US-China relations after years of portraying America as a rival in decline.

Right here’s what else I’m preserving tabs on at present:

• Financial information: The US releases the buyer worth index for October, which is anticipated to point out headline inflation fell to three.3 per cent, down from 3.7 per cent in September.

• Studies: The Worldwide Power Company publishes its November oil market report.

• Firms: Foxconn, Sumitomo Mitsui Monetary Group and Toshiba report.

5 extra high tales

1. US President Joe Biden stated yesterday that hospitals in Gaza “have to be protected”, after Israeli forces surrounded the strip’s largest medical facility. Al-Shifa hospital, within the coronary heart of Gaza Metropolis, ran out of gas over the weekend, native officers and the World Well being Group stated, risking the lives of sufferers as combating raged simply exterior its doorways.

2. Rishi Sunak shocked Westminster yesterday by restoring David Cameron to the political frontline as international secretary, in a dramatic cupboard reshuffle that included the sacking of controversial residence secretary Suella Braverman. The reshuffling indicators a shift by the UK prime minister in the direction of the centre floor that has alarmed some on the appropriate of the Conservative social gathering.

3. The US Supreme Court docket has adopted its first-ever code of conduct. The landmark transfer follows controversies over some justices’ undisclosed relationships with highly effective figures that sparked a fraught debate round oversight of the nation’s strongest bench.

4. India is contemplating a request from Tesla to decrease tariffs for imported electrical autos, in accordance with Indian authorities officers, as Elon Musk’s firm explores establishing a plant within the nation. Listed here are the small print of Tesla’s request.

5. A robotic has used meteorite extracts from Mars to assist make oxygen from water, melding synthetic intelligence’s powers of chemical discovery with efforts to discover and even populate the crimson planet. The experiment carried out by researchers on the College of Science and Know-how of China boosts the opportunity of sustaining future manned outer area missions.

The Huge Learn

On the peak of his energy, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was seen because the crypto business’s almost certainly path to respectability, profitable backing from high buyers together with Sequoia and BlackRock. However following his conviction, the business he championed should select between changing into a part of mainstream finance or retreating to the fringes as a distinct segment market.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Synthetic intelligence: Sam Altman, the chief government of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, tells the FT his firm is searching for extra funding from Microsoft to construct extra subtle AI fashions.

• American retreat: If the US severely scaled again its army commitments world wide, China, Russia and Iran would all attempt to reap the benefits of the ensuing energy vacuum, writes Gideon Rachman.

• The workplace whipround: Digital companies comparable to Assortment Pot, Giftround and Thankbox have resulted in some new and never all the time nice politics.

Chart of the day

Solely 14 per cent of American voters imagine they’re higher off financially now than when Joe Biden took workplace, in accordance with a ballot carried out for the FT and the College of Michigan’s Ross College of Enterprise. The brand new outcomes are the newest signal that the president’s financial report might undermine his re-election prospects.

Take a break from the information

FT senior enterprise author Andrew Hill selects his must-read enterprise books of 2023 — together with Bethany Allen’s “Beijing Guidelines”, an eye-opening chronicle of the a number of methods through which China’s Communist social gathering seeks to exert its energy overseas.

Extra contributions from Grace Ramos and Gordon Smith