Embassy criticises ‘slandering’ of Chinese government and defends Jingye over furnaces dispute
China has accused UK politicians of “arrogance, ignorance and a twisted mindset” as it defended British Steel’s owner, Jingye, after a barrage of criticism over the narrowly averted shutdown of its blast furnaces.
Beijing’s embassy to the UK accused unspecified British public figures of slandering China’s government and businesses, in comments published on Wednesday on its website.
Continue reading...Chancellor says wages are growing faster than prices but acknowledges many are still struggling with the cost of living
A government minister has reiterated the call for the Unite union to accept a deal and end the bin strike in Birmingham.
Speaking on GB News this morning, Lillian Greenwood, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the future of roads, said residents were facing “a completely unacceptable situation”
Continue reading...President also claims inflation is falling as Chinese state media tells US to ‘stop whining’ amid escalating trade war
Joe Biden on Tuesday accused Donald Trump and his billionaire lieutenant, Elon Musk, of “taking a hatchet” to the social security administration as they moved at warp-speed to dismantle large swaths of the federal government.
In his first public remarks since leaving office, the former president avoided any explicit mention of Trump – his predecessor and successor – but he was sharply critical of the new administration for threatening social security, which Biden called a “sacred promise” that more than 70 million Americans rely on each month.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Absence of world’s biggest clean energy producer will be welcomed by US pushing oil and gas exports
China is to snub a major UK summit on energy security next week, the Guardian has learned, amid a growing row over the country’s involvement in UK infrastructure projects.
The US will send a senior White House official to the 60-country summit, to be co-hosted with the International Energy Agency. Leading oil and gas companies are also invited, along with big technology businesses, and petrostates including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Continue reading...Post office says it ‘definitely’ won’t collect tariffs on Washington’s behalf and Hongkongers should prepare to pay exorbitant fees
Hong Kong Post said on Wednesday it had suspended goods mail services by sea to the US and will suspend its air mail postal service for items containing goods from 27 April due to “bullying” US tariffs.
When sending items to the US, people in Hong Kong “should be prepared to pay exorbitant and unreasonable fees due to the US’s unreasonable and bullying acts”, Hong Kong Post said in a statement.
Continue reading...Jonathan Reynold’s trip suggests government will continue its rapprochement with Beijing despite security concerns
The trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will travel to Beijing to revive a key trade dialogue with China despite saying it had been naive to allow Chinese investment in sensitive sectors, the Guardian has learned.
Reynolds is scheduled to travel to China later this year for high-level talks in an effort to boost bilateral trade and investment.
Continue reading...Medical information will be available from UK Biobank, despite western intelligence agencies’ security fears
Researchers from China are to be allowed access to half a million UK GP records despite western intelligence agencies’ fears about the authoritarian regime amassing health data, the Guardian can reveal.
Preparations are under way to transfer the records to UK Biobank, a research hub that holds detailed medical information donated by 500,000 volunteers. One of the world’s largest troves of health data, the facility makes its information available to universities, scientific institutes and private companies. A Guardian analysis shows one in five successful applications for access come from China.
Continue reading...Government’s rapprochement with Beijing may risk national security in wake of British Steel crisis, party members say
Senior Labour figures have urged the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure in the wake of theBritish Steel crisis, warning that a rapprochement with Beijing could risk national security.
Government officials insisted on Monday the country remained open to funding from Chinese companies even after a dramatic weekend during which ministers wrested control of the Scunthorpe steelmaking plant from the Chinese owners, Jingye.
Continue reading...Approach to expanding trade has been castigated for allowing Beijing to invest heavily in vital UK infrastructure
As even Donald Trump was forced to accept in scaling back his latest tariffs, China is just too big to ignore. And so it is, on a much smaller scale, that yet another UK government is doing several contradictory things at once when it comes to Beijing.
This weekend brought a particularly resonant example. On the one hand, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was hinting that British Steel’s Chinese owner, Jingye, was to blame for neglect – if not worse – over the fate of the threatened blast furnaces at Scunthorpe.
Continue reading...PM’s spokesperson says ships carrying materials needed by the steel plant have docked in Lincolnshire
Also on the morning media round today was shadow business minister Harriett Baldwin, who endured a torrid time on Sky News while being repeatedly pressed to acknowledge any culpability for the British Steel crisis by the previous Conservative administration that sold the company to current Chinese owners Jingye in 2019.
The MP for West Worcestershire was told the appearance was “a wonderful opportunity for you here right now, with our viewers on Sky News, to say, look, it was a mistake. We understand that, and we support the government. Do you want to do that this morning?”
Well, I think that, you know, I know that it was looked at very rigorously at the time. It was welcomed by the unions. And I think we need to recognise that 2025 is very different from 2019. And we need to focus on the future of this critical national infrastructure in this industry in our country.
