A senior Chinese foreign ministry official, Lu Kang, told NBC News today that the U.S. should stay out of the fight over who owns the South China Sea.
What prompted the comment: WH spokesman Sean Spicer said yesterday the U.S. was not going to let China take over the "international territories" in the South China Sea
"That's not international territory, that's Chinese territory," Kang said.
Secretary of State Nominee Rex Tillerson has also made it clear that the U.S. won't let China keep building islands in international waters.
Big banks are looking to move to new cities, most likely Paris or Frankfurt, as the U.K. makes preparations for Brexit. But eastern European cities are also wooing those banks, per The WSJ.
Their pitch: If you're going to move business operations, you might as well go somewhere cheap.
The WSJ reported that JPMorgan execs recently visited Wroclaw in Poland as a prospective option, and Goldman Sachs has been eyeing the city as a potential hub for its business. Credit Suisse, BNY Mellon and UBS have already been expanding operations there.
Why this matters: Brexit is forcing big banks to look to outside the U.K. as the pressure on costs and margins increases with the prospect of operating without the crutch of the E.U. Meanwhile, eastern European cities offer a much cheaper option than the more predictable European cities in France and Germany.
Donald Trump's comments thus far about U.S. trade with China have been fairly hostile, and yesterday he took steps to kill off the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Chinese investors, however, don't seem too worried yet about Trump and his impact on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
China's state news agencies took different tones on the start of the Trump era this weekend.
People's Daily (via Bloomberg): "Western style democracy used to be a recognized power in history to drive social development. But now it has reached its limits. Democracy is already kidnapped by the capitals and has become the weapon for capitalists to chase profits."
Global Times: "The West seems to be standing at a crossroads, and the world is facing unprecedented uncertainties...The US and Europe had better remain at peace. If they descend into chaos, the rest of the world will suffer."
