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Unfounded online rumours warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan are taking a toll on travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers.People from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024.Although it is impossible to know exactly when earthquakes will hit, fear-inducing predictions have spread widely among the city’s residents.Some of the false posts cite a Japanese manga comic, republished in 2021, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025 — based on the author’s dream.Other posts give different dates, while a Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members, mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”The earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers’ preferences,” said Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday.Chow told AFP that in March and April his company received 70-80 percent fewer inquiries about travelling to Japan than last year.”I’ve never experienced this before,” said Chow, who also runs the booking website Flyagain.la.While some people changed their destination, others “did not dare to travel”, he said.Mild to moderate earthquakes are common in Japan, where strict building codes minimise damage, even from larger shakes.But the nation is no stranger to major disasters, including in 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.Earthquakes are very rarely felt in Hong Kong, but some people are easily spooked by disinformation, Chow said.- ‘Megaquake’ warning -Last month, Tokyo’s Cabinet Office said on social media platform X: “Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.”A Cabinet Office official told AFP that the X post was part of its usual information-sharing about earthquakes.But Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily reported that it was responding to prophecies that sprung up online after a Japanese government panel in January released a new estimate for the probability of a “megaquake”.The panel said the chance of a massive earthquake along the undersea Nankai Trough south of Japan in the next three decades had marginally increased to 75-82 percent.This was followed by a new damage estimate in March from the Cabinet Office, which said a Nankai Trough megaquake and tsunami could cause 298,000 deaths in Japan.Despite being a routine update of a previous 2014 figure, the estimate appears to have fanned tourists’ fears.A YouTube video featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times.Don Hon, one of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents, does not entirely believe the online claims, but has still been influenced by them.”I will just take it as a precaution, and won’t make any particular plans to travel to Japan,” the 32-year-old social worker said.And if a friend were to ask him to visit Japan in July, Hon “might suggest going somewhere else”.- ‘No reason to worry’ -Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has reduced flights to Japan’s southern Tokushima region, a local tourism official told AFP.”The company told us demand has rapidly decreased amid rumours there will be a big quake and tsunami in Japan this summer,” she said.”Three scheduled weekly round-trip flights will be reduced to two round-trips per week from May 12 to October 25.”The airline is also reducing its flights to Sendai in the northern region of Miyagi.”There’s no reason to worry,” Miyagi’s governor Yoshihiro Murai reassured travellers, adding that Japanese people are not fleeing.But “if unscientific rumours on social media are impacting tourism, that would be a major problem”, he said last month.According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Hong Kong visitors in March stood at 208,400 — down nearly 10 percent year-on-year.However, this decline was partly due to the Easter holidays starting in mid-April this year, instead of March, they said.Hong Kong-based EGL Tours has not seen a massive decline in customers travelling to Japan, its executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said.But recent bookings at its two hotels in Japan show fewer from Hong Kong guests, while the number from other global destinations remains stable.In any case, in the likely event that the predictions do not come to pass, “people will realise it’s not true”, he said.burs-nf/kaf/tc/sco

