Trump’s cabinet picks signal hawkish stance on China

In today’s newsletter:

• Trump’s foreign policy team takes shape

• A deadly car-ramming attack in China

• How Big Oil disguises its methane emissions

Good morning. Donald Trump has signalled a tough new stance on China with hawkish appointments to top foreign policy roles, according to experts in Washington, as the president-elect’s cabinet begins to take shape.

Trump yesterday named Mike Waltz, a Florida congressman and former Green Beret who has called China an “existential” threat, as his security adviser, and is expected to nominate Senator Marco Rubio, another leading China hawk, as his secretary of state.

The president-elect’s pick for ambassador to the UN, representative Elise Stefanik, has also been extremely critical of Beijing.

Foreign policy experts who believe the US should take a tougher line on China than that pursued by Democratic President Joe Biden welcomed the personnel moves.

“This is like Christmas morning for China hawks,” said Eric Sayers, managing director at the Beacon Global Strategies consultancy. Read more about the Trump appointees and their views on China.

We have more recommended reads on US-China relations:

• Zhuhai air show: China unveiled its latest stealth fighter, as Beijing competes with Washington for air superiority amid growing tensions in the region.

• Climate diplomacy: China has called for the US to engage in “constructive dialogue” to tackle climate change in future, in a thinly veiled swipe at the incoming Trump administration during the UN COP29 summit in Baku.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: The US reports CPI inflation data for October.

• Xi Jinping: The Chinese leader travels to Peru for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. During his visit Xi is expected to inaugurate a Chinese-built megaport on the Latin American country’s Pacific coast.

• Results: Chinese internet giant Tencent reports third-quarter earnings.

Five more top stories

1. Police in southern China’s Zhuhai city have arrested a driver accused of ramming his vehicle into people in a busy pedestrian zone, killing 35 and injuring 43. The incident on Monday evening is the latest in a series of cases of apparently random attacks that analysts have said hint at rising social tensions in China.

2. Shares in Nissan jumped as much as 20 per cent yesterday after a fund managed by activist investor Effissimo Capital Management was revealed to have taken a stake in the struggling Japanese automaker. Singapore-based Effissimo, a secretive hedge fund run by Japanese managers, is known for its high-profile campaigns against some of the biggest names in corporate Japan.

3. The chief executive of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn futuristic development in the desert, has been abruptly replaced after six years in charge of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship project. The company gave no reason for the departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr, whose tenure was often marked by controversy as he oversaw the highly ambitious development.

4. Baidu has unveiled artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses as Chinese tech groups race with global rivals to capitalise on AI-integrated hardware. The company said the glass, which run Baidu’s large language model Ernie, would “become a private assistant” for wearers.

5. Wall Street bonuses are on course to rise by as much as 35 per cent this year, according to pay consultancy Johnson Associates. Activity levels for corporate deals, stock sales and debt transactions have gradually recovered in 2024, following two fallow years. Here are the investment bankers most likely to make the biggest gains.

• More US news: Wall Street investors Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are the leading contenders to be Trump’s Treasury secretary after hedge fund billionaire John Paulson dropped out of the race for the job.

The Big Read

Methane is responsible for an estimated 30 per cent of the world’s warming since the industrial revolution. Some methane comes from natural sources, such as volcanic gas. But the bulk of emissions are caused by human activity. An FT analysis found that oil and gas companies regularly hide leakages of the deadly greenhouse gas, despite being one of the easiest climate fixes there is.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Trump’s mandate for retribution: There are few theoretical limits on what the president-elect can do to carry out his vows of revenge against perceived enemies, writes Edward Luce.

• Emerging markets: Big changes are coming for the US dollar and currencies across Asia if Trump imposes larger tariffs.

• The problem with self-driving cars: The better an automated system performs, the more complacent — and dangerous — we become, writes Sarah O’Connor.

Chart of the day

It is so much easier to blame the disappearance of US manufacturing jobs on China than on domestic consumers and automation, writes Martin Wolf. But fetishising manufacturing will not restore the old labour force, and Trump’s threatened tariffs on Beijing will cause further malign side-effects.

Take a break from the news

Georgina Adam reports on Art Week Tokyo and why foreign gallerists are saying there is a “new obsession with Japan.”