Good morning, I’m back to Firstft Asia. In today’s newsletter:
China investigates “princess”
Trump officials vow to promote tariffs
Why is there more political turbulence ahead for South Korea?
According to people familiar with the probe, Chinese authorities are investigating the son of former vice president and Xi Jinping’s best friend, Liu He.
Who is Li Tianran? : He was Liu’s son, serving as China’s economic emperor, negotiating a trade deal with the first Trump administration. Li Tianran, one of the “princess” children of many of the top party officials, founded an investment company called Skycus Capital in 2016, serving as the first chairman. According to seven people familiar with the probe, he is currently being investigated by Chinese authorities.
What you need to know about the investigation: The two, familiar with the probe, said it was linked to alleged financial corruption. A former colleague of Li Tianran said he was “investigating for a while” and “may have lost his freedom.” In other words, he could have been arrested. The second said he was already in custody.
The investigation was one of those who said there was suspected corruption, saying that Chinese authorities first looked into Li Tianran and was set to become the world’s largest IPO until Beijing stopped moving forward in connection with the ANT Group’s initial public offering of $37 billion. During the investigation, authorities found unrelated cases of corruption, according to people who added that Chinese president XI had received reports of the allegations.
XI’s crackdown on the financial industry: This investigation is carried out as Chinese leaders cut bankers’ salaries and scrutinized funding and transactions from many top funds. Some Chinese venture investors have been questioned and even detained about funding.
The investigation also suggests he could face problems, said Dennis Wilder, former CIA chief of Chinese analyst. Liu met foreigners regularly after resigning in 2023, including then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in April last year. However, his meetings have been severely cut over the past year.
“He’s a political issue and given his lack of access to Xi Jinping, he no longer has the political influence to protect his son,” Wilder said.
Read more about the survey.
Here is the other thing I keep tabs today:
China Market: Investors are brave on the “ugly” day when Chinese markets have returned from a long weekend and reacted to Beijing’s retaliation against US tariffs. (Bloomberg)
Meeting: The ASEAN Finance Minister and the Governor of the Central Bank will begin a four-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The EU Trade Minister will meet in Luxembourg to discuss trade relations between the US and China.
Samsung: South Korean tech giant reports guidance before its acquisition in the first quarter.
Five more top stories
1. Donald Trump’s top economic official has vowed to go ahead by striking bruises around imports from around the world. At the speed of yesterday’s television interview, the US Treasury and Commerce departments defended Trump’s ultra-protectionist trade policy and rejected fear of the looming recession.
Related News: Trump’s tariff blitz has caused the biggest sale in the US junk bond market since 2020.
Private Equity Pain: Large institutional investors are studying options to dump stocks in illiquid private equity funds after defeats in global financial markets baffles their portfolios, according to top private capital advisors.
2. Marine Le Pen has vowed to sue “defense democracy and the rule of law,” denounced her belief that she could risk blocking her as a “witch hunt” from the next presidential election. Thousands of people gathered in Paris yesterday to support a far-right leader who was found guilty of embezzling an EU fund last week.
3. Trump made a “historical mistake” when his negotiations to end the war in Ukraine were to acknowledge Russia’s claims about Crimea and other occupied territories, according to an adviser to the Polish government on Ukraine. Pawełkowal told the FT that if Russia expands its borders as a result of neighbouring countries’ invasions, the “red line” would cross for Poland and other parts of Central Europe.
4. Israeli forces retreated after video footage explained that they killed 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza last month. This is an incident that sparked international rage. Israeli forces shot and killed 15 paramedics and first responders near Rafa, South Gazan city early on March 23, before burying the bodies in a shallow grave where the shattered remains of the vehicle were also found. Please read the entire story.
5. Starbucks has sharply slowed its ambitious expansion in India as it cuts spending at coffee chain stores. “We saw traffic fall,” Sunil D’Souza, chief executive of Tata Consumer Products, a partner in the Indian joint venture, told FT. D’Souza said he is optimistic about reaching the joint venture’s 1,000-story target by 2028.
Detailed news
Koreans celebrate after hearing Constitutional Court ruling © Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Last Friday, the court’s verdict that removed Yoon Sook Yeol from South Korea’s presidency offered hope that the crisis caused by his attempts to impose martial law is finally coming to an end. But while South Korea’s democratic institutions endured Yoon’s gambit of martial law, analysts said the episode revealed a troublesome weakness in the country’s physical politics.
We’re reading too. . .
China’s “Brutal” Auto War: A new model released in China averaged every two days, maintaining cutting-edge technology has become important for survival.
India’s Difference: The big read of FT sees deep, deep-rooted tensions between the country’s more populous north and the wealthier south, and how they can inflame politics.
How Gatsby Foretells Trump’s America: A century after it was published, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is more relevant than ever, writes Sarachurchwell.
The chart of the day
Vietnam has become the global center of athletic shoe manufacturing. This will be subject to some of the most punishable US tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump this week. This is a major problem for Nike, where Vietnam accounts for half of the company’s shoe production.
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Take a break from the news. . .
Black Mirror star Paul Giamatti discusses the process of playing a man who is delving into the past in a new series on Netflix sci-fi shows. What’s more, his thoughts on artificial intelligence in the film and television industry: “AI is creepy and scary, but inevitable.”
Paul Giamatti © Victoria Will/Invision/AP, photographed in New York
