This text is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can enroll to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here
Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT Asia. In today’s newsletter:
An ‘unprecedented’ Chinese navy manoeuvre
The US-Ukraine rift deepens
The emerging winners in Asia amid the trade wars
The Australian navy is shadowing Chinese warships 150 nautical miles east of Sydney, the furthest China’s navy has sailed down the eastern Australian coast.
Two Australian ships are following a Chinese naval task group — comprising two warships and a supply vessel — that appeared off the north-east coast of Australia per week ago, in response to people accustomed to the situation.
One person said it was “unprecedented” for the Chinese navy to sail to date down Australia’s east coast. They stressed that Beijing was normalising its projection of power beyond the primary Pacific island chain, which stretches from Japan to Indonesia, and the second island chain, which runs from Japan through Guam to Micronesia.
“Because the Chinese test their ability to project power further south, along with east and west, the query becomes how much they’ll hold in danger — how much they’ll signal to the Australians that they’ll threaten them,” said Charles Edel, an Australia expert at Washington-based think-tank CSIS. Read more about China’s ambitions within the Pacific.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:
Economic data: Australia publishes the labour force survey for January and Hong Kong reports inflation data.
Monetary policy: China is anticipated to go away its loan prime rate unchanged. (Reuters)
Results: Alibaba, Fortescue and Anglo American report results.
Five more top stories
1. Donald Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and warned that he “higher move fast or he isn’t going to have a Country left”. The US president hit out at his Ukrainian counterpart hours after Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a “disinformation bubble”.
Go deeper: Trump’s move to normalise ties with Russia has left Vladimir Putin “standing tall and proud”, said one expert.
European security: The EU is considering redirecting €93bn in untapped pandemic recovery funds into its defence sector after the Trump administration warned it could withdraw US security support from the continent.
2. China’s holdings of US Treasuries have fallen to their lowest level since 2009, as Beijing diversifies into alternative assets. The worth of US sovereign debt held by Chinese investors fell by $57bn to $759bn in 2024, data published by the US Treasury yesterday showed. But analysts say Beijing is attempting to disguise its Treasury holdings.
3. Donald Trump has signed an executive order to take greater control of independent federal agencies, including essential financial watchdogs. The US president’s latest move to tighten his grip on government institutions will force agencies including the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission to submit draft regulations for review. Critics argue the order is unlawful.
More US news: Donald Trump’s administration has terminated federal approval of Latest York City’s controversial congestion pricing scheme, sparking an instantaneous state-federal legal battle.
4. HSBC unveiled a goal of saving $300mn this 12 months and cutting $1.5bn from its annual cost base by the top of next 12 months, because it detailed the impact of chief executive Georges Elhedery’s overhaul for the primary time. The bank said it expected its actions to trigger $1.8bn in upfront costs, including severance, in 2025 and 2026.
5. Brazil’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro has been charged with leading an alleged coup plot to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The hard-right politician was accused by the attorney-general of leading a “criminal organisation” to subvert democracy in Latin America’s most populous nation.
News in-depth
European officials are awakening to an argument long made by Trump: the US now not desires to be the region’s primary security guarantor. Trump isn’t the one US president to criticise the US’s Nato allies. This read asks: how can Europe defend itself without US help?
We’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
Some economies in Asia — corresponding to Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and increasingly India — are positioning themselves to be winners in Donald Trump’s trade war, writes Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking.
Take a break from the news . . .
Running clubs have sprung up across Hong Kong within the years since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. Listed here are the very best ones to hitch.
Thanks for reading and remember you may add FirstFT to myFT. You too can elect to receive a FirstFT push notification every morning on the app. Send your recommendations and feedback to firstft@ft.com