Taiwan will turn off its last nuclear reactor on Saturday, fuelling concerns over the self-ruled island’s reliance on imported energy and vulnerability to a Chinese blockade.The island, which targets net-zero emissions by 2050, depends almost entirely on imported fossil fuel to power its homes, factories and critical semiconductor chip industry.President Lai Ching-te’s Democratic Progressive Party has long vowed to phase out nuclear power, while the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party says continued supply is needed for energy security.Ma’anshan Nuclear Power Plant in southern Pingtung county is being closed as China intensifies military activity around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory and has vowed to bring under its control one day. During large-scale military drills around Taiwan in April, China simulated strikes on key ports and energy sites as well as blockading the island.Ma’anshan has operated for 40 years in a region popular with tourists and which is now dotted with wind turbines and solar panels.More renewable energy is planned at the site, where state-owned Taipower plans to build a solar power station capable of supplying an estimated 15,000 households annually.But while nuclear only accounted for 4.2 percent of Taiwan’s power supply last year, some fear Ma’anshan’s closure risks an energy crunch.”Taiwan is such a small place and currently there’s no other better and more efficient natural energy source that can replace nuclear power,” said Ricky Hsiao, 41, who runs a nearby guesthouse.”The reality is that TSMC and other big companies need a lot of electricity. They would leave Taiwan if it’s not stable,” he told AFP, referring to chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.But mother-of-two Carey Chen fears an accident like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan, which like Taiwan is prone to earthquakes.”If we can find other stable power sources, I support a nuclear-free homeland for everyone’s safety,” Chen, 40, told AFP.- Stable supply – At its peak in the 1980s, nuclear power made up more than 50 percent of Taiwan’s energy generation, with three plants operating six reactors across the island. Concerns after the Fukushima disaster sawa new plant mothballed in 2014 before it was even finished.And two plants stopped operating between 2018 and 2023 after their operating permits expired.Most of Taiwan’s power is fossil fuel-based, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounting for 42.4 percent and coal 39.3 percent last year.Renewable energy made up 11.6 percent, well short of the government’s target of 20 percent by 2025.Solar has faced opposition from communities worried about panels occupying valuable land, while rules requiring locally made parts in wind turbines have slowed their deployment.Lai insists Taiwan’s energy supply will be stable even as AI technology boosts demand, with new units in existing LNG and coal-fired plants replacing Ma’anshan’s output.The KMT and Taiwan People’s Party, which control the parliament, amended a law on Tuesday enabling nuclear plants to extend their operating life by up to 20 years.”Nuclear power is not the most perfect way to generate electricity,” KMT lawmaker Ko Ju-chun told AFP.”But it is an option that should not be eliminated when we are developing technology, defence, and strengthening national security.”- Chinese threat -Taiwan’s reliance on imported fossil fuels is of particular concern given the risk of a Chinese blockade.The island has enough LNG and coal reserves to last just 11 and 30 days, respectively, government data show.Taiwan’s centralised electricity grid also leaves swaths of the island at risk of major power outages in case of a single fault. Without nuclear, “our energy security cannot be guaranteed, and national security will be affected”, said Yeh Tsung-kuang, an energy expert at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University.Environmental activists argue renewables are the best way to bolster Taiwan’s energy resilience.”If every community has solar panels on its roofs, the community can be (more) self-sufficient”, said Tsui Shu-hsin, secretary-general of Green Citizens’ Action Alliance.But others note Taiwan’s break-up with nuclear is at odds with global and regional trends.Even Japan aims for nuclear to account for 20-22 percent of its electricity by 2030, up from well under 10 percent now.And nuclear power became South Korea’s largest source of electricity in 2024, accounting for 31.7 percent of the country’s total power generation, and reaching its highest level in 18 years, according to government data.Yu Shih-ching, chief of Hengchun town where Ma’anshan is located, said the plant had brought jobs and boosted the local economy.”Our view is that nuclear power is necessary,” he told AFP, calling it “an important driving force for the national economy” and a “great help to local areas”.And Lai acknowledged recently he would not rule out a return to nuclear one day.”Whether or not we will use nuclear power in the future depends on three foundations which include nuclear safety, a solution to nuclear waste, and successful social dialogue,” he said.

