Diplomacy

Viewsroom: China’s Afghanistan question

19 Aug 2021

Beijing was able to expand its influence in central Asia while America and its allies held back the Taliban. The Islamic fundamentalists’ return to power presents China with new challenges – and opportunities. Plus: CEO Mike Henry shakes up mining giant BHP.

Dixon: Afghan crisis is climate risk, opportunity

19 Aug 2021

The Western alliance may be so damaged it can’t provide climate leadership. Global decarbonisation plans would fail to build momentum, storing up massive financial pain. But there’s a chance the West will regroup – and devise a Pax Planeta to replace the failed Pax Americana.

Xi’s wealth redistribution push starts with stick

18 Aug 2021

China’s president wants to restrain “unreasonable income”, hike wages and expand the middle class. That helps explain his rough treatment of tech and real estate tycoons. Fiscal transfers and social services imply fresh burdens for China Inc, and a long-delayed property tax.

Zambian sunlight could disperse Chinese debt fog

18 Aug 2021

The African state’s new leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has to forge a deal with creditors after last year’s default. Getting China to the table won’t be easy. Lifting Beijing’s veil of secrecy by revealing Lusaka’s loans would remove the biggest barrier, and set a good precedent.

Afghanistan puts China firmly on leadership hook

16 Aug 2021

Beijing might exploit the collapse of the U.S.-backed state to consolidate economic influence in central Asia and improve energy security. But a volatile theocracy could also threaten its rising regional investments, and ultimately suck it into the mess the Americans fled.

Review: Turning Beijing’s playbook against it

30 Jul 2021

China wants to become a global hegemon, Rush Doshi, the White House’s lead China wonk, argues in “The Long Game”. To halt its advance, he suggests copying Beijing’s strategy, and discouraging U.S. corporate engagement with China by tweaking taxes. He has few allies and less time.

Capital Calls: BBQGuys go easy on the hot sauce

20 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: An e-commerce company for grill connoisseurs is going public via a blank-check company with a valuation that befits its side-dish status.

Capital Calls: Intel, SPAC lobby

16 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: Buying GlobalFoundries would boost Intel’s ambitions to make chips for other firms, but spinning it off afterward might please investors more; a new D.C. group sets up shop to defend the blank-check craze.

Capital Calls: U.S. jobs, Didi probe, Pharma LBO

2 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. added 850,000 jobs in June but the recovery isn't happening everywhere. Meanwhile, Didi is hit with an investigation by a Chinese regulator days after its U.S. listing, and a pharma buyout by EQT and Goldman is a game of hot potato.

Viewsroom: Communist birthday, Little guys in IPOs

1 Jul 2021

China’s Communist Party turns 100. The institution has never been so popular at home or resented abroad. Its leaders are experts at the nuances of control and long on ambition, Pete Sweeney says. Plus, Wall Street enlists individual investors to help price initial stock deals.

Capital Calls: GameStop is a SPAC now

22 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The meme-stock video-game retailer has raised more cash, making it look like an overvalued cash shell.

Capital Calls: Netflix, Flackless SPAC

21 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The streaming service strikes an agreement with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners; Helicopter-taxi company Blade’s phony spokesperson speaks poorly to investors.

Iran vote makes reopening an even harder sell

21 Jun 2021

Ebrahim Raisi’s election as president means hardliners will from August control the Islamic Republic. A new deal to unwind some sanctions on the country may be signed before then. But companies that were burnt by the U.S. withdrawal from an earlier accord are unlikely to return.

Capital Calls: HSBC, MRNA scramble, Cable project

18 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: The UK bank’s France sale disappoints; Danaher snaps up Moderna supplier for $9.6 bln; geopolitics sinks internet cable.

Capital Calls: Corporate America blowback

15 Jun 2021

Concise views on global finance: An investor lawsuit against Trump-era rules on shareholders' proposals is the latest sign of the tables turning.

Belarus plays airspace poker with a weak hand

25 May 2021

Irate western powers have banned flights over the Russian ally’s territory after it forced a Ryanair jet to land. Engaging in “air piracy” is easier for countries that can afford to lose overflight fees or are too big to fly around. Neither is obviously the case for Belarus.

Rusal’s upside from clean break only goes so far

19 May 2021

The $6 bln aluminium maker’s plan to demerge carbon-heavy assets could unlock value if ESG-focused investors value the other parts more highly. But the greener entity will still have 28% of polluter Norilsk Nickel and the risk of U.S. sanctions snapback. That might cap any gains.

EU-U.S. tariff truce is half an anti-China front

17 May 2021

Washington and Brussels have agreed a trade ceasefire to stop a row over Trump-era steel levies getting any worse. Rockier relations with Beijing mean both sides need each other’s support. Unwinding the U.S. charges altogether would boost their preparations for the bigger fight.

Biden’s vaccine shift has risky side effects

6 May 2021

The U.S. president backed waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 jabs to help crisis-torn countries. Yet a shortage of ingredients and manufacturing challenges mean the move may not boost supply much. And it may hurt investment in remedies during the next pandemic.

EU boxes smart in bout with Chinese behemoths

5 May 2021

Competition tsar Margrethe Vestager wants to stop state-sponsored foreign firms from buying European rivals. It’s a good way to protect industries while resisting mergers like Siemens-Alstom. But ensuring a level playing field isn’t enough to develop high-tech sectors like chips.