solid himself because the decisive helmsman his nation wants in surmounting nice adversity, pledging to construct a safer, highly effective and egalitarian nation as he signaled plans to increase his decadelong rule.
In a Sunday speech, opening a Communist Social gathering congress the place he’s set to defy current norms and declare a 3rd time period as celebration chief, Mr. Xi issued a sturdy protection of his document, shaking off considerations over Covid-19, a sluggish financial system and troubled ties with the U.S. He recalled his efforts to curb corruption, rally public help for the celebration and champion China’s political system as a counterweight to Western liberal democracy.
A marketing campaign of “self-revolution,” marked by forceful crackdowns on corruption and political dissent, Mr. Xi mentioned, has “ensured that the celebration won’t ever change in high quality, change its coloration, or change its taste”—celebration parlance for threats to Communist rule in China.
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In televised remarks delivered from Beijing’s Nice Corridor of the Individuals, Mr. Xi additionally claimed vital successes in combating Covid-19, imposing order in Hong Kong and curbing what he known as separatist activism within the island democracy of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
He reiterated that Beijing gained’t surrender using pressure in unifying Taiwan, in order to discourage exterior interference and splittist components. “The entire unification of the motherland should be realized, and will probably be realized,“ he mentioned, drawing loud applause.
Mr. Xi directed components of his speech to addressing considerations about China’s ties to the remainder of the world, amid rising geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s personal Covid-imposed isolation, reaffirming his help for globalization and adherence to a decades-old nationwide coverage of “reform and opening up.”
Whereas Mr. Xi warned of dangers, challenges and “even harmful storms” forward, his report back to the congress largely promised a continuation of his firm-handed rule at residence and a extra assertive train of energy overseas, together with by making the navy combat-ready.
“The work report was unambiguously about continuity,” Joseph Torigian, a professor in Chinese language politics and overseas coverage at American College, mentioned on Twitter. “Though historic, this Congress will virtually actually not signify basic new coverage instructions.”
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In laying out his financial targets, Mr. Xi renewed his promise of a brand new period of “frequent prosperity,” by which the celebration workout routines higher management over non-public capital and distributes China’s wealth extra evenly. Such efforts have unnerved entrepreneurs at residence and buyers from overseas after sweeping regulatory crackdowns on Chinese language tech giants and personal companies in recent times.
President Xi addressed a number of subjects together with Taiwan, Hong Kong and the combat in opposition to Covid-19 in his speech on the celebration gathering in Beijing.
Photograph:
Mark Schiefelbein/Related Press
Mr. Xi additionally trumpeted what he known as “Chinese language-style modernization,” doubling down on his program of party-led financial planning and improvement. He reiterated requires guaranteeing China’s financial self-reliance, urging extra indigenous efforts to develop high-end applied sciences that may serve the nation’s strategic wants—a requirement that comes because the U.S. ramps up efforts to disclaim China entry to essential parts equivalent to superior semiconductors.
Since taking energy in late 2012, Mr. Xi has assumed a level of autocratic authority unseen because the Mao Zedong period and upended current retirement practices to permit himself to remain in workplace indefinitely.
By taking a 3rd time period as celebration chief, the 69-year-old Mr. Xi would depart from the decadelong management cycle that his predecessor set and dismantle succession norms designed to forestall a return to a Mao-style dictatorship. Political analysts anticipate Mr. Xi to advertise protégés and allies into senior celebration roles and thereby cement his political supremacy.
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Mr. Xi devoted a lot of his speech to emphasizing how his celebration aligns itself with the Chinese language folks. “The nation is the folks, and the individuals are the nation,” he mentioned. Your complete celebration should all the time “share its future and join heart-to-heart with the folks.”
The celebration has in recent times more and more described Mr. Xi as renmin lingxiu, or “folks’s chief,” a designation that echoes Mao’s title of weida lingxiu, or “nice chief.” Social gathering insiders say the congress may confer extra tokens of energy on Mr. Xi, equivalent to by formally designating him renmin lingxiu and cementing his declare to being on par with Mao as China’s biggest statesmen.
One other chance would contain shortening the label of Mr. Xi’s political philosophy, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese language Traits for a New Period,” to easily “Xi Jinping Thought.” This may instantly mirror “Mao Zedong Thought,” which the celebration exalts as a guiding ideology second solely to Marxism-Leninism.
Chinese language President Xi Jinping has used propaganda to increase his rule and set the stage for a 3rd time period. WSJ appears to be like at three moments over his 10 years in energy that hint his rise to develop into the nation’s strongest chief since Mao Zedong. Photograph illustration: Adam Adada
Mr. Xi’s speech, lasting about 104 minutes, was roughly half the size of his remarks on the 2017 congress, the place he spoke for greater than 200 minutes. State broadcaster China Central Tv mentioned Mr. Xi’s deal with on Sunday comprised highlights from a full report that congress delegates will assessment over the approaching week.
