china condemns the meeting between taiwanese president tsai ing—wen and kevin mccarthy in california. we sit down with the head of sri lanka airlines is the state carrier looks to privatise to ease the burden on colombo. there hello and welcome to asia business report. i'm karishma vaswani. our top story this morning, china has about a resolute response following a high level meeting between the taiwanese president tsai ing—wen and the us house speaker kevin mccarthy

in california, in an early—morning statement, the ea rly—morning statement, the spokesperson early—morning statement, the spokesperson for the chinese ministry accused washington of colluding with taiwan, especially over the issue of arms sales, earlier mr mccarthy said washington must strengthen in economic cooperation with the island that china has claimed as its own. whether it is our deep — claimed as its own. whether it is our deep commercial- claimed as its own. whether it is our deep commercial ties, l is our deep commercial ties, strong people to people relationships, our shared values, our cooperation with the people of taiwan continue to expand through dialogue and exchange. mr to expand through dialogue and exchanae. ~ a ., , , exchange. mr mccarthy is the most senior _ exchange. mr mccarthy is the most senior us _ exchange. mr mccarthy is the most senior us figure - exchange. mr mccarthy is the most senior us figure to - exchange. mr mccarthy is the | most senior us figure to meet with the taiwanese figure on american soil since 1979. despite the rhetoric, taiwanese firms to big business with both china and the united states. china and the united states. china is taiwan's largest trading partner. earlyi china is taiwan's largest trading partner. early i spoke with the director of geoeconomics from the wilson centre and she explained how geopolitical tensions could affect taiwanese businesses. 50

affect taiwanese businesses. so the affect taiwanese businesses. sr the mccarthy meeting that has happened in california today, as well as the nancy pelosi visit to taiwan last summer, these are efforts to actually avoid confrontation between taiwan and china. to say that the united states is going to come to the defence of taiwan should china take action. some would argue that this is not necessarily going to be an effective way to keep china away from taiwan and it is deliberately provoking, but others would argue this is a very effective deterrent. for the business community, what is happening as there are contingency plans already in place. a big taiwanese manufacturer is manufacturing and planning to manufacture more in the united states and other countries as well. we also see that there are efforts

for taiwan itself to be more resilient and also to diversify its own industrial base as well. one thing is you want to point out is that taiwan has great faith in what it calls is silicon shield, that because of so many countries are dependent on importing taiwanese semiconductors, that they gives taiwan protection and that gives taiwan the defence — other countries coming to its defence should there be an invasion by china. she defence should there be an invasion by china.— invasion by china. she was speaking _ invasion by china. she was speaking to _ invasion by china. she was speaking to me _ invasion by china. she was speaking to me a - invasion by china. she was speaking to me a little - invasion by china. she was i speaking to me a little earlier . emmanuel macron arrived in the chinese capitol on wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of misleaders. in a few hours sleep' time he and the president of the un commission, is lower than underline will meet with xi jinping. rico boy —— ursula von

der leyen. he jinping. rico boy -- ursula von der leyen— jinping. rico boy -- ursula von der leyen. he will meet with xi jininu der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his new _ der leyen. he will meet with xi jinping and his new premier. i jinping and his new premier. yesterday around 3pm local time he first met with french residents in the capitol, he also spoke about how the west shouldn't try and reduce diplomatic and economic ties with china, especially because of the rather crucial role that china plays in the war in ukraine. basically what he is hoping to do is persuade china to ask russia, of course, it's ally, to try to bring peace in ukraine. it is meant to say that not many experts are expecting a big breakthrough there. but it is a very tricky balancing act for the french president, because he also wants to push for closer trade and investment ties with china and investment ties with china and he has been trying to push for this accord, the cai, to boost investment ties between the two. and of course he is

travelling, as you said, with many business leaders for whom china is a huge market and, according to the chinese ambassador to france, we can expect some deals in aerospace, nuclear energy, and say for example the boss of abarza is expected to be there as well. and especially for france president macron, who has been facing is rather embarrassing protest at home, he deftly wants to score those economic victories, so a very tricky balancing act for him. mariko oi en balancing act for him. mariko 0i en that — balancing act for him. mariko oi en that story _ balancing act for him. mariko oi en that story for _ balancing act for him. mariko oi en that story for us. - balancing act for him. mariko oi en that story for us. in's i oi en that story for us. in's central bank will be unveiling its latest monetary policy and rotations are high that another rate hike is on the cards. my colleague is following the latest twists and turns of what the indian central bank is going to do and joins me now. always great to have you on. what we expect thing?- always great to have you on. what we expect thing? they have been holding _ what we expect thing? they have been holding their— what we expect thing? they have been holding their monetary - been holding their monetary policy committee meeting since

