This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia<\/a>, Europe\/Africa<\/a> or Americas<\/a> edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Good morning. In today\u2019s newsletter: <\/p>\n Huawei challenges Nvidia in China<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Land disputes hold back India\u2019s green energy revolution<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Malaysia ties its fortunes to Singapore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Taiwan\u2019s parliament has frozen critical parts of the 2025 defence budget, heightening the risk that the country provokes the ire of US President Donald Trump at a moment when it needs firm support from Washington against security threats from China.<\/p>\n Taipei has been eager to demonstrate to the new US administration that it is stepping up efforts to strengthen its defences. Trump claimed in July that Taiwan \u201cdoesn\u2019t give us anything\u201d and compared the US to \u201can insurance company\u201d for the island nation\u2019s security. <\/p>\n But just hours after Trump was inaugurated to a second term on Monday, Taiwan\u2019s opposition-controlled legislature voted to freeze half the country\u2019s budget for its submarine programme, 30 per cent of the military\u2019s operations expenditure and one-third of the funding for a drone industry park. It also cut 60 per cent of the defence ministry\u2019s publicity budget.<\/p>\n Taiwanese government officials and ruling party lawmakers accused the Kuomintang, the largest opposition party, of helping China by undermining President Lai Ching-te\u2019s minority government. <\/p>\n \u201cOur defence will move backwards this year,\u201d said Po Horng-huei, vice-minister of defence. Read the full story<\/a>.<\/p>\n US-China relations:<\/strong> Trump said that tariffs on China could hinge on a deal over TikTok\u2019s ownership<\/a>, as he signed an executive order on Monday to keep the popular short-form video platform online in the US for 75 days.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Here\u2019s what else we\u2019re keeping tabs on today:<\/p>\n Economic data:<\/strong> Taiwan reports December labour market figures and Malaysia publishes monthly inflation data.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Monetary policy:<\/strong> Malaysia announces its rate decision.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n 1. Exclusive: Huawei is seeking to grab a larger share of the Chinese market for artificial intelligence chips<\/strong> dominated by Nvidia.<\/strong> Instead of challenging the US chipmaker in training large language models, Huawei is positioning its latest Ascend AI processors as the hardware of choice for the computation used by LLMs to generate responses to prompts \u2014 or so-called \u201cinference\u201d tasks<\/a>. <\/p>\n 2. Panama\u2019s government on Monday began an audit of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports,<\/strong> the company that operates ports at either end of its canal, in a move seen as a concession to US President Donald Trump<\/a>. The new president has threatened to take back the waterway, which handles about 3 per cent of global seaborne trade each year, over alleged Chinese influence.<\/p>\n 3. Trump has threatened to double tax rates for foreign nationals and companies in the US<\/strong> to hit back at \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d levies on American multinationals, as he primed his administration for a wide-ranging international tax fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n 4. Goldman Sachs has promoted a new generation of executives to head its key investment banking and trading businesses<\/strong> as the bank prepares to capitalise on an expected Wall Street boom under US President Donald Trump. Read more about the overhaul of Goldman\u2019s top ranks<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5. Saudi Arabia\u2019s investment mining fund is set to buy a stake in Pakistan\u2019s Reko Diq project,<\/strong> which will be one of the world\u2019s largest copper mines<\/a> once complete. The kingdom plans to buy 10-20 per cent of the $9bn complex, which is being developed by Barrick Gold, as it looks to accelerate its diversification away from oil.<\/p>\n More mining news:<\/strong> Indonesia is considering potential cuts to nickel ore supplies<\/a> to help boost prices amid a global glut, in a move that could put the brakes on rapid production growth in the south-east Asian nation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n In India, the third-biggest carbon polluter globally, billions of dollars are being poured into projects to meet government targets to more than double its non-fossil fuel sources of power by the end of the decade. But this breakneck effort to build clean energy infrastructure is sparking bitter land disputes<\/a> between companies and the people who rely on farming to make a living.<\/p>\n \u2018Will Trump even notice Europe?\u2019:<\/strong> Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an unflinching critique<\/a>\u00a0in Davos of the continent\u2019s weakness.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Is Hamas back?: <\/strong>The sight of militants on the streets<\/a> of Gaza since the ceasefire took effect raises the possibility that they may again run the enclave.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n War on drugs: <\/strong>Liberal reformers have been too hesitant<\/a> to spell out the negative consequences for others, writes Stephen Bush.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n As tensions ratchet up between two of Malaysia\u2019s biggest trading partners, the US and China, the south-east Asian nation is increasingly looking to hitch its wagon to its more successful neighbour, Singapore. A special economic zone straddling the two countries<\/a> is one of several initiatives designed to help the pair withstand tougher global economic trading conditions.<\/p>\n Almost 19,000 games were released last year via digital distribution platform Steam, and 2025 promises far more. In an age of unprecedented gaming abundance, FT video game critic Tom Faber writes it\u2019s time to rethink how and what we play<\/a>. <\/p>\n Thank you for reading and remember you can add FirstFT<\/a> to myFT. You can also elect to receive a FirstFT push notification every morning on the app. Send your recommendations and feedback to firstft@ft.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One Must-Read<\/strong> \u2014 Remarkable journalism you won\u2019t want to miss. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n Newswrap<\/strong> \u2014 Our business and economics round-up. Sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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