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Within the Sunday speech, Mr. Xi declared that the celebration had scored “historic victories” underneath his watch, citing the celebration’s centennial final 12 months, its stewardship over a “new period” in Chinese language socialism, and his marketing campaign to eradicate rural poverty. He additionally reiterated long-term targets that he first laid out 5 years in the past: guaranteeing that China achieves a level of “socialist modernization” by 2035 and turns into a “trendy socialist energy” by the center of the twenty first century.
Some analysts have cited the 2035 goal—when Mr. Xi believes China ought to have develop into a extra equal and affluent society with an progressive financial system and a modernized navy—as a doable timeline for his stint as paramount chief.
The celebration has pitched its twice-a-decade congress as a triumphant second for China, even because it confronts wide-ranging challenges. Mr. Xi’s zero-tolerance method to Covid-19 has throttled the home financial system with repeated lockdowns and disruptions, exacerbated by a property-market stoop.
Tensions with the U.S. and different Western powers have intensified as they problem Beijing’s push for technological supremacy, territorial claims over Taiwan and continued help for Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Xi didn’t point out the warfare in Ukraine throughout his speech, which wasn’t anticipated to enter element on overseas affairs.
Regardless of tightened safety and censorship, frustrations with Mr. Xi’s insurance policies boiled over into overt dissent on Thursday, when a protest came about on a freeway bridge in Beijing. Darkish smoke swirled over protest banners condemning Mr. Xi as a “traitorous dictator”—a uncommon show of defiance that was rapidly snuffed out by native authorities.
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Greater than 2,300 delegates had been current on the Nice Corridor of the Individuals, together with retired celebration elders. Mr. Xi’s instant predecessor,
Hu Jintao,
occupied a seat on the dais subsequent to the incumbent’s. Notable absentees included
Jiang Zemin,
the 96-year-old former chief who served as normal secretary for 13 years till 2002, in addition to former Premier
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Zhu Rongji,
who turns 94 this month.
Beijing’s Nice Corridor of the Individuals, the place the Chinese language Communist Social gathering’s twice-a-decade congress opened on Sunday.
Photograph:
Mark Schiefelbein/Related Press
The congress, which ends Saturday, will vote on the proposed adjustments to the celebration constitution and elect a brand new Central Committee, which since 2007 has comprised greater than 370 full and nonvoting alternate members, drawn from senior ranks of the celebration, authorities, navy and state trade.
The brand new Central Committee will convene the day after to decide on the following Politburo and its elite Standing Committee, the celebration’s high decision-making physique. The Politburo has comprised 25 full members since 2007, whereas the Politburo Standing Committee has featured seven members since 2012, when it was decreased from 9.
The share of seats that Xi allies occupy within the subsequent management would supply clues on how a lot clout the Chinese language chief can exert in pursuing his priorities. Analysts say Mr. Xi isn’t more likely to designate any potential successors, as doing so would undermine his personal authority.
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Prime state positions, together with the following premier and different ministerial roles, gained’t be finalized till China’s annual legislative session subsequent spring.
In his Sunday remarks, Mr. Xi didn’t say whether or not he plans to remain in energy to meet the imaginative and prescient he outlined. Mr. Xi would flip 74 years previous by the top of his third time period, two years youthful than Mr. Jiang was when he stepped down as celebration chief in 2002.
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Ukraine will look to mount a new counteroffensive in 2025 after receiving a $61bn infusion of US military aid to help it stop Russia from making additional gains this year, Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser said.
Speaking at the FT Weekend Festival in Washington on Saturday, Sullivan said that he still expects “Russian advances in the coming period” on the battlefield, despite the new US funding package approved last month, because “you can’t instantly flip the switch”.
But he said that with the new aid from Washington, Kyiv would have the capacity to “hold the line” and “to ensure Ukraine withstands the Russian assault” over the course of 2024.
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And pointing to the scenario for the war next year, Sullivan said Ukraine intended to “to move forward to recapture the territory that the Russians have taken from them”.
His comments about a potential counteroffensive by Ukraine represent the White House’s clearest articulation of how it views the conflict evolving if president Joe Biden wins re-election in November.
Any new offensive in 2025 by Ukraine would be dependent on more funding from Congress, and approval by the White House.
But Donald Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, has been sceptical of Ukraine aid and has vowed to try to end the conflict quickly and seek a negotiated settlement.
Ukrainian officials have expressed hope that it may be able to turn the tide next year.
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Speaking to Germany’s Bild last month, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there is a plan for another counteroffensive but that it is contingent on more weapons, including from the US.
But while much-needed supplies and weapons are on their way to the front lines after the US aid was approved last month, resolving Ukraine’s personnel shortages is crucial to its chances against Russia.
Many Ukrainian men have been unwilling to join the mobilisation drive which began almost a year ago, citing fear of poor commanders and a lack of weaponry.
Ukraine’s leadership has been attempting to solve these issues with a mix of more liberal recruitment methods and better conditions for soldiers. But it remains to be seen what impact it and the new aid packages will have on the mood.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard (6) during their WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.
Michael Ainsworth/AP
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives past Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard (6) during their WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.
