Taiwan officials’ secret — ‘special channel’ talks with the US

Good morning. Today we have news about:

• Indonesian parliament’s U-turn

• Risks facing Thailand’s new administration

• The bull run in China’s bond market

We start, though, with exclusive reporting that Taiwan’s top foreign policy officials have made a secret trip to the greater Washington area to meet US counterparts.

Foreign minister Lin Chia-lung and Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s national security adviser, have been in the Washington area this week for the talks that are known as the “special channel”, according to several people familiar with the visit. 

The US and Taiwan have held these gatherings for years, but their existence was first disclosed by the Financial Times in 2021. The channel is seen as a rare opportunity for a larger group of senior officials from both sides to hold detailed talks. The most recent gathering is the first such visit since President Lai Ching-te took office in May.

The FT’s Demetri Sevastopulo explains why successive US administrations have kept the channel under wraps.

Thanks for reading FirstFT. Do you have questions about Taiwan’s relationship with the US? Email us at [email protected] or hit “reply” and remember to include your name and where you’re writing from. We’ll answer as many as possible in a special weekend edition of the newsletter.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Special session of the Diet: Japanese parliament will hold a special session to discuss last month’s central bank decision to raise rates.

• Japan CPI: July inflation data is set to be released today.

• Jay Powell speech: The Federal Reserve chair’s remarks in Jackson Hole will provide reaction to recent poor US jobs data and market volatility.

• DNC: Kamala Harris will deliver the most important speech of her life today in accepting the Democratic party’s nomination for US president.

Five more top stories

1. Indonesia’s parliament has stopped an attempt to change electoral laws after critics protested over what they said was an attempted power grab by outgoing President Joko Widodo. The move comes after demonstrators clashed with police outside the parliament yesterday. Read the full story.

2. Israel’s air force bombed 10 areas of Lebanon on Wednesday night in response to a rocket barrage from the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah, as hopes for a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continued to fade. Catch up on the latest news from the Middle East.

3. Tim Walz attacked Donald Trump as bizarre and extreme as he called on Americans to “turn the page” on the Republican candidate. Kamala Harris’s running mate portrayed the vice-president as a defender of freedoms on the third night of their party’s convention, when Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey also appeared. Here’s what else Walz had to say in yesterday’s speech.

4. Nestlé chief executive Mark Schneider has stepped down after eight years as head of the world’s largest food manufacturer, following a period of underperformance that has hit the company’s share price. Read what exactly led up to his decision.

5. The world’s second-largest diamond has been unearthed in Botswana, providing some reprieve for a sector devastated by the rise of lab-grown stones. Take a look at the 2,492-carat stone that is “an absolute geological phenomenon,” said Clifford Elphick, a former executive of De Beers.

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

News in-depth

Thailand’s elevation last week of its youngest prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, averted an immediate crisis following her predecessor’s sudden dismissal. But the new administration could rekindle old strains between the country’s most influential political family and its powerful royalist-military elite, leaving many to wonder how long Shinawatra will remain in power.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

Chart of the day

Emerging market investors are betting that a bull run in China’s bond markets has further to go, even as Beijing signals increasing discomfort with a soaring rally in government debt.

Take a break from the news

The sci-fi show Sunny is deliciously dark, but its Japanese architecture and design are rays of inspiration, writes Mark C O’Flaherty, a self-declared obsessive of Japanese design.

Additional contributions from David Hindley and Tee Zhuo