Quoteworthy: "The way we value IQ over EQ might change" –— President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, suggesting that as AI is more widely used, jobs requiring more teamwork and collective imagination will be more important
Biden and Xi strike deals on military comms, fentanyl, AI
US President Joe Biden said talks with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had yielded progress in repairing the strained bilateral relationship, hailing agreements to restore high-level military communications, combat fentanyl and open a dialogue over artificial intelligence.
“I believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions we’ve had,” Biden said at a press conference on Nov 15 following a summit aimed at repairing a bilateral relationship under intense strains.
Biden said the restoration of direct military-to-military contacts would prevent the possibility of any miscalculations between the two countries. “That’s how accidents happen [and] misunderstandings, so we’re back to direct, open, clear communications,” Biden said.
“We’re going to continue to preserve and pursue high-level diplomacy in both directions,” he added. “To keep the lines of communication open, including between President Xi and me. He and I agreed that each one has to pick up the phone call directly and be heard immediately.”
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The leaders of the world’s two largest economies had not spoken for a year. Both sides celebrated the meeting, which lasted over four hours, as productive, and a step toward normalising a relationship battered by a series of diplomatic and economic clashes. The agreements though largely roll back steps China took following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan — made over the objection of Beijing.
The meeting saw an extended discussion of foreign policy, with US officials saying they believe Xi indicated he was not readying plans for a mass invasion of Taiwan. Biden responded that the US endorsed the status quo, and asked the Chinese to respect the electoral process in the island’s upcoming presidential vote, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Biden also said China should rethink accelerated military drills in the region.
US officials also pressed Chinese counterparts to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas with Iran, which financially supports the militant group categorised as a terrorist organization by the US and EU.
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The deal from China on combating fentanyl was characterised by senior US officials as the most important agreement from the summit. The officials said Biden told Xi that fentanyl posed one of the worst drug problems the US had faced. The officials said they would watch closely to see if China follows through on the pledge.
Biden said the agreement helps “significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses from China to the Western hemisphere”.
The move to recharge senior military-to-military communications was also high on the agenda following a series of close encounters between Chinese and American ships and planes in recent months.
China agreed to policy-level discussions with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as well as operational engagements at senior military levels, according to the US officials. That restores communications channels China halted last year to protest Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Since then, US officials have pushed hard to resume the talks. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken detailed a Chinese jet’s intercept of a US B-52 in international airspace over the South China Sea during Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Washington, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
China said the two countries had agreed to manage disagreements more effectively and have more dialogues and consultations to avoid misunderstandings.
“It is important that they appreciate each other’s principles and red lines, and refrain from flip-flopping, being provocative, and crossing the lines,” according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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On artificial intelligence, the two sides agreed to a dialogue to keep the emerging technology from being deployed in ways that could destabilise global security, according to US officials. — Bloomberg
US inflation broadly slows, erasing bets on more Fed rate hikes
US inflation broadly slowed in October, which markets cheered as a strong indication that the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates.
The so-called core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.2% from September, according to government figures. Economists favour the core gauge as a better indicator of underlying inflation than the overall CPI. That measure was little changed, restrained by cheaper gasoline.
Despite some bumps in recent months, inflation has settled substantially from a 40-year high reached last year. That has led several Fed policymakers to signal that they may be done raising interest rates, but Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly stressed the central bank could hike again if needed.
“The bar for further rate hikes is getting higher and higher,” Wells Fargo & Co chief economist Jay Bryson said on Bloomberg TV after the Nov 14 report. “This is a good start in that journey, but you would need to see a few more months of 0.2 before saying mission accomplished.” — Bloomberg
Cameron makes surprise UK cabinet comeback in Sunak reboot
Rishi Sunak appointed David Cameron as UK foreign secretary, a shock return to government for a man who led the UK between 2010 and 2016 but whose legacy is defined by his decision to call the Brexit referendum.
Cameron replaces James Cleverly, who became home secretary to fill the post vacated by Suella Braverman, Sunak’s office said in a statement. Braverman’s firing alone would have been a seismic political move in Westminster; adding Cameron to the mix takes it to another level.
Cameron’s appointment is a dramatic gamble for Sunak as he tries to overturn a 20-point deficit to the Labour Party as time ticks down to a nationwide election expected next year. Cameron quit as premier in the aftermath of the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, and having called the vote and then campaigned against Brexit and lost, he is unpopular with both Remainers and Leavers.
Just five weeks ago in his keynote speech to the Conservative annual conference, Sunak had lumped the UK’s political direction under Cameron and other predecessors as 30 years of collective failure. He promised to “lead in a different way, because that is the only way to create the sort of change in our politics and in our country that we all desperately want to see.”
Whatever moves Sunak makes, the Cameron news will dominate. In a statement on his new role, the former premier said the UK will “stand by our allies” and “make sure our voice is heard” on challenges from the Middle East to Ukraine.
Yet Cameron was notably dovish toward China during his premiership, a position that is now at adds with the increasingly anti-China sentiment in the Conservative Party. In 2020 Cameron was involved in efforts to raise a UK-China investment fund, but the effort struggled to gain traction.
“It’s hard to see who wins from the appointment except Beijing,” said Luke de Pulford, executive director of an inter-parliamentary group that campaigns on issues relating to China.
Cameron was also the subject of controversy in 2021 when it emerged he had aggressively lobbied the government on behalf of the now-defunct Greensill Capital, the lender for which he was an adviser and shareholder.
Under Britain’s unwritten constitution someone must be either a member of Parliament or sit in the House of Lords to act as a government minister. Cameron has been made a life peer so he can take the role.
“It’s a pretty desperate, even absurd move which also will annoy a whole bunch of Tory MPs — in part because they despise Cameron, in part because it suggests Sunak thinks there’s so little talent in the Commons that he’s had to put a scandal-ridden former PM in the Lords in order to inject some supposed quality into his Cabinet,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University. — Bloomberg
