Good morning. US secretary of state Antony Blinken raised concerns with China about its alleged electronic spying facilities in Cuba during a two-day mission to Beijing aimed at stabilising relations between the two countries.
Before departing Beijing, Blinken told CBS television that he had discussed the subject of Chinese spying operations in Cuba in his meetings with top officials.
Asked if he had brought up the issue, he said: “I did. I’m not going to characterise their response, but I told them that this is a serious concern for us.”
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Beijing and Havana had reached a tentative deal for a new electronic eavesdropping facility in Cuba, roughly 350km from Florida. The Biden administration initially disputed the report but later disclosed that China had been conducting electronic espionage from Cuba since at least 2019.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said it was “no secret” China had been trying to improve its intelligence gathering capabilities in the western hemisphere, including a “relationship that they have had for quite some time with Cuba”.
The US has become increasingly concerned about Chinese espionage as China has expanded its operations overseas. Earlier this year, US-China relations deteriorated after a suspected Chinese spy balloon flew over North America for roughly a week.
Will espionage concerns hinder efforts to stabilise Sino-US relations? Email your thoughts to [email protected].
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on:
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Missing Titanic submersible: Search and rescue crews are racing to locate the tourist submersible that went missing on a dive to the site of the Titanic, as fears grow for five people aboard with dwindling oxygen.
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Ukraine Recovery Conference: Politicians and businesspeople gather in London for a two-day conference to discuss Ukraine’s postwar recovery. Here’s the FT View on how to support the reconstruction effort.
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Economic data: The UK and South Africa release inflation figures for last month.
Five more top stories
1. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to criminal tax violations and reached a deal with prosecutors over a separate firearm offence. Donald Trump and his Republican allies have responded to the news by claiming prosecutors were too lenient in the case involving the US president’s son.
2. The People’s Bank of China has cut its benchmark lending rate for the first time in almost a year. The one-year loan prime rate was reduced by 10 basis points to 3.55 per cent to spur more robust growth in the struggling economy. Read about China’s latest effort to boost growth.
3. Alibaba is replacing Daniel Zhang as chief executive and chair of the Chinese ecommerce giant, with a top lieutenant to its former boss Jack Ma set to take the reins. Here are more details on the management shake-up, which raises the possibility of Ma’s deeper involvement again in running Alibaba.
4. Pirelli has announced a new succession plan following the resignation of Marco Tronchetti Provera’s handpicked replacement as chief executive. The decision comes days after Rome announced measures to curb the influence of Chinese investor Sinochem over the Italian tyremaker, invoking national security concerns. Read the full story.
5. Two former Wirecard executives were sentenced to prison in Singapore, the first criminal convictions related to the collapse of the once high-flying German payments group. Singapore’s state court sentenced James Wardhana to 21 months and Chai Ai Lim to 10 months for conspiring to misappropriate funds.
The Big Read
In January, scientists from the UN atomic watchdog visited Iran’s secretive Fordow nuclear facility and made a shocking discovery: uranium there had been enriched to record levels of purity, suggesting Tehran was closer than ever to having the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. Western diplomats have quietly resumed talks, but some think it may be too late to halt the Islamic republic’s march to nuclear statehood.
We’re also reading . . .
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Military briefing: Russia’s Ka-52 “Alligator” attack helicopters are threatening a budding Ukrainian counteroffensive short on air defences.
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Janan Ganesh: To rationalise western populism is a fool’s errand and yet it is one undertaken by people of the highest intelligence.
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Refugee policy: Last week’s catastrophe off the Greek coast brought home the need to design more effective migrant management systems, writes David Miliband.
Chart of the day
Over the past 270 years, Europe and North America have contributed more than 70 per cent of the stock of human-made greenhouse gases. But today emerging and developing countries generate some 63 per cent of emissions, a share that is bound to grow. The investments needed for a green transition in these countries (other than China) needs to reach some $2.4tn a year by 2030, writes Martin Wolf.
Take a break from the news
The FT spoke to music star Pharrell Williams ahead of his Louis Vuitton debut at Paris Fashion Week. “This is not a job. This is not a gig. This is a dream,” Williams said about his unexpected appointment as creative director of menswear at the biggest luxury brand in the world.
Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith
