Biden to warn Beijing in opposition to aggressive exercise in South China Sea

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Good morning. President Joe Biden will warn China about its more and more aggressive exercise within the South China Sea this week throughout summits with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Two senior US officers stated Biden would specific severe concern in regards to the state of affairs across the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef within the Spratly Islands the place the Chinese language coast guard has used water cannons to forestall the Philippines from resupplying marines on the Sierra Madre, a rusting ship that has been lodged on the reef for 25 years.

Biden will stress that the US-Philippines Mutual Protection Treaty applies to the Sierra Madre, stated the officers, including that he expressed “deep concern” when he spoke to President Xi Jinping on Monday.

“China is underestimating the potential for escalation. We’ve tried to make that clear in a sequence of conversations . . . that our mutual defence treaty covers Philippine sailors and ships and by extension . . . the Sierra Madre,” one official instructed the FT.

Demetri Sevastopulo has extra on the tensions across the disputed reef. We even have information right now on the Aukus safety pact’s doable enlargement, plus the most recent from Janet Yellen’s China go to:

• Aukus weighs enlargement: The US, UK and Australia are to start talks on bringing new members into Aukus as Washington pushes for Japan to be concerned within the safety pact aimed as a deterrent in opposition to China. 

• Yellen warns China: The US has warned of “vital penalties” if Chinese language corporations present assist for Moscow’s conflict in opposition to Ukraine in one of many sharpest messages it has but delivered to Beijing.

And right here’s what else I’m retaining tabs on right now:

• Financial coverage: The central financial institution of the Philippines has its financial coverage assembly and resolution.

• HSBC World Funding Summit in Hong Kong: The inaugural occasion will likely be hosted by HSBC chair Mark Tucker and CEO Noel Quinn, with audio system together with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Hong Kong chief government John Lee.

5 extra high tales

1. High executives at China’s greatest brokerages have had their pay slashed up to now two years in opposition to a backdrop of struggling monetary markets and Beijing’s efforts to scale back inequality. Monetary disclosures present 9 of the highest 10 brokerages by income recorded a fall in remuneration final 12 months for his or her best-paid staff.

2. Brazil’s attorney-general has demanded “pressing regulation” of social media websites after Elon Musk threatened to disobey a courtroom order banning sure profiles on his X platform after which referred to as for a Supreme Courtroom justice to “resign or be impeached”. Right here’s extra on the conflict between Musk and the Brazil’s high courtroom.

• Extra Latin America information: Ecuador is going through a tide of condemnation over a late-night raid on the Mexican embassy in its capital Quito when the Andean nation’s former vice-president was captured and a diplomatic disaster between the 2 international locations was precipitated.

3. Israel says it has withdrawn its troops from Khan Younis in southern Gaza so as to put together for operations in Rafah, Hamas’s final stronghold, regardless of US warnings {that a} huge floor offensive in town could be a mistake. The transfer to drag out of Khan Younis got here as Israel and Hamas despatched groups to Egypt for extra talks on a possible ceasefire within the six-month conflict. Listed below are extra particulars.

4. Professional-Russia candidate Peter Pellegrini has been elected president of Slovakia, consolidating the grip of the ruling coalition led by Robert Fico and tilting the nation additional in the direction of Moscow. Pellegrini, a associate in Fico’s coalition, defeated former overseas minister Ivan Korčok by successful 53 per cent of the votes in Saturday’s run-off election.

5. Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has referred to as on China to demand increased environmental requirements from its world provide chain, notably its corporations conducting nickel processing in Indonesia, an business he accused of “full environmental irresponsibility”. Learn the complete interview with the Fortescue Metals Group founder.

Ukraine army briefing

The Russian air drive is stepping up its use of Soviet-era weapons which were retrofitted for Twenty first-century warfare and are pounding Ukrainian forces, pulverising cities and giving Moscow a bonus on the battlefield. These “glide bombs” could be launched by Russian bombers deep behind the entrance line and out of attain of Ukraine’s air-defence programs. The FT’s Christopher Miller experiences how Russia modernised the previous “dumb bombs” into a “very scary, very deadly” weapon.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• The worth of peace is stagnation: In addition to being the worst factor our species does, conflict is a artistic spur, writes Janan Ganesh.

• The loneliness remedy: Former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg thinks an AI chatbot that coaches customers by way of their real-world relationships might help.

• Cillian Murphy interview: The Oscar-winning actor discusses his 28-year profession and being essentially the most “awkward particular person on the web” with HTSI editor Jo Ellison.

Chart of the day

Meals inflation throughout wealthy nations has dropped to its lowest stage since earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A slowdown in worth progress easing strain on thousands and thousands of households hit by the two-year surge in meals prices.

Take a break from the information

Go contained in the obsessive perfection of three Japanese artisans — a woodworker, a ceramicist and a paper craftsman — who’re reinventing their crafts.