Trump to send hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles

Good morning and welcome again to FirstFT Asia. On in the present day’s agenda:

• Trump to deploy Marines to Los Angeles

• Jimmy Lai’s son blasts UK ‘weak spot’

• Japan’s ‘indispensable’ corporations

A whole lot of Marines might be deployed to Los Angeles regardless of calls by California’s governor to not ship federal forces, marking an extra escalation in a conflict between essentially the most populous US state and Donald Trump’s administration.

What’s taking place: About 700 Marines could be dispatched to Los Angeles to guard “federal personnel and federal property”, the US Northern Command mentioned yesterday. The mobilisation of Marines got here after about 300 members of the Nationwide Guard arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday. 1000’s of individuals have gathered downtown to protest towards raids by federal immigration brokers within the state. 

California to sue Trump: The choice to ship Marines got here simply hours after California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom mentioned the state would sue Trump over the deployment of nationwide guard troops. Energetic-duty army continuously help throughout pure disasters and different incidents, however it is vitally uncommon that they’re deployed to help in regulation enforcement. Newsom mentioned in an announcement issued yesterday with the state’s attorney-general: “This can be a manufactured disaster to permit him to take over a state militia, damaging the very basis of our republic.”

We have now extra on the protests and the escalating fight between Trump and California.

• Go deeper: The deployment of troops within the second-largest US metropolis, one that’s largely liberal, was “clearly accomplished as an authoritarian show of strength”, mentioned specialists.

• FT View: Trump’s present of power in Los Angeles is a warning to states against his immigration clampdown, the editorial board writes.

Right here’s what else we’re holding tabs on in the present day:

5 extra high tales

1. A high White Home official has mentioned US President Donald Trump would ease restrictions on promoting chips to China if Beijing agreed to hurry up the export of uncommon earths, as the 2 nations began high stakes trade talks in London. It will mark a major departure from Joe Biden’s administration, which launched the measures to make it tougher for China to acquire superior US chip know-how that would assist its army.

• US-China commerce: China’s exports to the US plunged final month by essentially the most because the starting of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Extra commerce information: American corporations are urging Washington to lower tariffs on Vietnam, arguing that the nation has turn into a significant a part of their “China plus one” diversification technique.

2. Starbucks will lower the costs of a number of iced and tea-based drinks in China, because the espresso chain grapples with the proliferation of cheaper domestic alternatives in its second-biggest market. Companies in Chinese language shopper sectors from vehicles to meals and beverage have been underneath stress to decrease costs amid a weaker financial backdrop.

3. The son of Jimmy Lai has accused Sir Keir Starmer’s UK authorities of displaying “weak spot” in the direction of China within the face of the continued detention of the previous Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen. Sebastien Lai advised the FT that the well being of his 77-year-old father, who was first arrested in Hong Kong in 2020, was rapidly deteriorating and known as on Starmer to satisfy his household forward of the G7 summit this month.

4. Apple will enable hundreds of thousands of app builders to entry its synthetic intelligence fashions for the primary time, because the tech large seems to be to capitalise on its huge {hardware} and software program ecosystem to present it an edge over its rivals. Here’s more from the iPhone maker’s flagship annual developer event.

5. Shares in Japanese lodge developer turned bitcoin investor Metaplanet soared yesterday after it unveiled plans to boost about $5.4bn so as to add to its giant stockpile of the cryptocurrency. Metaplanet’s target of 210,000 bitcoin — or 1 per cent of the full provide of the cryptocurrency — would make it the world’s second-largest company holder of the digital forex.

The Huge Learn

Whereas large corporations reminiscent of Toyota, Sony and Nintendo are well-known exterior of Japan, the nation has a thick center layer of so-called pocket champions with startlingly excessive shares in area of interest markets. For the federal government, hostile bids for these teams pose each a possibility for consolidation and the specter of shedding delicate applied sciences. A chair of 1 such mid-cap firm advised the FT: “[If] we promote all the things to foreigners at a excessive value, then what’s left at the end?”

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Musk vs Trump: When cash energy and political energy conflict, there may be solely one way to bet, writes Gideon Rachman.

• How AI is shaking up jobs: New know-how is beginning to have a profound effect on work and employment, writes Anjli Raval.

• Who comes after MBS?: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed is all however assured to turn into monarch, however his speedy ascent has upended the kingdom’s royal hierarchy.

Chart of the day

In a single day rates of interest in Hong Kong have been caught simply above zero per cent for greater than a month. Whereas not instantly apparent, that’s bizarre, unexpected and potentially alarming for international markets, writes Robin Harding.

Take a break from the information

Set in an impoverished ceramics village throughout China’s cultural revolution, Jia Pingwa’s monumental novel Previous Kiln is an intimate narrative of how political violence maps on to older quarrels, clan feuds and current struggles for energy. And it has lastly been translated into English. Read our review by Isabel Hilton.