I think it’s always got to be a last resort. But, you know, there was a period when the government owned it, before Jingye came in, and so I think you should never have anything off the table, but I think that does need to be a last resort.
It was a deal that was welcomed by the unions and local communities at the time. So can we put that in the past and focus on the future of this critical industry.
I think there’s a general consensus. If you hear the chancellor today talking about investment in our infrastructure, she’s always looking for partnerships with private equity capital. She’s looking for your pension and my pension to be investing in some of these infrastructure.
I think there is always going to be a role for private capital in all of these organisations. And I think it means that there’s less competition in terms of financing for the schools, for the hospitals, which do require exclusive public funding.
These situations are different, which is why this interventionist UK government has an industrial strategy that matches solutions to the problems at hand.
I would contrast the speed with which they [the SNP] can take to social media and take to the airwaves to air their grievances and the speed at which they move to secure Scottish jobs.
Continue reading...Effects could tip one into recession and undermine other’s fragile economy but prospects for rapprochement are not hopeless
Sky-high tariffs that now hang heavily over US-China trade mean, effectively, that they have declared a trade embargo on each other, normally an act of war. The economic consequences for both will hurt.
The US’s $150bn (£113bn) or so of exports to China will fall away quickly, while China’s $440bn worth of exports to the US may drop by up to 75% over the next 18 months, unless some sort of negotiation happens. No one will be spared the effects.
Continue reading...Xi Jinping expected to present China as reliable partner in contrast to US, which imposed – then suspended – tariffs over 40% on some countries
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, warned there would be “no winners” in a trade war and that protectionism “leads nowhere”, as he began a three-nation trip to south-east Asia, starting in Vietnam on Monday.
Xi’s tour, which started in Hanoi, also includes rare visits to Malaysia and Cambodia and will seek to strengthen ties with China’s closest neighbours amid a trade war that has sent shock waves through global markets.
Continue reading...Chinese customs official says trade has diversified away from US in recent years and plays up its ‘vast domestic market’
China has played down the risk of damage to its exports from Donald Trump’s tariffs, with an official saying the “the sky won’t fall”, as stock markets rose on Monday amid signs of a retreat on electronics restrictions.
The world’s second-largest economy has diversified its trade away from the US in recent years, according to Lyu Daliang, a customs administration spokesperson, in comments reported by state-owned agency Xinhua.
Continue reading...Wera Hobhouse says her apparent presence on secret list of critics of country’s human rights record made her a target
A Liberal Democrat MP refused entry to Hong Kong to see her young grandson has said her experience should be “a wake-up call for any parliamentarian”, given that it seems to show China holds a secret list of banned politicians.
Wera Hobhouse, who was turned back by officials on Thursday, said she was given no explanation as to why this happened, and could only assume that it was because she had spoken out about rights abuses by China.
Continue reading...Ray Dalio’s comments come after rocky week across stock markets after policies including 145% tariff raise on China
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio said that he is worried the US will experience “something worse than a recession” as a result of Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, the 75-year-old hedge fund manager said: “I think that right now we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession. And I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this isn’t handled well.”
Continue reading...Exemption, seen as a climbdown, includes laptops and chips, and is likely to help firms such as Apple and Nvidia
US stock markets were expected to stage a recovery on Monday after Donald Trump excluded imports of smartphones and laptops from his tariff regime late on Friday night.
Shares in Apple and chip maker Nvidia were on course to soar after tariffs on their products imported into the US were lifted for 90 days.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Government is weighing up security concerns against economic benefits of closer ties with Beijing
The government could target parts of China’s security apparatus under new foreign influence rules, the Guardian has learned.
Ministers are considering including parts of the Chinese state accused of interference activities on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs).
Continue reading...President’s first stop is Vietnam as China urges US to end trade war and return to ‘right path of mutual respect’
The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, will visit Vietnam on Monday as he begins a tour of south-east Asia where he will seek to strengthen ties with neighbouring countries amid an escalating trade war.
Xi will visit Vietnam from Monday before travelling to Malaysia and Cambodia, a high-profile tour that Chinese officials have described as being of “major importance”.
Continue reading...Announcement says tariffs – including those imposed on China – will also not apply to other electronic devices
Donald Trump’s presidential administration has exempted smartphones and computers from the 125% levies imposed on imports from China as well as other “reciprocal” tariffs, which experts had cautioned might cause electronic consumer prices to spike dramatically in the US.
The announcement was made late on Friday in a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notice that said the devices would be excluded from the 10% global tariff that Trump recently imposed on most countries, along with the much heftier import tax on China.
Continue reading...Flights cancelled, train services suspended and tourist attractions closed as weather service says wind speeds could surpass records set in 1951
Strong winds caused havoc in Beijing and parts of northern China on Saturday, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled, attractions to close and rail lines to be suspended, state media said.
The powerful winds stemmed mainly from a cold vortex system formed over Mongolia that was moving east and south, sweeping across northern China from Friday and through the weekend, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said.
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