Your Evening Briefing: Biden Warns China’s Economy a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’

President Joe Biden blasted China’s economic problems as a “ticking time bomb,” saying during a political fundraiser that the Asian nation was in “trouble” because its growth has slowed and it had the “highest unemployment rate going.” He also blasted Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative as the “debt and noose,” because of the high levels of lending to developing economies associated with the global investment program. “So they got some problems,” Biden said. “That’s not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things.” Biden’s comments, which included exaggerations about the extent of China’s woes, are some of his most direct criticisms yet about the US’s top geopolitical and economic rival. The Democrat has sought to walk a fine line between using trade curbs to deter China’s high-tech military advancement and achieving a diplomatic rapprochement with Chinese leaders that could pave the way for a potential meeting this year with Xi. Josef Gregory Mahoney, a politics and international relations professor at Shanghai’s East China Normal University, said Beijing was unlikely to be “baited” into responding to Biden’s latest barbs. “Beijing knows Biden will resort increasingly to anti-China dog whistle tactics to rally popular support at home,” Mahoney said. “But it’s also important to remember that Beijing heard a lot worse from Trump.”

FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was taken into custody after a federal judge revoked his bail less than two months before his scheduled fraud trial. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan issued the order at a hearing in Manhattan on Friday afternoon. Bankman-Fried was immediately placed in handcuffs as marshals escorted him out of the courtroom. His mother, who was also present, cried in the gallery.