Nissan searches for new partner as Honda merger talks collapse

Good morning and happy Friday. In today’s newsletter:

• China appoints ‘wolf warrior’ diplomat to Europe

• The right-wing pastor backing South Korea’s Yoon

• How Greenland got caught in a clash of superpowers

Nissan has begun searching for a strategic partner in the tech industry after ending merger talks with rival Honda that would have created the world’s fourth-largest carmaker.

The search for new partners would be broad and outside the automotive industry, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Some board members are also open to considering a partnership with Taiwanese iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn. The Apple supplier approached alliance partner Renault about acquiring part of its stake in Nissan late last year, triggering the frantic but fleeting round of merger negotiations with Honda.

The talks between the rival Japanese carmakers fell apart after Honda demanded that Nissan accept a new offer to become a fully owned subsidiary, deviating from the initially agreed structure of a joint holding company.

Nissan executives claimed they were blindsided by Honda’s new proposal, which was delivered as a “take it or leave it” offer. Read the full story.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:

• Chinese economy: China reports January inflation data on Sunday.

• India monetary policy: The Reserve Bank of India makes its bimonthly rate-setting announcement. Premium subscribers can sign up for our India Brief newsletter for more insights on Indian business and policy.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

Five more top stories

1. China has named one of its most controversial ambassadors to manage its diplomatic relationship with Europe, an appointment that signals a hardening of Beijing’s stance towards the EU. Lu Shaye, Beijing’s new special representative for European affairs, is one of the more prominent “wolf warriors” — Chinese diplomats known for aggressive and unapologetic rhetoric.

2. Republican attorneys-general from more than a dozen US states have accused BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan of underplaying the risks of investing in China, including the possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. In a letter that focused on BlackRock, the 17 attorneys-general wrote that the asset manager’s prospectuses “universally fail to identify China as a foreign adversary”.

3. Far-right pastor Jun Kwang-hoon is under investigation in South Korea on suspicion of inciting insurrection, after his devotees played a high-profile role in sometimes violent protests against the detention of suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol. Jun’s move from the fringe of South Korean politics intro the limelight illustrates how Yoon’s martial law decree has electrified the country’s far right.

4. A federal judge has barred the US Treasury from handing data from its payments system to outsiders, in an early legal blow to Elon Musk’s crusade to slash government spending. The order comes after Musk’s team at the Department of Government Efficiency apparently infiltrated the multitrillion dollar system.

5. Australia faces an “acute” challenge in keeping its position as one of the world’s leading energy suppliers in the face of Donald Trump’s push to increase fossil fuel output, the head of the country’s largest oil and gas producer has warned. Here’s why Meg O’Neill, chief executive of Woodside Energy, argued that Australia “loses on every front” to the US.

The Big Read

Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has thrust the vast, frozen landmass of 57,000 people into the spotlight. A long period of so-called Arctic exceptionalism, during which major powers viewed the region as a low-tension area where rival nations could find common ground over problems such as climate change, appears to be ending.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Hongkongers in the UK: Barriers to employment for new migrants mean many are overqualified for their jobs.

• Electric vehicles: Is there any other way to invest in the future of EVs and robotics without paying Tesla’s lofty share price? One contender is Hyundai, writes June Yoon.

• Transactional world: Long before Trump, China’s rise made the fracturing of the global order into competing power blocs inevitable, writes John Plender.

Graphic of the day

With the US president threatening a global trade war, keep track of the latest data on imports, exports and trade balances with the FT’s new interactive Trump tracker.

For more on global trade, sign up for Alan Beattie’s weekly Trade Secrets newsletter here if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription.

Take a break from the news . . . 

Our list of the six films to watch this week includes September 5, a retelling of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that raises urgent ethical questions.