Equities stuttered Thursday as investors await fresh developments in trade talks, with US partners looking to reach deals to avoid Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, while oil extended losses on hopes for an Iran nuclear deal.With excitement from the China-US detente running out of legs, the search is on for fresh catalysts to drive a rally that has pushed markets back above the levels seen before US President Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” bombshell.News that Beijing was suspending some non-tariff countermeasures on US entities for 90 days following the superpowers’ weekend truce did little to inject much more enthusiasm.With the tariffs crisis calmed for now, dealers can turn their attention to hard economic data, hoping for an idea about the initial impact of Washington’s trade policies.After figures Tuesday showing US inflation came in a little below forecasts in April, eyes are on wholesale prices and retail sales due later Thursday, as well as earnings from retail giant Walmart.However, analysts pointed out that the real impact would not be seen until May’s figures are released and warned that there were still plenty of bumps in the road ahead.”The trade truce may hold for now, but the tariffs announced — many still around 30 percent — are not disappearing,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.”These are ‘sticky’ policies that can reshape supply chains, corporate margins, and even inflation. In fact, the market is now preparing for a second shock: weaker economic and earnings data in the third quarter as tariffs bite.”She added that “the muted market reaction the day after the truce suggests investors may be digesting the idea that ‘the best news may already be out'”.While Wall Street enjoyed a broadly positive day, with the S&P and Nasdaq up but the Dow down, Asia largely reversed.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei and Manila were all down.Oil prices sank around two percent on signs that Iran could agree to certain US demands to reach a nuclear deal.An adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Tehran could accept far-reaching curbs on its atomic programme in exchange for sanctions relief, according to NBC News.Ali Shamkhani said in an interview that his country could agree to never develop nuclear weapons, give up stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and allow inspectors to nuclear sites — among other steps — if economic sanctions were lifted, NBC said.The commodity had already dropped Wednesday on bets that demand would increase as tensions between China and the United States ease and the tariffs are wound back.- Key figures at around 0200 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 37,670.38Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,518.02Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,397.09Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1198 from $1.1178 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3281 from $1.3268Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.19 yen from 146.65 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.31 pence from 84.21 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $61.88 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.9 percent at $64.89 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,051.06 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,585.01 (close)

Global stocks were mixed Wednesday as euphoria over easing US-China trade tensions petered out while markets looked ahead to key US economic data.While the April volatility stemming from President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz appears to have halted, analysts warned that Washington still needed to reach trade deals with countries to instil a sense of stability.The S&P 500 finished narrowly positive after a meandering session while the Nasdaq advanced and the Dow retreated modestly.Markets are looking ahead to reports Thursday on US wholesale prices and retail sales for April, as well as earnings from retail behemoth Walmart.In a further boost for the US-China trade truce, Beijing said Wednesday it was suspending some non-tariff countermeasures on US entities for 90 days.But the market relief that followed news of a de-escalation in the US-China trade war at high-level talks over the weekend looked to have run its course.”After a powerful rally to start the week, the stock markets are consolidating,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.In Europe, the Paris, Frankfurt and London stock markets all closed lower.Chinese indices closed with sizeable gains on rallies for tech stocks.The Hong Kong stock market jumped more than two percent.After Asian markets closed, Chinese internet giant Tencent reported a better-than-expected increase in revenue for the first quarter, propelled by growth in gaming.Tech darling Nvidia meanwhile extended its gains Wednesday, trading up 4.2 percent after adding nearly six percent Tuesday.That comes after Trump unveiled agreements Tuesday with Saudi Arabia on a visit to the Gulf, including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.”The key theme for global stocks this week is the resurgence of big tech,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.”So far this week, the Magnificent 7 (of blue-chip tech stocks) is outperforming the overall S&P 500… as the US improves its trading partnerships with key nations and President Trump sells Nvidia chips to leaders of the Middle East.”Boeing shares also climbed after Trump announced in Doha what he called a record Qatar Airways order. Under a deal announced by Trump, Qatar Airways will acquire up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft.Tokyo ended in the red, even as electronics titan Sony surged 3.7 percent as it announced a record annual profit.However, Sony did warn that profits could fall in this financial year and said it was hoping to manage the impact of Trump’s tariffs.In other company news, Burberry shares soared 17 percent after the British luxury fashion group announced more cost-saving measures, putting one-fifth of its workforce at risk, to help curb losses.French train maker Alstom shares plunged 17 percent as its financial target disappointed investors, despite reporting a return to profit last year.Oil prices retreated after enjoying a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump’s warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal.- Key figures at around 2100 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,051.06 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 5,892.58 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 19,146.81 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,585.01 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,836.79 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 23,527.01 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 38,128.13 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 23,640.65 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,403.95 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1178 from $1.1185 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3268 from $1.3306Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.65 yen from 147.48 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.21 pence from 84.06 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $63.15 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $66.09 per barrelburs-jmb/dw

