Japan PM Ishiba Signals Intent to Stay On Despite Calls to Quit
'I intend to devote myself to the people and the future of the country,' Ishiba said in an interview with national broadcaster NHK. He added he must take responsibility for implementing the recently announced US-Japan trade deal, and that the real work on it starts now.
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Bloomberg
2 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
US, China Officials to Meet in Sweden for Trade Talks
00:00 Is now sort of a sense of optimism in the air. I think the expectation is that we are likely to get another extension on the US-China fronts, which implies there's no final deal yet. So what are still the sticking points between the US and China right now? Yeah, well, I think there is a sort of open question as to conceptually what a final deal with the United States is on trade. But certainly the Chinese are further away from one than the Europeans from what they clinched over the last the last 24 hours. And the Chinese basically are trying to get another a further extension on the runway for that trade deal that would expire, that truce that would expire on August the 12th. And just to remind everybody where we are, because it's hard to keep track of all of these numbers, the U.S. had imposed 125% tariffs on China that basically foreclosed any ability to have any trading between the two biggest economies in the world. And that was sort of talked down to this truce. And now we're stuck at these 30% tariffs, ten of which are sort of universal retaliatory tariffs and 20% of which are from these sort of fentanyl tariffs that the Trump administration has put forward. What we will get today is the beginning of the third talks between the vice premier of China and the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessen, who will be here over the next couple of hours in Stockholm to have those negotiations. The desired outcome here is probably another 90 day extension truce to that truce. We have some reporting from the Chinese media that that is already basically almost fully secured. The question will be then what will come next? Where will they be able to make progress on the other issues that they would like to discuss and they would like to see some changes? There is, of course, the main sort of elephant in the room here, which is a rare earth minerals and those advanced AI chips that the US has capitulated on agreed to sell to China in exchange for those rare earth metals. What they will also likely be discussing is the continued purchasing of crude oil and fossil fuels from Russia, from Iran, which are sanctioned by the G7 and the and the United States. And of course, there are some other issues like Tik-Tok, right? There is the fact that the US government, that the US there is apparently a US buyer for TikTok that still needs a Chinese sign off. So these are some of the conversations that'll be happening here in Stockholm over the next couple of hours. Yeah, I mean, the thing about President Trump is he also likes to make a big show of having achieved these these trade deals or getting to these trade agreements with various counterparts. And you've got to wonder whether in this case, perhaps he's holding off to make that big announcement side by side with President Xi later this year. What do we know about the prospects of the two leaders meeting at some point? Yeah. So he definitely has an instinct for the sort of showmanship and the sort of TV production side of things. And I think that if you were to get a sort of momentous large deal between the Chinese and the United States, it is the sort of thing that Donald Trump probably himself would like to bring into being. I mean, this is basically what we saw with the EU, right? We had Ursula von der Leyen flying up to Scotland in order to have the person in person meetings that Trump could announce at alongside her, you know, in person. So, I mean, the Chinese, we understand that there was a call between Xi Jinping and Trump. We understand that there has been an invitation extended to the President of the United States and the first lady to come to China at some point. We are probably still some distance away from that. We should say that the fact that these discussions are happening between the Chinese and the United States and, you know, sort of neutral territory was in Switzerland, in the U.K. and now in Stockholm, really wants to sort of demonstrate the idea that nobody wants to be seen to be being pulled in either one of the directions. So I think we're probably still some distance away from that. That being said, this is the kind of announcement, Jomana, that as you expect, you think that the president of the United States would like to make right next to the the premier of China to really have the sort of full impact of what would be really a momentous trade deal and really one of the most important pledges of the Trump administration in that campaign, saying that basically he's going to solve the trade problem with China.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump pauses export controls to bolster China trade deal, FT says
(Reuters) -The U.S. has paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support President Donald Trump's efforts to secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping this year, the Financial Times said on Monday. The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside business hours. Top U.S. and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm on Monday to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies. Tech giant Nvidia said this month it would resume sales of its H20 graphics processing units (GPU) to China, reversing an export curb the Trump administration imposed in April to keep advanced AI chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns. The planned resumption was part of U.S. negotiations on rare earths and magnets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. The paper said 20 security experts and former officials, including former deputy US national security adviser Matt Pottinger, will write on Monday to Lutnick to voice concern, however. "This move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the United States' economic and military edge in artificial intelligence," they write in the letter, it added.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Head of China's Shaolin Temple removed over embezzlement claims
The head of the Chinese temple known as the birthplace of kung fu will be disrobed for "extremely" bad behaviour, Beijing's top Buddhist authority said Monday, after allegations of embezzlement saw him placed under investigation. The Shaolin Temple said on Sunday that Abbot Shi Yongxin, known as the "CEO monk" for establishing dozens of companies abroad, was suspected of "embezzling project funds and temple assets". The monastery said Shi had "seriously violated Buddhist precepts", including by allegedly engaging in "improper relationships" with multiple women. "Multiple departments" were conducting a joint investigation, it said in a statement on WeChat. In response, the Buddhist Association of China, overseen by the ruling Communist Party, said Monday it would cancel Shi's certificate of ordination. "Shi Yongxin's actions are of an extremely bad nature, seriously undermining the reputation of the Buddhist community, hurting the image of monks," the association said in an online statement. The association "firmly supports the decision to deal with Shi Yongxin in accordance with the law". Shi had previously been accused by former monks of embezzling money from a temple-run company, maintaining a fleet of luxury cars and fathering children with multiple women. China's government exercises authority over the appointment of religious leaders, and "improper" conduct is often grounds for removal from office. A hashtag related to the temple scandal had been viewed more than 560 million times on social media platform Weibo as of Monday morning. The last post to the abbot's personal account on Weibo declared: "when one's own nature is pure, the pure land is here in the present". Shi faced similar allegations in 2015 which the temple called "vicious libel". Shi, 59, took office as abbot in 1999 and in the following decades expanded Shaolin studies and cultural knowledge overseas. He helped the temple establish dozens of companies -- but received backlash for commercialising Buddhism. The temple, established in AD 495, is known as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Chinese kung fu. Shi was first elected vice-chairman of the Buddhist Association of China in 2002 and has served as a representative to the National People's Congress, the country's top lawmaking body. mya/oho/mtp
