Politics

Bloomberg American naval vessels transited through the Taiwan Strait for the second straight month, highlighting the US’s strategic rivalry with China as Taiwanese presidential hopeful and Foxconn founder Terry Gou called for the island to adopt high-tech defense mechanisms. The destroyers USS Stethem and USS William P Lawrence conducted a transit through the waters on Monday, US Seventh Fleet public ...

Bloomberg Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Donald Trump, called for more sanctions on Russia and criticised presidential adviser Jared Kushner’s statements downplaying the significance of that country’s interference in the 2016 election. “I like Jared a lot, but he’s leaving out a big detail,” Graham said on CBS, noting that Russia hacked into the emails of Democratic ...

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo led his challenger by about 12 percentage points midway through an official tally of votes cast in the election, weakening his rival’s claim of victory. Widodo, known as Jokowi, secured 56.2 percent of the votes, compared to 43.8 percent for challenger Prabowo Subianto with ballots from 52 percent of the polling stations tallied, according to ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s leader said she would press ahead with legislation to end a ban on extraditions to mainland China, despite opponents staging one of the largest mass protests since the 2014 Occupy movement. Chief Executive Carrie Lam reaffirmed her plan to pass by the end of the legislative session in July a bill allowing one-time transfers of criminal suspects ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump revved up his campaign pitch to voters in key Rust Belt states by touting the US economy, saying he’s working to stop jobs from moving to neighbouring countries, and mocking his Democratic opponents. “We’re now the No. 1 economy anywhere in the world and it’s not even close,” Trump said at a rally in Green Bay, ...

Bloomberg Theresa May is still pursuing a Brexit deal that would get the UK out of the European Union before elections next month. With negotiations with the opposition Labour Party set to continue next week, there’s still time for parliament to settle on a deal before the May 23 vote, Conservative Party Chairman Brandon Lewis said in an interview with ...

Bloomberg Spanish voters deliver their verdict on Sunday on whether Socialist PM Pedro Sanchez should form a new government after the collapse of his administration less than a year after he took power. Turnout by Sunday afternoon was higher than in the 2016 general election, with 41 percent of the 37 million eligible voters casting ballots for the 350 seats ...

Bloomberg PM Scott Morrison’s government pledged to freeze Australia’s refugee intake for the next three years as it thrust immigration to the heart of its campaign for re-election. The number of asylum-seeker visas granted each year will be kept at 18,750 for the next term of government if the Liberal-National coalition retains office on May 18, Minister for Cities Alan ...

Bloomberg One of Joko Widodo’s top political opponents said he’s open to working with the Indonesia president following a disputed election this month, raising hopes for a peaceful outcome. Prabowo has refused to accept unofficial quick counts that show Widodo, known as Jokowi, has won a second term in office. Election authorities have until May 22 to release official results. ...

Bloomberg Fugitive Lam Wing-kee has been protected by rules dating back to the time of the former British colony’s handover to China that prevent extradition of Hong Kong citizens to the mainland. Now, that protection could be lifted by a proposed amendment to the law, and Lam is not the only one who is worried. “The impact would be huge” ...