The United States and China slashed sweeping tariffs on each others’ goods for 90 days on Wednesday, marking a temporary de-escalation in a brutal trade war that roiled global markets and international supply chains.Washington and Beijing agreed to drastically lower sky-high tariffs in a deal that emerged from pivotal talks at the weekend in Geneva.US President Donald Trump said Washington now had the blueprint for a “very, very strong” trade deal with China that would see Beijing’s economy “open up” to US businesses, in an interview broadcast Tuesday on Fox News.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal … that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told the US broadcaster while aboard Air Force One on the way to the start of his Gulf tour.”One of the things I think that could be most exciting for us and also for China, is that we’re trying to open up China,” he added, without elaborating.Trump had upended international commerce with his sweeping tariffs across economies, and China has been especially hard hit. Unwilling to budge, Beijing responded with retaliatory levies that brought new tariffs on both sides well over 100 percent.After billions were wiped off equities and with businesses ailing, negotiations finally got underway at the weekend in Geneva between the world’s trade superpowers to find a way out of the impasse. Under the deal, the United States agreed to lower its new tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent — down by over 100 percentage points.- ‘No winners’ -The reductions came into effect just after midnight Washington time (0401 GMT) on Wednesday, a major de-escalation in trade tensions that saw US tariffs on Chinese imports soar to up to 145 percent and even as high as 245 percent on some products.Washington also lowered duties on low-value imports from China that hit e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu.Under Trump’s order, such small parcels would be hit by duties of 54 percent of their value — down from 120 percent — or a $100 payment.China said Wednesday it was suspending certain non-tariff countermeasures too.Beijing’s commerce ministry said it was halting for 90 days measures that put 28 US entities on an “export control list” that bars firms from receiving items that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.The ministry added in a separate statement that it was pausing measures which added 17 US entities to an “unreliable entity list”. Companies on the list are prohibited from import and export activities or making new investments in China.The suspension for 11 entities added on April 4 applies for 90 days, while the ministry did not specify the length of suspension for six others added on April 9.Markets have rallied in the glow of the China-US tariff suspension.Chinese officials have pitched themselves at a summit in Beijing with Latin American leaders this week as a stable partner and defender of globalisation.”There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told leaders including Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. His top diplomat Wang Yi swiped at a “major power” that believed “might makes right”.- ‘Risk of renewed escalation’ -Deep sources of tension remain — the US additional tariff rate is higher than China’s because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump’s complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl.Washington has long accused Beijing of turning a blind eye to the fentanyl trade, something China denies.Analysts warn that the possibility of tariffs returning after 90 days simply piles on more uncertainty.”Further tariff reductions will be difficult and the risk of renewed escalation persists,” Yue Su, principal economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.Trump’s rollercoaster tariff row with Beijing has wreaked havoc on US companies that rely on Chinese manufacturing, with the temporary de-escalation only expected to partially calm the storm.And Beijing officials have admitted that China’s economy — already ailing from a protracted property crisis and sluggish consumer spending — is likewise being affected by trade uncertainty.bur-oho-mya-bys/st

Chinese internet giant Tencent on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected increase in first-quarter revenue, propelled by growth in gaming as the firm’s strategic drive into artificial intelligence deepens.Shenzhen-based Tencent is the operator of China’s multifunctional app WeChat and a major player in the global gaming industry.The firm also has a presence in cloud computing, entertainment and AI — the latter of which has seen a boost in interest among Chinese tech giants following the shock release of advanced chatbot DeepSeek this year.Tencent’s revenue in the three months ended March 31 was 180.0 billion yuan ($25.0 billion), a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year.The figure came in slightly higher than a Bloomberg estimate of 175.7 billion yuan.In a breakdown of sales, Tencent said that revenue from domestic games increased 24 percent year-on-year, while international games saw a 23 percent rise.Net profits also charted a moderate increase during the first quarter, the results showed, jumping 14 percent year-on-year to reach 47.8 billion yuan.”AI capabilities already contributed tangibly to our businesses, such as performance advertising and evergreen games,” the firm said in a statement.Tencent added that it has ramped up spending on “new AI opportunities”, including integrated features within the WeChat app.Chinese tech giants have been funnelling resources into the competitive field of AI since the release of DeepSeek’s chatbot in January.The little-known Chinese company caused a global stir because it appeared to have developed the chatbot at a fraction of the price of Western industry leaders such as the United States’s OpenAI.Tencent this year began trialling its own AI model which it says can outpace DeepSeek.Tencent was among the tech firms caught up in a sweeping domestic crackdown that began in 2020 with officials calling off the massive, planned listing of Alibaba-linked fintech company Ant Group.Beijing has signalled renewed friendliness toward tech firms in recent months, but broad restrictions on video game access for minors still stand.

