EU sidelined by US-China showdown, Moutai faces sobering reality: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider
subscribing
Over two rounds of high-stakes talks on European soil, Europe has watched from the sidelines as the US and China tried to reach a truce that might stabilise the global trading system on which the continent is entirely reliant.
The Chinese embassy in Israel warned its citizens on Friday morning to take safety precautions for potential attacks as Tehran considers a retaliation against Israeli strikes targeting its nuclear sites.
Moutai, one of China's most popular liquor brands, is being put in a difficult position by rules limiting extravagant spending by officials. Photo: Reuters
China's premier liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai – a brand that had, over decades, become synonymous with sumptuous feasts – is heeding a renewed mandate for austerity from Beijing, distancing its products from the extravagant hard-drinking lifestyle with which it had been linked in the public consciousness.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
32 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
As Israel strikes Iran, is regime change the ultimate target?
Israel's surprise attack on Iran had an obvious goal of sharply disrupting Tehran's nuclear programme and lengthening the time it would need to develop an atomic weapon. But the scale of the attacks, Israel's choice of targets, and its politicians' own words suggest another, longer-term objective: toppling the regime itself. The strikes early on Friday hit not just Iran's nuclear facilities and missile factories but also key figures in the country's military chain of command and its nuclear scientists, blows that appear aimed at diminishing Iran's credibility both at home and among its allies in the region – factors that could destabilise the Iranian leadership, experts said. 'One assumes that one of the reasons that Israel is doing that is that they're hoping to see regime change,' said Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior official under President George W. Bush. Israeli military aircraft preparing for strike operations in Iran. Photo: Israel Defence Forces via Xinhua 'It would like to see the people of Iran rise up,' he said, adding that the limited civilian casualties in the initial round of attacks also spoke to a broader aim.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Japan police ramp up security to tackle ‘lone wolf' attacks ahead of Tokyo election
As campaigning began on Friday for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, Japanese police have stepped up measures to thwart possible 'lone wolf' attacks after incidents involving notable politicians in recent years. Top politicians are set to converge on the Japanese capital for a close contest seen as a bellwether for the national House of Councillors election this summer, in which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to struggle. 'We are mobilising the organisation's full strength. We cannot create conditions that allow for the 'unexpected',' a senior official of the Metropolitan Police Department said. Stump speeches are a mainstay of Japanese elections, offering candidates a chance to get their message across and granting voters opportunities to meet their potential representatives. Politicians have been targeted while campaigning in recent years, with former prime minister Shinzo Abe fatally shot during a stump speech in the city of Nara before the 2022 House of Councillors election. During an election-related appearance in Wakayama, also in western Japan, in 2023, an explosive device was hurled toward then-prime minister Fumio Kishida
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Boeing delivers first plane to China in Trump tariff war reprieve
Boeing delivered its first aircraft to a Chinese airline customer since US President Donald Trump unleashed a wave of tariffs in early April, a sign of rapprochement as Washington and Beijing look to ease tensions. A Juneyao Air 787-9 Dreamliner took off from Paine Field north of Seattle on Friday, headed for Shanghai Pudong International Airport, according to Flightradar24 data. The airline had scuttled earlier plans to take the widebody aircraft after China ratcheted up duties in retaliation for the US levies. Representatives of Juneyao and Boeing declined to comment. The delivery is a boost for Boeing's carbon-fibre jet at a time when company executives are grappling with the aftermath of an Air India 787 crash that killed all but one of the 242 people on board. It reopens, for now, a pipeline of 50 aircraft designated for China this year. Deliveries are closely watched because that is when airlines hand over the bulk of the payment for a new aircraft.
