Worldwide: Headlines
EU chief executive: no post-Brexit deal without ‘level playing field’
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday that the bloc will do its best to seal an agreement on new ties with Britain by the end of the year but will not compromise its core values, notably on fair competition.
Britain left the EU, the world’s largest trading bloc, on Jan. 31 after 47 years of membership, to the huge regret of the EU, and there has been little progress on designing a new relationship with a year-end deadline looming.
“The negotiations with the UK always promised to be difficult and they have not disappointed,” von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, told the European Parliament.
“We are now halfway through these negotiations with five months left to go. But we’re definitely not halfway through the work to reach an agreement … We will do all in our power to reach an agreement.”
She said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had confirmed to her this week that London would not seek to prolong negotiations on a new EU-UK trade deal beyond December.
The EU says Britain cannot retain all the economic and trading benefits it had as an EU member, while London says Brussels is not showing enough flexibility.
“We’re ready to be creative to find common ground,” von der Leyen said.
But she went on to say said there could be no deal without “level playing field” guarantees of fair competition, and agreements on fisheries and on dispute-settling mechanisms.
Full Coverage: Reuters
Safe-haven dollar lifted by rise in coronavirus cases
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar was slightly higher on Wednesday afternoon as evidence of a surge in coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and in Beijing sent investors into safe-haven assets.
The dollar index was up 0.140% to 97.121 and stronger versus the euro by 0.25% to $1.124. Against other traditional safe-havens the dollar was weaker, down 0.28% against the Japanese yen and down 0.23% against the Swiss france.
“Mixed risk-taking levels, largely driven by a surge in virus cases in several U.S. states, and in Beijing, have prompted some save-haven dollar buying,” wrote analysts at Action Economics.
On Wednesday a record number of cases were reported in Oklahoma. Florida reported over 2,600 new cases and Arizona more than 1,800 – the second-highest daily increase for both states. A day earlier, six states reported record increases in cases, including Texas, Nevada and Oregon.
Earlier Wednesday Beijing cancelled scores of flights, shut schools and blocked off some neighborhoods as it ramped up efforts to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has fanned fears of wider contagion.
Gains in the dollar were capped by some bullish sentiment after Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell in remarks before U.S. lawmakers beat the drum for more government aid to bolster the domestic economy.
Full Coverage: Reuters
Pacific data cable not safe from China if Hong Kong included, says US
Justice department says ‘recent actions’ by China towards its territory indicate landing station could expose US communications to spying
The US government wants a high-capacity undersea data cable system proposed by Google and Facebook to bypass Hong Kong, citing potential national security concerns following China’s moves to exert greater control in the territory.
The Pacific Light Cable Network, pending approval by the federal communications commission (FCC), should connect the US, Taiwan and the Philippines but not go through Hong Kong as planned, a US Justice Department committee has recommended.
The high-capacity, low-latency fibre optic cable backed by Google and Facebook would “encourage” US communications crossing the Pacific Ocean to land in Hong Kong before continuing on to other parts of Asia, the DoJ reasoned.
The recommendation to the FCC contended that the cable network’s “proposed Hong Kong landing station would expose US communications traffic to collection” by Beijing.
The concerns have been heightened by the Chinese government’s “recent actions to remove Hong Kong’s autonomy and allow for the possibility that [Beijing’s] intelligence and security services will operate openly in Hong Kong”, the DoJ said in a release.
Google and Facebook four years ago announced plans to work with a China Soft Power Holdings subsidiary to connect Los Angeles and Hong Kong with a high-capacity internet cable.
The Pacific Light Cable Network was to stretch 12,800km (8,000 miles), crossing beneath the Pacific Ocean in a first-of-its-kind direct connection between the two locations, according to companies involved with the project.
Full Coverage: The Guardian
South Korea’s nuclear envoy visits U.S. amid flaring tension with North
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator will visit officials in Washington on Thursday amid flaring tensions with North Korea after Pyongyang blew up an inter-Korean liaison office and threatened military action.
Lee Do-hoon’s unannounced trip came days after North Korea blew up a joint liaison office in Kaesong, near the South Korean border, declared an end to dialogue with the South and said it would return troops to border areas, counter to a 2018 peace agreement between the two countries’ leaders.
Lee is expected to hold consultations with U.S. officials, including Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun who had led denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea, South Korean media reported. He is also expected to meet White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment. South Korea’s presidential press secretary said Lee’s trip had been planned for a long time, dismissing media reports that he was visiting as a special envoy.
South Korean television footage showed Lee arriving at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on Wednesday evening, where he declined to comment to reporters.
Pyongyang has increasingly snubbed Seoul’s calls for engagement as efforts to restart inter-Korean economic projects stall due to international sanctions designed to rein in the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Tensions have grown, with Pyongyang taking issue over defectors in the South sending propaganda leaflets into North Korea.
Several defector-led groups regularly send back flyers carrying critical messages of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, often together with food, $1 bills, mini radios and USB sticks containing South Korean dramas and news.
Full Coverage: Reuters
There may be no immunity against Covid-19, new Wuhan study suggests
Humans may never develop immunity against Covid-19, according to new research on antibodies by Chinese and American scientists.