Japan’s Sony on Wednesday reported a record annual net profit but issued a cautious forecast, saying it hopes to “manage the impact” of US trade tariffs on its business.The entertainment and electronics giant said takings had been strong in the gaming, music and image sensor sectors in the year to the end of March 2025.But US President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade levies have made the business environment less predictable, including for global conglomerates such as Sony Group.”We currently expect to be able to manage the impact on the profitability to approximately 100 billion yen ($680 million), or less than 10 percent of the operating income forecast,” the company said.The firm’s PlayStation 5 console production was “not in a tight spot” despite the tariffs, but Sony was monitoring Trump’s plan for a 100 percent tariff on films produced outside the United States, said president and chief executive officer Hiroki Totoki.”Movies are shot at various locations depending on their storylines. That’s the general practice,” he told a news conference.”Decisions to work outside the United States are made because of the soaring cost of Hollywood.”Sony logged a record net profit of 1.14 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) for the 2024-25 financial year but said it expected that to fall 13 percent to 930 billion yen in the current financial year.The forecast does not include its financial services sector, which the firm said it will partially spin off in the next 12 months.Sony said Wednesday the decision to spin-off would allow it to “focus on a business portfolio centred around creation” — in particular its entertainment ventures and image sensors, which are used in smartphone cameras.- PS5 price hikes -The company had hiked its annual forecasts in February, following robust sales of games, music and other products in the year-end holiday shopping season.The yen’s relative weakness has also boosted the value of many of the conglomerate’s exports.Music streaming is a money-spinner for Sony, which has an impressive back catalogue and a roster that includes superstars such as Beyonce.In mid-April, Sony announced price increases for several models of its PlayStation 5 gaming console in markets including Europe but notably excluding the United States. PS5 consoles are primarily assembled in China, which on Wednesday agreed with the United States to drastically lower sky-high tariffs in their brutal trade war.Sony has so far not touched the cost of the higher-priced, higher-spec PS5 Pro console, which hit shelves in November.Overall, “regarding the rise in US tariffs, (Sony) will likely be able to deal with it for the time being as it has stockpiled inventory in the United States”, Rakuten Securities chief analyst Yasuo Imanaka said last month.”But if high tariffs continue, the longer term impact is unclear,” he warned.Masahiro Wakasugi of Bloomberg Intelligence also said ahead of Wednesday’s earnings that “tariffs are likely to be a headwind next year” for Sony.But “the music and picture division’s earnings can also expand strongly thanks to the high popularity of its streaming music and movies”.Sony’s shares rose 3.67 percent to 3,788 yen in Tokyo.

