US and China face a ‘decisive decade’

Joe Biden has warned that the US faces a “decisive decade” in its rivalry with China, as he unveiled a national security strategy that singled out Beijing as having the intent and capability to reshape the world order.

In the first such document of his presidency, Biden on Wednesday wrote that his administration was “clear-eyed about the scope and seriousness” of the challenge posed to the international order from China and Russia.

“China harbours the intention and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order in favour of one that tilts the global playing field to its benefit,” Biden wrote in an introduction to the 48-page document.

The national security strategy said the US faced two strategic challenges: a post-cold war competition between major powers and transnational challenges that range from climate change to global health issues.

Thanks to readers who took our poll yesterday. Eighty-one per cent of respondents said the G7 should speed up the delivery of air defence systems for Ukraine. Now, here is the rest of today’s news — Emily

Five more stories in the news

1. Yen falls into intervention zone with new 24-year low The yen has moved past the ¥145.90 level that prompted Japanese authorities to intervene last month to strengthen the currency for the first time since 1998. In afternoon trading on Wednesday in London, the currency fell to ¥146.95 as the US dollar surged. The yen has lost more than 20 per cent of its value against the dollar this year.

2. Bank of England ramps up bond buying The central bank battled a renewed sell-off in UK government bonds yesterday after its vow to end its emergency gilt-buying programme unsettled markets already unnerved by the fiscal plans of prime minister Liz Truss. The BoE bought £4.4bn of gilts from investors, its biggest intervention since it entered the market last month.

• Related read: The Bank of England has said “lessons must be learned” from the pensions crisis that triggered an unprecedented intervention in the UK gilt markets, and stressed the need for action to mitigate similar risks in other parts of the financial sector.

3. Challenges arise securing air defence systems for Ukraine Nato allies are struggling to secure sufficient air defence systems to meet Ukraine’s demands for additional support, western officials have admitted, as Kyiv pleas for greater protection from Russian missile attacks. Western powers are working to locate systems that could be moved, two senior officials said, in the face of production shortages and stretched inventories.

4. IMF urges governments to rein in spending Rising interest rates and high inflation have increased the importance of countries building resilience into their public finances so they can deal with a more “shock-prone” world, the IMF said on Wednesday in its annual Fiscal Monitor publication.

5. Fed fearful of doing ‘too little’ to stamp out soaring US inflation In an account of September’s Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, officials signalled they are more concerned about doing too little to rein in soaring US inflation than doing too much and doubled down on plans to tighten monetary policy so it constrains the economy.

The day ahead

Taiwan ends mandatory quarantine for arrivals Those who arrive in Taiwan from today will be asked to undergo a seven-day period of self-initiated prevention measures rather than mandatory quarantine.

Iraq presidential election by the parliament Iraqi members of arliament will meet today for their fourth attempt this year to elect a new president. (Al Jazeera)

Fijian PM’s son in court in Australia Ratu Meli Bainimarama, son of Fiji’s prime minister, is due in court today in Australia to face domestic violence charges. His father, Frank Bainimarama, faces an election later this year (BBC)

US CPI report Yesterday’s producer price index report will be followed today by a widely anticipated consumer price index reading for September, with economists polled by Reuters expecting a rise of 8.1 per cent.

What else we’re reading

Iran’s teenage girls on the front line of protests Nika Shakarami is one of half a dozen teenage girls and young women who have died as protests have swept Iran since mid-September following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. While more men have died in the crackdown, the dead girls have become martyrs, symbols of the struggle for equal rights.

‘Fortress Beijing’ eliminates threats ahead of congress With just days until the Chinese Communist party’s most important political meeting in a decade, President Xi Jinping’s security lieutenants are intensifying a months-long crackdown. Under the Ministry of Public Security’s “100-day operation”, which started in June, more than 1.4mn people have been arrested across the country.

Disease and war are shaping our economy It was not familiar economic forces that caused recent upheavals but Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine. This reminds us that the most destructive forces are indifferent nature and wicked humanity. As the latest IMF report outlined downside risks, Martin Wolf asks: what can and should be done?

Fumio Kishida prepares Japan’s defences The prime minister is by nature a dovish diplomat. But surrounded by increasingly hostile regimes in China, Russia and North Korea, Kishida has little choice but to reshape his nation’s defences, as he outlined in an interview with the FT.

How can the Bank of England repair the gilt market? British government bond yields have been trading at their highest levels since the global financial crisis. While the Bank of England has provided some stability by buying gilts. BoE officials have signalled privately that it could extend its emergency bond-buying programme but governor Andrew Bailey warned pension funds that they have “three days left” before the support ends. Is the BoE’s intervention enough? Here are four possible next steps.

Wine

FT’s Jancis Robinson recently went to a tasting of 120 wines from some of South Africa’s most admired producers. The one that stood out to her comes in a 25cl can retailing for £5. Now she’s making the case for canned wine. Yes, really.