Their conclusion was based on a study looking at whether hospital workers in Wuhan who were directly exposed to infected patients at the early stage of the outbreak had developed antibodies. The deadly new disease was first detected in the Chinese city late last year.
At least a quarter of the more than 23,000 samples tested could have been infected with the virus at some stage, according to the scientists. But only 4 per cent had developed antibodies as of April.
“People are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus,” the researchers concluded in a non-peer-reviewed paper posted on preprint website medRxiv.org on Tuesday.
Many efforts to fight the pandemic are being done on the assumption that people who have had Covid-19 will produce antibodies that will protect them from reinfection. Those efforts include countries considering issuing “immune certificates”, the over 100 potential vaccines in development, and recovered patients being encouraged to give blood for experimental drugs and therapies.
But the new research in Wuhan suggested not everyone infected was producing antibodies, or producing long-lasting ones. Antibodies are the molecules generated by the immune system to bind with the virus spike protein and stop it from infecting cells. Some, like immunoglobulin G, or IgG, can remain in the system for a long time – it has been found in severe acute respiratory (Sars) patients 12 years after they were infected.
Led by Wang Xinhuan from Wuhan University’s Zhongnan Hospital and scientists from the University of Texas in Galveston, the study looked at samples from health care workers and general hospital staff in the city.
They found that 4 per cent of the health care workers and 4.6 per cent of general hospital staff had the IgG antibody.
Full Coverage: South China Morning Post
Oil prices drop on demand worries as coronavirus cases rise
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices fell more than 1% in early trade on Thursday as a spike in new coronavirus cases in China and the United States renewed fears that people would stay home and stall a recovery in fuel demand even as lockdowns ease.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were down 1.6%, or 60 cents, at $37.36 a barrel at 0035 GMT, adding to a loss of 42 cents on Wednesday.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 1.1%, or 45 cents, to $40.26 a barrel. The benchmark contract declined 25 cents on Wednesday.
Worries about fuel demand rose after a surge in coronavirus cases led Beijing to cancel flights and shut schools and several U.S. states, including Texas, Florida and California, reported sharp increases in new cases.
A rise in U.S. crude stockpiles to a record high for a second week in a row also weighed on sentiment, even though U.S. government data showed inventories of gasoline and distillate, which include diesel and heating oil, fell.
“People are concerned about the coronavirus resurging in China and crude stockpiles rising,” said Lachlan Shaw, head of commodity research at National Australia Bank.
Full Coverage: Reuters
Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com jumps 5.75% on Hong Kong debut
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com leapt 5.75 percent higher on its Hong Kong debut Thursday, after raising almost $4 billion in an initial public offering that was the world’s second biggest this year.
The firm, which listed on the Nasdaq in New York in 2014, opened at HK$239 in early morning trading in Hong Kong, compared with its listing price of HK$226.
The new debut comes as Chinese companies — especially those in tech — eschew Wall Street because of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The crash of once booming coffee chain Luckin Coffee Inc following an accounting scandal has also increased concerns among overseas investors about the transparency and reliability of some Chinese companies.
New York’s loss has been Hong Kong’s gain, however.
Fellow Chinese tech giant NetEase raised $2.7 billion in the city earlier this month, capping a frenetic few weeks on the stock exchange despite swirling fears over Beijing’s plan to impose a national security law on the finance hub.
NetEase saw a similar 6-percent gain on its first day of trading.
“We have come to Hong Kong not just because we want to share our promise and development with more clients… but because we have absolute confidence in China and the future of China’s economy,” JD’s Retail Chief Executive Officer Xu Lei said at the opening ceremony.
The JD.com IPO is the second-largest global offering this year after Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway raised $4.3 billion in January, according to Bloomberg news.
The dual listing will help the company better compete with e-commerce rivals including Amazon and Chinese titan Alibaba, which raised a whopping $12.9 billion in a secondary Hong Kong IPO last year.
Full Coverage: Bangkok Post
Mexico’s nominee for top WTO job, Jesus Seade, vows to ‘bring US and China back to the table’
Jesus Seade, the Mexican candidate to lead the World Trade Organisation, has pitched himself as the “trade expert” who can bring both the United States and China back to the multilateral negotiating table.
Mexico’s chief trade negotiator said that his “expertise and track record as a trade facilitator” will show that he is not interested in the politics, which have hamstrung the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) for years, if he succeeds Roberto Azevedo as director general later this year.
“I think it’s very important to bring [China and the US] to the table. I am convinced that for China, there’re few things more important on the international scene than the strength of the WTO,” Seade told the South China Morning Post.
“If you bring in a politician to head the WTO, [the first discussion with the Europeans and the Americans on particular kinds of subsidies] will go over the head of a director general. You need somebody who is completely in touch with that stuff, but at the same time, a good negotiator and a familiar face, who knows the Chinese, the Europeans, the Africans, the Americans culturally. I am a global man and trade expert. That is what they need.”
Seade is currently undersecretary for North America within Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, but launched his candidacy for the WTO from his base in Hong Kong, where he has been riding out Mexico’s coronavirus lockdown with his family, who continue to be based in the city.
The 73-year-old also remains Mexico’s top trade negotiator, and helped lead the trilateral talks that saw the North American Free Trade Agreement revamped as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is due to take force on July 1.
Full Coverage: South China Morning Post
