ITK Daily | October 24

Happy Monday.

To be ITK, know this:

NYT: Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s next prime minister on Tuesday

+ Sunak to meet King Charles on Tuesday morning before taking over as PM and says UK faces ‘profound economic challenge’

Sunak to face UK economic tumult as prime minister: WSJ reports former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who warned that Liz Truss’s economic plans for Britain were a “fairy tale,” will take over the world’s sixth-biggest economy at a time of deep financial and political turbulence.

+ @FerroTV: "There are not many things we can say with confidence but I can say this with confidence today: We more likely gonna be talking about what happened in China in 10 years to come then what's happening in Westminster right now…”

+ @EdwardGLuce: Sunak has already epically fulfilled Rule#1 of any new job: Always follow an underperformer (he's following at least four). Also Rule #2: Start with low expectations.

Mitt Romney wins the top government executive job...in the United Kingdom.

China’s Xi claims third term as Communist Party leader: Xi Jinping cemented his status as China’s most formidable leader since Mao Zedong by extending his term as Communist Party chief into a second decade and declining to elevate a clear potential successor. WSJ

+ The lineup of the new Politburo Standing Committee, the inner sanctum of power in China, was dominated by Xi’s allies and protégés, though none of them with the combination of age and experience that would mark them out as a viable successor.

+ By extending his rule without any heir apparent, Xi has effectively obliterated the party’s decadeslong efforts to ensure regular leadership succession and prevent a return to Mao-style dictatorship.

+ “Xi was dominant before; he is even more dominant now,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. The new leadership lineup suggests that “it’s not about competence, or a diversity of views, it’s about Xi getting more of what he wants, faster,” he said.

+ The new lineup also marked the first time in 25 years that the Politburo didn’t feature a woman, whether as a full member or an alternate.

Xi unveils loyalist leadership team to cement consolidation of power: FT reports the Chinese president purges rivals from the Communist party’s top echelons to expand his power.

China’s Communist Party hands Xi an endless rule for flexing power WP

+ As a paramount leader who demands absolute loyalty, Xi also undermined a system of collective rule as well as power-sharing among factions within the party — a system honed since the 1980s to ward off personality cults.

+ China’s relationship with the United States is set to grow more combative. With the departure from top leadership of economic czar Liu He and the former party secretary of Guangdong province, Wang Yang — who were seen as helping smooth relations with the United States — Xi probably will adopt a more hard-line approach toward Washington.

+ China also is expected to turn increasingly inward as Beijing renegotiates its relationship with the West.

For Xi Jinping, it's time to drop the honorific of "President" and employ the use of "General Secretary" going forward.

It's style guide update time boys and girls.

CBS News: US charges Chinese nationals with schemes to steal info, punish critics and recruit spies

Garland announces charges against 13 alleged Chinese spies: NBC News reports Attorney General Merrick Garland rolled out three cases involving separate alleged schemes to “unlawfully exert influence in the United States” during a press conference on Monday.

+ The men are accused of trying to direct a US government official to provide inside information about the DOJ's probe, including about witnesses, trial evidence and potential new charges

+ @d_jaishankar: US Attorney General and FBI Director Wray announce they've charged 2 PRC intelligence officers in NY who bribed FBI "double agent" to obstruct evidence against "PRC-based telecommunications company."

+ @gwbstr: US charges two alleged Chinese intelligence officers with paying a US law enforcement employee (who was a "double agent" for the FBI) ~$61k in bitcoin for information on a prosecution in EDNY of a "global telecommunications company."

How Finnair’s huge bet on faster flights to Asia suddenly came undone: When Russia closed its airspace, it upended the decades-long strategy for making Finland a European travel hub to and from the East. NYT

+ Nestled near Europe’s rooftop, Finland spent decades leveraging its location to become a popular gateway for Asian travelers. Its flagship airline, Finnair, offered flights from Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai to Helsinki that, by crossing over Russia, were hours shorter than flights to any other European capital.

+ Then Russia sent troops across Ukraine’s border on Feb. 24, and overnight the carefully constructed game table was overturned.

+ What was once a nine-hour flight to Helsinki when routed over Russia’s 3,000-mile expanse would now take 13 hours and as much as 40 percent more fuel because it had to swoop around borders.

+ The closed airspace caused Japan Airlines and ANA to cancel flights to Europe. And this month Virgin Atlantic said it was ceasing all traffic to and from Hong Kong because of Russia’s ban.

