Free to read: Westminster School, one of the UK’s most prestigious, has scrapped plans to develop a series of academies in China where a clampdown by the authorities continues #FTfreetoday#

Europe’s trade deficit with China has become a structural industrial problem. In 2025, the EU imported far more from China than it exported, leaving Europe with a massive goods trade deficit of around €360B. Free trade is good for consumers: lower prices, more choice, more competition. But when one side combines state subsidies, cheap credit, cheap energy and industrial overcapacity, the result is not normal competition. It is industrial displacement. Europe has already seen this in solar panels, batteries, electronics, chemicals and increasingly EVs. The answer is not protectionism everywhere. It is strategic realism: → Free trade for normal consumer goods → European production in critical sectors → Public procurement for European strategic industries The cheapest import today can become the most expensive dependency tomorrow.

Following the bilateral U.S.-China talks in Beijing, China earlier today, the White House has released a statement saying that the two delegations discussed issues such as market access into China, Chinese investment in U.S. industries, drugs, specifically fentanyl, the “free flow” of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, and other key issues.

Tibetan Buddhist monks hand out free #Laba# porridge at the #Yonghe# Lama Temple in Beijing, on Monday, which marks the traditional Laba Festival in China. Laba Festival is considered a prelude to Spring Festival.

BREAKING: The White House announces multiple US-China trade deals and developments following President Trump's meeting with China's President Xi. Details include: 1. China will address US concerns regarding supply chain shortages related to rare earths and other critical minerals 2. China has approved an initial purchase of 200 American-made Boeing aircraft for Chinese airlines 3. China will purchase at least $17 billion per year of US agricultural products in 2026, 2027, and 2028 4. China has restored market access for US beef by renewing expired listings of more than 400 US beef facilities and adding new listings 5. China has resumed imports of poultry from US states determined by the USDA to be free of highly pathogenic avian influenza President Xi will be visiting the White House this fall.

🎯 @WSJopinion my 2 cents: The real fulcrum of U.S.-China competition is understanding who is rising and who is declining—with the free people of Taiwan hanging in the balance. It’s a mindset as much as a strategic analysis.

This is Massive from Singapore 🇸🇬 🔥 🇸🇬 Singapore: Trying to stop China's rise isn't smart policy for the U.S. It can't be stopped anymore. 🇨🇳 China is a tiger now. 🔥 You have to accept it: China is the world's most powerful country, and still climbing fast. If Chinese people aren't free, why do 130+ million leave China every year — and then choose to go back? This will give the biggest headache to Trump 🇺🇸

President Trump's US$14 billion Taiwan arms package is an expensive negotiating chip with Communist China, for US arms sellers and Taiwan's security. There are FAR cheaper tools (basically, anything public): -Invite any Taiwan unofficial official to the White House -Call Taiwan's President by phone -Allow Taiwan's President to transit thru the US on his way to a diplomatic visit (Belize, Guatemala, Paraguay) -Advocate for Taiwan entry to the WHO, WHA, ICAO, Interpol, or the UN. -Send congratulations to Taiwan on World Democracy Day (Sep. 15) -Celebrate the Dalai Lama's birthday -Fly a Tibetan flag -Receive a blessing from a Tibetan monk NOT designated by Beijing -Free Tibet! -Push for Manchurian freedom -Push for Inner Mongolia and East Turkestan freedom. -Ask China to release all Uyghur (Muslim) prisoners. -Ask China to close all concentration camps. -Ask China to stop taking prisoners. -Ask China to stop taking prisoners' organs -Ask China to bring itself into the 21st century by dismantling its empire and setting all colonies free. The West has, Russia has, surely China can, too! -Send Winnie the Pooh cartoons to Emperor Xi -Come on, everyone. What else?

🛳️ @HMS_Spey has just exercised navigation rights and freedoms around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, in accordance with UNCLOS. ➡️The UK is committed to international law and to upholding a free, open and stable South China Sea.