Channeling Xi’s defiance

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No matter how much he insists he doesn't want to, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sure looks like he's picked a side in the standoff between Brazil's two largest commercial partners.

The president known as Lula is currently on a state visit to China signing trade accords with Xi Jinping, shrugging off the risk that strengthening links with Beijing will irk US President Donald Trump.

It's the Brazilian leader's latest bet that China is a more willing and reliable partner than America as he seeks to transform a commodities-heavy economy into a bigger player in the global value chain.

Chinese car giants BYD and Great Wall Motor have already fueled the revival of Brazil's automotive industry, and Lula wants more — specifically, infrastructure investments that can help get Brazilian products to Asia faster.

Lula's visit is propitious for Xi, too. After successfully standing his ground and winning a reprieve from Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods, Xi is poised to deepen links to the largest market in Latin America and others in a region the US has long considered firmly within its sphere of influence.

Colombia's Gustavo Petro, also in Beijing, said he'll sign up to China's Belt and Road Initiative. Colombia was historically Washington's strongest ally in South America, though Petro, too, has sparred with Trump.

Together, China and the countries of Latin America "champion true multilateralism," Xi said today, as he dismissed "bullying" by nations he didn't identify by name. It's a message equally directed at Europe, chafing at Trump's tariffs.

Brazil and Colombia are far from turning their backs on the US, and can't afford to alienate such a valuable source of aid, investment and trade.

But rather than cowering in the face of Trump's threats, they're working to cut their own deals elsewhere — to Beijing's benefit.

As Xi has demonstrated, defiance in the face of intimidation can pay off. — Travis Waldron

Xi speaking in Beijing today. Photographer: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Global Must Reads

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Trump's hopes of securing as much as $1 trillion in investment commitments from Saudi Arabia might clash with Mohammed bin Salman's costly ambition to transform the kingdom's oil-dependent economy. The crown prince's diversification plans — most notably a futuristic new city called Neom — are likely to cost close to $2 trillion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Trump landed in Saudi Arabia earlier today on his first scheduled overseas trip since taking office.

European leaders are ready to wait until after a possible meeting between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday before pushing the US to announce fresh sanctions on Moscow, sources say. They'll urge Trump to follow through on sanctioning Russia if Putin declines the meeting or rejects an unconditional ceasefire, as the US president raised the possibility of attending himself.

Hamas freed the last living American citizen held hostage in Gaza, following talks between the US and the group ahead of Trump's Middle East visit. The US engaged with Hamas to help secure the release of Edan Alexander despite Washington designating the Iran-backed group a terrorist organization, and with Israel appearing to have little say over the negotiations.

A Red Cross convoy escorting Edan Alexander from the Gaza Strip yesterday. Photographer: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo

Governments across the Asia-Pacific region, from Australia and New Zealand to Indonesia and Vietnam, are leading the global charge to protect children from social-media harm by enacting some of the toughest new laws attempting to rein in the likes of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. While it's unclear how strictly some of the measures will be enforced, they offer a contrast with the US, where the federal government has yet to pass meaningful legislation.

Hong Kong fast-tracked changes to national-security laws that further consolidate Beijing's control over the financial hub, with the new regulations taking effect immediately.

Philippine voters delivered a blow to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and a boost to the controversial Duterte clan, whose performance in midterm elections yesterday shows they may have a chance to regain the nation's highest office in 2028.

Australia's center-right Liberal party elected Sussan Ley as its new leader, the first woman to head the party since it was founded in 1944, taking up the task of leading the opposition back to government after a devastating election loss 10 days ago.

Sussan Ley. Photographer: Louise Kennerley/Sydney Morning Herald/Getty Images

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama cemented his control over parliament in Sunday's election as voters bought into his pledges to take the nation into the EU by 2030 and handed him an unprecedented fourth term in office.

Dozens of White Afrikaners arrived in the US from South Africa yesterday, the first beneficiaries of a controversial resettlement program instigated by Trump.

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Chart of the Day

Transatlantic travel this summer is set to cool substantially under the combined weight of market instability, trade ructions and stricter policing at US borders. Demand from both sides of the Atlantic is forecast to fall near double digits, according to data from analytics firm Cirium. European cities with the sharpest decline in bookings include Munich, Amsterdam, Athens and Rome. In the US, San Francisco, Washington, Los Angeles and Houston are among those predicted to see the steepest drop in demand.

And Finally

Trump's promise to pursue the biggest immigration crackdown in US history has led to people being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in unprecedented ways. Many facilities are overflowing so ICE brings some detainees to small towns like Estancia in Torrance County, New Mexico. Together with a growing number of such communities, Torrance is convinced its financial survival depends on locking up immigrants.

Thanks to everyone who answered Friday's quiz, and congratulations to Elaine Milbank, who was first to correctly identify Turkey as the country where the main opposition leader was slapped in the face after attending the funeral of another politician.