Michael Ainsworth/AP
Caitlin Clark made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever on Friday night — and her “effect” showed no signs of waning.
The preseason game against the Dallas Wings was another sellout match with enthusiastic fans lining up outside College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, to watch the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer play in her first professional game.
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“My biggest goal coming into tonight was being myself, have fun playing basketball, be aggressive. Thought that’s what I did,” Clark said Friday in a post-game press conference.
Similar to her time at the University of Iowa, Clark shined Friday on the court — scoring 21 points with three rebounds, two assists, two steals, despite it being a losing match. The Wings won 79-76.
Fever head coach Christie Sides applauded Clark’s performance but noted that the rookie star and the rest of the team were still in an adjustment period.
“We’re still learning each other,” Sides said Friday at the press conference.
Sides noted that in the first quarter, Clark appeared fatigued. The head coach said she hopes Clark will lean on her teammates in the future.
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Clark was asked what the biggest difference was between professional and college basketball.
“Everybody’s super physical, it doesn’t always get called. I would say that’s the biggest thing,” she said.
Clark’s debut in a regular-season game will be against the Connecticut Sun on May 14.
“It’s a big milestone for somebody that’s always dreamed of playing in the WNBA,” Clark said.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile swelled to a record $189bn in the first quarter of 2024 as Warren Buffett’s sprawling conglomerate continued to dump stocks, including Apple, one of its largest positions.
The figure underscores the difficulty the billionaire investor and his team have had in trying to find worthwhile investments, as well as the relative allure of the high yield on US government debt.
The company on Saturday disclosed it had sold just under $20bn-worth of stocks in the first three months of the year, buying $2.7bn over the same period. As a result the value of its stock portfolio slipped to $336bn, from $354bn at year-end.
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The filing with US securities regulators indicated that Berkshire had sold a significant portion of its stake in Apple, which had become a core holding for the Omaha-based business since one of Buffett’s deputies first invested in 2016.
The company said its position in the iPhone maker was worth $135.4bn in the first quarter, down from $174.3bn at the end of 2023, suggesting it had sold more than 100mn shares in the company at the start of the year. Berkshire started to pare its holdings in Apple in late December, selling roughly 10mn shares.
Buffett has long heaped praise on Apple’s management team and in 2022 he described the company as one of Berkshire’s “four giants”, alongside its insurance operations, the BNSF railroad and its energy and utility business Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, told CNBC that Buffett had told him about the stock sales on Friday. Cook added that it was still “a privilege to have Berkshire as a shareholder”.
The figures come as Berkshire shareholders gather in Omaha, Nebraska, for the company’s annual meeting, dubbed the Woodstock of capitalism. It is the first time Buffett will take to the stage since his longtime business partner Charlie Munger died in November.
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Berkshire reported solid earnings in the first quarter, driven almost entirely by improvements in its insurance businesses as well as a boost from higher interest rates. Operating profits across the company jumped 39 per cent from the year before to $11.2bn.
The company disclosed that its auto insurer Geico had passed along higher rates to customers and had suffered fewer claims, lifting its results. The unit has scaled back its footprint since the pandemic after it suffered a period of losses.
Auto insurers across the US had struggled with the high replacement costs of new cars, exacerbated by supply chain issues and surging inflation.
Geico, which is led by one of Buffett’s top investment deputies, cut millions of policies in a drive to return to profitability. The move has been successful. Pre-tax profits at Geico more than doubled from a year ago to $1.93bn. The unit also signalled its retrenchment could be near its end, saying that “the rate of decline” had slowed and it was winning new business.
The company has also benefited from the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates in a bid to quell inflationary pressures. Berkshire said it earned $1.9bn in the quarter in interest income from its cash pile, which is largely invested in short-term Treasuries.
Over the past year, it has earned almost $7bn on that portfolio.
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Overall, Berkshire said it generated a net profit of $12.7bn in the first quarter, down 64 per cent from $35.5bn a year earlier.
Buffett has long discouraged his shareholders from relying on the company’s net income figures — calling them “meaningless” — as they are affected by swings in value of its stock portfolio from quarter to quarter. It can result in huge losses or profits that do not reflect the underlying business performance.
Berkshire’s results are typically pored over by investors, given the company employs nearly 400,000 people and touches almost every part of the US economy. The results were generally upbeat and pointed to an improving US outlook.
Sales at Precision Castparts, an aeroplane parts manufacturer that supplies Boeing, jumped 10 per cent to $2.5bn. Sales at Berkshire’s home building group, which includes the modular home builder Clayton Homes and roofing maker Johns Manville, also rose.
The BNSF railroad’s revenues fell 4.1 per cent, almost entirely driven by lower shipments of coal. The unit, which has more than 32,000 miles of track criss-crossing the US, said it had shipped more consumer and agriculture products than previously.
Shares of Berkshire have climbed 11 per cent this year, outpacing the 8 per cent total return of the S&P 500. Berkshire has not paid a dividend since the 1960s.
