FirstFT: Xi warns Biden not to ‘play with fire’

Xi Jinping warned Joe Biden not to “play with fire” because the Chinese language and US presidents spoke for the primary time since Beijing was angered by a deliberate go to to Taiwan by Home of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In an announcement posted on the Chinese language international ministry’s web site after the 2 leaders talked on Thursday, Xi didn’t instantly point out Pelosi’s doable go to however mentioned his administration would “resolutely safeguard China’s nationwide sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

“Those that play with fireplace will perish by it. It’s hoped that the US might be clear-eyed about this,” China’s president added.

Requested whether or not the US interpreted the feedback as a menace, a senior administration official mentioned China has frequently used the metaphor beforehand when discussing Taiwan.

The Biden administration mentioned the dialog between the leaders was a part of an effort to maintain rising tensions between the 2 international locations at bay. In the course of the name, Biden and Xi directed their groups to schedule an in-person assembly between them, a senior US administration official mentioned. In its personal account of the decision, the White Home additionally prevented point out of Pelosi’s doable go to.

Nevertheless it mentioned Biden “underscored that america coverage has not modified and that america strongly opposes unilateral efforts to alter the established order or undermine peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait”.

Thanks for studying FirstFT Asia. I hope you may have a restful weekend. See you subsequent week. — Emily

5 extra tales within the information

1. China’s central financial institution seeks $148bn bailout for actual property Beijing is in search of to mobilise up to Rmb1tn ($148bn) of loans for thousands and thousands of stalled property developments, in its most formidable try and revive the debt-stricken sector and head off a backlash by homebuyers.

2. US economic system shrinks for second consecutive quarter The US economic system shrank for the second quarter in a row, assembly one of many widespread standards for a technical recession and complicating the Federal Reserve’s push to stamp out hovering inflation with a string of aggressive price rises.

3. Kim Jong Un says Korean peninsula on the ‘brink of battle’ The North Korean chief has accused the US and South Korea of bringing the Korean peninsula to the “brink of war”, as Seoul and Washington put together for his or her first large-scale joint army workout routines in 4 years. In remarks reported on Thursday, Kim threatened to “wipe out” South Korean forces with nuclear weapons within the occasion of a confrontation.

4. US tech corporations notch income wins In a busy week for tech earnings, Amazon shares rose 10 per cent on Thursday after it reported higher than anticipated quarterly income and issued robust steerage for the present quarter. Apple’s revenues grew slightly on the again of iPhone gross sales and its providers division regardless of headwinds from provide chain shortages and manufacturing unit shutdowns in China.

5. Missfresh stops paying salaries because it runs out of money The Tiger World-backed Chinese language grocery supply start-up that was as soon as valued at $3bn advised a whole lot of staff that it had run out of cash, as a gaggle of unpaid suppliers protested at its Beijing places of work.

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The times forward

Japanese financial knowledge The nation’s month-to-month unemployment price, June retail gross sales figures and preliminary June industrial manufacturing knowledge might be launched immediately.

Eurostat GDP Eurostat’s first estimate of second-quarter gross home product, out immediately, is anticipated to indicate an expansion of 0.1 per cent from the earlier quarter, in accordance with a ballot by Reuters. That might be the weakest efficiency since a surge in coronavirus infections and restrictions dragged the bloc into a brief recession at the beginning of 2021.

US-Japan EPCC assembly US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo co-host the primary assembly of the US-Japan Financial Coverage Consultative Committee in Washington on Friday.

New Cities Summit 2022 World political leaders, enterprise and thought leaders will collect in Singapore to debate greatest practices for creating habitable and sustainable cities. The occasion, hosted by the brand new Cities Basis, kicks off on Sunday.

What else we’re studying

The cricket match that helped fund Imran Khan’s political rise Regardless of legal guidelines banning international funding of politics in Pakistan, paperwork present a money trail from Oxfordshire via the UAE to the coffers of Khan’s get together.
The funds are on the centre of a years-long investigation by the Election Fee of Pakistan, an inquiry that has taken on even higher significance as Khan plots a political comeback.

Excessive warmth is a wake-up name for traders on infrastructure Europe’s heatwave made clear failings of present infrastructure in excessive climate. Trains moved extra slowly. A runway at Luton airport buckled. Faculties closed. In a warmer world, infrastructure might want to adapt. All this creates opportunities for investors, writes Alice Ross.

Musk saga hits Twitter’s advertisements enterprise Twitter chief government Parag Agrawal is main an increasingly fraught effort to maintain the corporate operating easily amid a authorized battle to stop Musk from backing out of a $44bn deal to amass Twitter. Firm insiders, former staffers and advert trade executives and say rigidity is rising between workers and administration.

WFH debates should embrace what ‘residence’ truly is From reasonably priced lodging in metropolis centres to commute lengths, the query of where employees dwell is all essential, writes Emma Jacobs. Staff’ selections to maneuver additional away from work in the course of the pandemic are actually inflicting tensions.

Enter the inside sanctum of elite chess As eight chess grandmasters gathered in Madrid earlier this month for a world summit, they have been additionally taking part in for the way forward for the sport. Oliver Roeder takes us inside the inner sanctum of elite chess.

Food and drinks

Asia is residence to concepts nonetheless in early levels of analysis however doubtlessly transformative in feeding more people, with fewer resources, within the many years to return. Improvements resembling lab-grown meat and 3D-printed meals are on the forefront of efforts to rethink how, and what, we will feed the area’s subsequent billion.