15/05/2026

FRIDAY | MAY 15, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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Xi warns Trump on Taiwan

Safe maritime traffic vital for trade: India NEW DELHI: Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said yesterday that unimpeded maritime flows through international waters, including the Strait of Hormuz, are vital for global economic wellbeing. Jaishankar was speaking at the start of a two-day meeting of BRICS foreign ministers. “The conflict in West Asia merits particular attention,” Jaishankar said, referring to the US-Israeli war in Iran. “Safe and unimpeded maritime flows through international waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, remain vital for global economic wellbeing.” The impact of the war in Iran, including the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has been described as one of the biggest disruptions to energy markets in history. The disruption has choked tanker traffic and sent energy prices surging. The BRICS grouping, founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China, expanded to include South Africa in 2011. Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates have joined more recently. India holds the chair this year. Foreign ministers from most member states are attending the meeting in New Delhi, including Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the UAE’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar. The war has made it harder for the group to reach consensus on a joint statement, reflecting differences between Iran and the UAE. Jaishankar also said BRICS must address the “increasing resort to unilateral coercive measures and sanctions inconsistent with international law and the UN Charter.” “Such measures disproportionately affect developing countries. These unjustifiable measures cannot substitute dialogue, nor can pressure replace diplomacy.” – Reuters UK tax agency clears key Labour politician LONDON: Angela Rayner, widely seen as one of the potential challengers to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said yesterday tax authorities had “cleared” her of deliberate wrongdoing. The announcement could pave the way for her to stand in any leadership contest as Starmer battles to save his job after disastrous local and regional polls last week. Four junior ministers have resigned and more than 80 MPs have urged him to quit, but no one has so far broken ranks to challenge him. According to reports, Health Minister Wes Streeting, 43, is preparing to quit government to run for the top job. Streeting is popular on the right of Labour, but is disliked by MPs on the left who would prefer Rayner or Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as leader. Burnham would have to secure a seat in parliament before he could take part in any leadership challenge. Rayner, who was forced to resign in September for underpaying a property tax, said she was relieved that the UK tax authority HMRC had exonerated her of “the accusation that I deliberately sought to avoid tax”. “I welcome HMRC’s conclusion, which has cleared me of any wrongdoing,” she said. “I set out to pay the correct amount of tax. I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC has accepted this,” she said. Rayner, 46, a figurehead among Labour’s left-wing base, quit as deputy PM and Housing, Communities and Local Government minister after an investigation found she had breached the ministerial code over the purchase of a flat in southern England. Starmer, who came to power in a landslide election victory less than two years ago, has so far seen off the immediate threat to his job. – AFP

o US president upbeat on visit outcomes

BEIJING: President Xi Jinping warned his US counterpart Donald Trump that missteps on Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict”, a stark opening salvo as they met in Beijing yesterday. Trump had arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend”, as he predicted that their countries would have “a fantastic future together”. But beyond the pomp as he welcomed Trump, Xi in less effusive tones said the two sides “should be partners and not rivals”, while highlighting the issue of self-ruled Taiwan straight off the bat. “The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi said, according to remarks published by Chinese state media shortly after talks began. “If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China-US relationship into a highly perilous situation,” he added at the opening talks that lasted around two hours 15 minutes. Trump’s trip to Beijing is the first by a US president in nearly a decade, with the grand reception belying a host of unresolved trade and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. Xi greeted Trump with a red-carpet welcome at the opulent Great Hall of the People, with military band fanfare, a gun salute and a host of schoolchildren jumping and chanting “welcome!”. Seemingly enjoying the ceremony, Trump said “the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before”. Xi instead referenced an ancient Greek political theory about the risks of war when a rising power rivals a ruling power. “Can China and the United States transcend the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm for major-power relations?” Xi asked, adding that “cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both”. There has been plenty of the latter since Trump’s last visit in 2017, with the two countries having spent much of 2025 embroiled in a dizzying trade war and at odds on many major global issues. Following Xi’s comments on Thursday, Taipei called China the “sole risk” to regional peace, and insisted that “the US side has repeatedly reaffirmed its clear and firm support”. Xi said the talks “reached results that were generally balanced and positive”, and urged both sides to “safeguard the current hard-won positive momentum”. Trump and Xi are set to discuss extending a

Trump and Xi tour the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. – REUTERSPIC

took a break from negotiations, heading to the Temple of Heaven, a World Heritage site where China’s emperors once prayed for good harvests. A state banquet was planned at the Great Hall of the People in the evening. – AFP

one-year tariff truce reached during their last meeting in South Korea in October. China’s controls on rare earth exports and AI rivalry are among other topics expected to be taken up. After their morning meeting, the two men

Supermarket misled shoppers on discounts: Court SYDNEY: An Australian court yesterday found that supermarket chain Coles had misled shoppers by hiking prices on hundreds of goods and then advertising discounts, although the discounted prices were higher than the earlier sale prices. and price hikes spurred a backlash against the country’s grocery duopoly from consumers struggling with a cost-of-living crisis. Class-action lawsuits were also filed in tandem with the regulator’s action, and Federal Court judge Michael O’Bryan’s ruling applies to both. prevent “unnecessary litigation in future”. Hearings for Woolworths have concluded but a judgment is still pending. Woolworths shares lost 1.9%. In his ruling, O’Bryan said Coles was justified in putting up prices through 2022 and 2023 but misled shoppers by advertising discounts typically within four weeks.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would seek a substantial penalty in the case. “It is very important that a penalty is not just able to be dismissed as a cost of doing business and that it becomes at a level that is a significant deterrent for such conduct,” chair of the commission Gina Cass-Gottlieb told a news conference. The regulator filed suits against Coles and Woolworths in 2024 after persistent inflation

Shares in Coles fell 2.7% after the decision. “The court ruling is the clear trigger for today’s weakness, but the market is looking beyond the legal headline,” said Vantage Markets analyst Hebe Chen. “Investors are pricing in the risk that Coles’ discounting playbook becomes less flexible.” A Coles spokesperson said the company was reviewing the judgment, adding that “minimum price establishment periods” could

For the discounts to appear credible to shoppers, supermarkets should have sold the goods at their higher prices for at least 12 weeks, O’Bryan said. “Because the relevant products were not sold at the ‘was’ price stated on the ticket for a reasonable period and, as a consequence, the discount represented on the ticket was not genuine,” he said. – Reuters