Stocks fluctuated Wednesday, with investors struggling to track a strong day on Wall Street as euphoria over the China-US trade detente petered out.But while the days of breathtaking volatility seen through April appear to be over for now, analysts warned that more work was needed for Washington to reach tariff deals with countries and instill a sense of stability.Data showing US inflation unexpectedly slowed last month provided some cheer, though observers pointed out that the real impact of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tolls will not likely be felt until May’s readings.The US president on Tuesday played up a deal with Beijing.”We have the confines of a very, very strong deal with China. But the most exciting part of the deal… that’s the opening up of China to US business,” he told Fox News.His remarks were made aboard Air Force One as he headed off on his Gulf tour, with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday pledging $600 billion worth of US investments in a range of sectors from defence to artificial intelligence.The agreements — including a huge chip deal for Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices — would boost US jobs, and the stock market is “gonna go a lot higher”, Trump said, citing an “explosion of investment and jobs”.The tech-rich Nasdaq rallied with the S&P 500, which broke back into positive territory for the year, helped slightly by the inflation data.Asia was mixed, though there were some standout performances.Hong Kong jumped more than two percent and Shanghai also rallied thanks to healthy buying of Chinese tech firms ahead of earnings releases from market heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent.Investors are hoping the reports will provide an idea about how the sector’s two biggest firms are coping with the trade upheaval and uncertainty in the world’s number two economy. Tencent jumped three percent, while Alibaba and rival ecommerce giant JD.com put on even more.There were also gains in Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta but Singapore, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok fell.Tokyo ended down even as electronics titan Sony surged 3.7 percent as it announced a record annual profit and a $1.6 billion share buyback. However, it did warn profits could fall in this financial year and said it was hoping to manage the impact of Trump’s tariffs.London, Paris and Frankfurt fell in morning trade.Oil edged down after enjoying a four-day rally on demand optimism and Trump’s warnings to Iran over a nuclear deal.Analysts said that while the China deal was welcome, investors were now bracing for the next developments in the US president’s trade standoff with the world as countries look to strike deals with the White House to avert stiff tariffs.”Remember it’s an armistice not a peace treaty — and the tariffs are still at these levels worse than we had before,” Neil Wilson at Saxo Markets said.”Let’s be honest, the market knows this script by heart: Trump escalates. Markets tumble. Back-channels open. China blinks. A deal gets made. Risk rallies,” added Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The fog has lifted — for now. Whether this cycle brings more sustainable upside or just sets up the next tantrum remains to be seen,” he said.Still, the dialling down of tensions with China saw JPMorgan Chase predict the US economy would grow this year, reversing its earlier forecast for a contraction caused by the tariffs.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 38,128.13 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 23,640.65 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,403.95 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,598.77Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1206 from $1.1189 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3319 from $1.3304Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.01 yen from 147.47 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.14 pence from 84.07 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $63.61 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $66.55 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 42,140.43 (close)

Colombia formally agreed on Wednesday to join China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, as Beijing draws Latin America closer in a bid to counter the United States.Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in US President Donald Trump’s confrontations with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.China has surpassed the United States as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru, Chile and other Latin American nations, and two-thirds of countries there have signed up to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive.On the sidelines of a major gathering of regional leaders in Beijing on Wednesday, Colombia became the latest country to join the massive global initiative.Colombia’s foreign ministry hailed the agreement as a “historic step that opens up new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation, and sustainable development for both countries”.And after a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Xi urged the countries to take the opportunity of Colombia formally joining the “Belt and Road Initiative family” to enhance their cooperation, Beijing’s state media said.Posting a video of the signing to social media platform X, Petro wrote that “the history of our foreign relations is changing”.”From now on, Colombia will interact with the entire world on a footing of equality and freedom,” he wrote.The BRI is a central pillar of Xi’s bid to expand China’s economic and political clout overseas.For more than a decade, it has provided investment for infrastructure and other large-scale projects around the world, offering Beijing political and economic leverage in return.Last year, Xi inaugurated Latin America’s first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru — a symbol of the Asian superpower’s growing influence on the continent.- ‘Defenders of free trade’ -This week’s China-CELAC Forum in Beijing has seen China cast itself as the defender of the multilateral order and the backer of the Global South, with Xi pledging on Monday $9.2 billion in credit towards development.That pledge was part of a broad set of initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation, including on infrastructure and clean energy.Beijing will also cooperate in counterterrorism and fighting transnational organised crime, Xi said, as well as enhancing exchanges such as scholarships and training programmes.During a meeting with Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday, Xi said that the “resurgence of unilateralism and protectionism is severely impacting the international economic and trade order”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.”As staunch defenders of multilateralism and free trade, China and Chile should strengthen multilateral coordination and jointly safeguard the common interests of the Global South,” Xi told Boric.Also in attendance at the China-CELAC forum was Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day state visit.Addressing delegates, Lula said his region did not “want to repeat history and start a new Cold War”, adding: “Our goal is to be an asset to the multilateral order for a global good”.In talks with Lula on Tuesday, Xi said the two countries should “strengthen cooperation” and together “oppose unilateralism”, according to Chinese state media.The United States and China have faced off in Latin America, including over the Panama Canal, which Trump has for months vowed to reclaim from alleged Chinese influence.Washington considered a Hong Kong company’s operation of ports at both ends of the interoceanic waterway to be a threat to its national security, but Beijing has dismissed the claims.And China’s market regulator is looking into a deal by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison to offload 43 ports in 23 countries — including its two on the Panama Canal — to a US-led consortium.The world’s two largest economies are two of the top users of the canal, through which five percent of all global shipping passes.