Germany's Scholz confirms visit to China in November with business delegation: Reuters reports German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's said on Friday he will travel to China with a delegation of business leaders. The trip comes at a time when Berlin is reviewing its trade relationship with Beijing, and Scholz's coalition is debating whether to allow Chinese shipping giant Cosco to invest in Germany's largest port in the northern city of Hamburg.

+ @noahbarkin: The CEOs of Siemens & Volkswagen will accompany Scholz on his trip to China, according to Handelsblatt & FAZ. Others, including Mercedes, Deutsche Bank & SAP have chosen not to make the trip to Beijing

Germany ain't "decoupling" anytime soon.

California poised to overtake Germany as world’s No. 4 economy: Contrary to popular belief, the Golden State has proven resilient, outperforming its US and global peers. Matthew A. Winkler

+ @GavinNewsom: BREAKING: California is poised to now become the 4th largest economy in the WORLD. Our growth continues to outpace other states and nations as we overtake Germany’s spot on the global stage. Despite the nay sayers -- CA’s best days are ahead of us.

America must be serious about cross-border challenges: The new National Security Strategy is right to insist issues like climate change are as important as geopolitical threats. Anne-Marie Slaughter

+ Most important, the new strategy elevates global threats like climate change and pandemics to an equal footing with geopolitical competition and conflict with China, Russia and other autocracies

+ Successfully addressing shared global challenges requires a planetary perspective, one focused on all human beings, regardless of the countries they live in, and their relationships to one another and to the planet. The Biden administration understands that keeping Americans safe in the 21st century requires a critical doctrinal shift. But a shift in money, mindset and metrics must follow suit.

The fantasy of instant delivery is imploding: Bloomberg reports Gopuff was supposed to crack Silicon Valley’s longtime obsession with one-hour delivery. Instead, the startup valued at $15 billion risks becoming the next Kozmo com-size flameout.

I just used Gopuff for the very first time... Life comes at you fast.

GS comms: From @lizrhoffman: Scooplet: Former White House deputy press secretary @TonyFratto is heading to @GoldmanSachs as its new head of comms.

The FedEx effect: Every day, in every corner of the world, FedEx is connecting communities, moving goods, and providing services that power the global economy. Explore the findings of our latest Economic Impact Report. This year, we’ve empowered businesses to expand to new markets and invested in communities around the world. FedEx

Globalization is cool.

+ 16 million shipments delivered each day

EVs start with a bigger carbon footprint. But that doesn’t last. The manufacturing and disposal of electric vehicles result in more greenhouse gases than nonelectric models, but that difference will eventually disappear altogether. NYT

+ One of the main critiques of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) has centered on a reliance on coal to produce the electricity needed to power these vehicles, along with the emissions produced by battery production and the shortness of battery life.

James Corden reminds us how not to complain at a restaurant WP

+ The best complaints stick to the facts and use a civil tone. More empathetic yet are diners who sweeten an issue with a compliment: “We’ve really enjoyed everything up to now. Thank you for that. But is it possible to share this (insert disappointment) with the (chef or whoever is responsible) and (correct the problem)?”

Arsenal built a winner by accepting (a little) losing: The club defied Premier League orthodoxy and stuck by manager Mikel Arteta after last season’s collapse. Now it sits top of the Premier League. WSJ

+ With nine victories from 10 matches, Arsenal is off to its best start in the Premier League era - The club that hasn’t won a title since 2004.

Cristiano Ronaldo and the long walk: Soccer’s biggest stars used to have places to wind down their careers with dignity. The sport’s economics now require their humiliations be public. NYT

+ Ronaldo is, put simply, too valuable, too famous, too much of a draw to be allowed to drift into the sunset.

+ Someone, somewhere, will offer him a colossal sum of money to score the occasional goal in the Champions League, or to aid their pursuit of it.

This 71-year-old hiker just completed the Pacific Crest Trail: Jon Anderson overcame temporary snowblindness to complete the 2,650-mile journey from Mexico to Canada. Outside

+ Trail name, Pa’at, which means bighorn sheep in the native language of the Cahuilla, a tribe from Southern California.

+ Jon says that his friends and family were “a little concerned” when he announced in 2021 that he was gearing up to walk the full length of the PCT.

+ His wife, Flip, who is 69, was also part of his journey, but she had to bow out after completing 70 percent of the trail.

+ The PCT takes, on average, about five months to complete.

+ The 71-year-old has practical advice for others who want to hike the PCT: adequate training and proper gear go a long way, and he doesn’t recommend taking full rest days.

+ After walking thousands of miles, Jon also knows a more simple truth. “One foot in front of the other,” he says, “will take you a long way.”

Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.

-Marc

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