Inside one of South Korea’s oldest semiconductor research institutes, the cleanrooms and workshops are calm and immaculate, but outside the Seoul National University campus, a chip storm is brewing.Last month, Washington announced a national security probe into imports of semiconductor technology, which could put the industry in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s trade bazooka and inflict potentially devastating levies.For chipmaking powerhouses South Korea and Taiwan, the consequences could be enormous. South Korea is home to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, while Taiwan hosts the world’s largest contract chipmaker, TSMC. Collectively, they produce a significant chunk of high-end chips that have become the lifeblood of the global economy, powering everything from smartphones to missiles.Taiwan exported $7.4 billion worth of semiconductors to the United States in 2024, while South Korea’s exports surged to $10.7 billion, a historic high. Experts say the spectre of looming tariffs has spurred stockpiling, with fears levies will drive up consumer prices and hurt chipmakers.The clear intention of Trump’s policies is to force the Asian chip giants to relocate production stateside, a former engineer at Taiwanese chip firm MediaTek told AFP.”TSMC going overseas to the US to build fabs is like paying protection money,” they said, adding that the projects barely made a profit with margins “super low” in high-cost America. “From the American point of view, it’s logical to sacrifice the rest of the world for its own interests, only that we happen to be the ones being sacrificed,” the engineer said.- A ‘heavy blow’ -The US president’s tolls could be “quite complex”, Kim Yang-paeng, senior researcher at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), told AFP.Rather than hitting the industry with a blanket levy, the United States could target different products such as HBM, which is essential for high-speed computing, and DRAM, which is used for memory.Any significant tariffs on the sector, which relies on complex manufacturing chains to produce high-end tech products, would be a “heavy blow”, the MediaTek engineer said.Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, and leading memory chip supplier SK hynix rely heavily on indirect exports to the United States via China, Taiwan and Vietnam.For example, Samsung produces television panels in South Korea, which are then assembled into finished televisions in Vietnam before being shipped to the United States.For these companies, there is “concern about a decline in demand due to rising prices in other sectors using semiconductors”, said Jung Jae-wook, professor at Sogang University.Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington are negotiating a “trade package” aimed at preventing new US tariffs before the July 8 expiration of Trump’s pause in his “reciprocal” levies.- Few alternatives -US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is expected to visit South Korea for the APEC trade ministers’ meeting this week.Experts say that in the short term, chips like HBM are less likely to be impacted by tariff wars owing to strong demand driven by artificial intelligence. And unlike many other sectors such as the auto industry — which is already hit by tariffs — “semiconductors have no substitutes from the US perspective”, said Kim Dae-jong, a professor at Sejong University.It is also not feasible to shift chip production entirely stateside, given America’s limited capacity, so any measures “are unlikely to be sustained in the long run”, said Sogang University’s Jung.”There are not many alternative countries (the United States) can rely on for imports, making price increases inevitable if tariffs are imposed,” he said. While Washington is eager to bolster domestic production, South Korea and Taiwan are keenly aware of the strategic significance of the industry and are not likely to give up capacity.For Taiwan, semiconductors are a matter of national security, said Kim from KIET. “Taiwan may expand its manufacturing presence in the United States, but significant changes to its domestic semiconductor ecosystem are unlikely.”Back at the Seoul National University semiconductor institute, its director, Lee Hyuk-jae — who is also an outside director for Samsung — spends his days urging the government to invest more in the sector, which he says “holds great importance” for the country.