the third, many analysts have a lot of predictions and surveys have anticipated that there will be an attempt to try to rein in inflation, that has remained a concern and that is why we have seen any�*s central bank raise rates since may last year, and that trend has really continued, many experts point out this is going to stem from similar decisions we have seen in central banks across other developed nations like us federal reserve or even the european central bank of the bank of england. that is something that we are anticipating. many analysts also say this could be one of the last rate hikes we could see before they need to stabilise and bring them down, because there is also concern that growth is getting affected because they have been meeting that tight rope between making sure inflation is under control of the world bank has downgraded any�*s prospects to 6-.3%, the downgraded any�*s prospects to 6—.3%, the association of chambers of commerce and industry has spoken out is a

growth needs to be focused on, and there is an outlook that growth was of a grave —— freight rates continue, that is the climate within the monetary policy meeting is happening and we should know today what the decision is, but, yes, the general consensus seems to be, head of that meeting, is that there is another rate hike on there is another rate hike on the cards. there is another rate hike on the cards-— the cards. are today is you, treat the cards. are today is you, great to _ the cards. are today is you, great to get _ the cards. are today is you, great to get you _ the cards. are today is you, great to get you in - the cards. are today is you, great to get you in the - great to get you in the programme with your thoughts. usjudge has ruled that the executives of media company vox corporation can be called to testify at a 1—$.6 billion defamation trial against the network. the trial, which is set to kick off later this month, was brought on by dominion voting systems against fox and its networks in the lawsuit alleged that the media company lied about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. the air travel industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, but add to that an economic crisis and that's the situation srilankan airlines found itself

in. the carrier is now expiring privatisation plans to ease the board and on colombo. we caught up board and on colombo. we caught up with richard nuttall, chief executive at the airline. there is a lot of— executive at the airline. there is a lot of energy _ executive at the airline. there is a lot of energy around - is a lot of energy around privatising. the first thing, though, that we need to do if we're to privatise is we need to restructure the old dexter out there, so in round numbers we make $1 million of revenue a year. we have $1 billion of debt, some in dollars, some local, some owed to different creditors, and we are paying 100 million on servicing it. structure that that a large part of what we are paying any interest comes back and can be used to run the airline and it means that an outside investor can come in and, guess, basically not pay for the sins of the past. welcome i think you first lesson for me is don't ever go and be a ceo in covid, come after covid then you can come for the upswing

and ordeal through the difficult days. one of the things we have learned is we are really lousy at forecasting. everybody thought covid would last three weeks, then three months, then here, then three months, then here, thenit then three months, then here, then it was two years, and in some big markets it was three years. so i think what it is actually done is that, historically in this business used to plan for the year ahead and say we will have temps and growth, will add capacity there, where is a new market that fits in with the scheme of things and we will do things organically. think what has happened as we all had to challenge ourselves and we have had to be much more agile. at the moment we have a long—term view on where we think the airline should be and what the route network to look at. but actually we look every week and we'll get every flight and we look at what is it delivering per hour and where can we best with our assets and of this market is working and of this one is not, well, we will not necessarily palau but we will switch capacity and move a

little bit more here and a little bit more here and a little bit more here and a little bit less of there. —— switch capacity. it is an industry with low margins and it is very competitive. if your number one you can make money, if you're number two, maybe you can break even, if you are number three, forget it. so you really know what is your usp and what can you dominate and then build around that and then then build around that and then the rest of it as may be filler traffic. if you look at sri lanka, the stuff we can be always number one or number two, is the sri lankan diaspora, tourism to sri lanka, and connecting traffic from secondary indian cities going particularly east. once we are competing with big middle eastern hubs that have cost advantages we can't compete with —— west. those are the three things for us, doesn't matter you are is an airline, who can you be number 1a and thatis who can you be number 1a and that is what should concentrate on. .,

that is what should concentrate on, ., ., , . ., ., on. that was richard nuttall, ceo of srilankan _ on. that was richard nuttall, ceo of srilankan airlines - ceo of srilankan airlines speaking to us earlier. that is it from us. thanks watching. to stay with bbc news. i will see you soon morrow. —— see you tomorrow. the latest way to improve safety out partying in bath, the safe bus will be parked up every friday and saturday night outside bath abbey. that every friday and saturday night outside bath abbey.— every friday and saturday night outside bath abbey. at the end ofthe outside bath abbey. at the end of the bus _ outside bath abbey. at the end of the bus we _ outside bath abbey. at the end of the bus we have _ outside bath abbey. at the end of the bus we have this - outside bath abbey. at the end of the bus we have this private | of the bus we have this private area and this is obviously for people to come if they need their own private space, and some medical treatment. find some medicaltreatment. and then we've — some medicaltreatment. and then we've got... _ some medicaltreatment. and then we've got... this - some medicaltreatment. and then we've got... this is - some medicaltreatment. and then we've got... this is kind| then we've got... this is kind of like the — then we've got... this is kind of like the kitchen _ then we've got... this is kind of like the kitchen area, - then we've got... this is kind of like the kitchen area, we l of like the kitchen area, we have everything you would probably need if you wanted to keep warm and have a nice drink, tea, coffee facilities, water. underneath here we have set goals, emergency blankets, flip—flops, which i have been

told by the no passengers are really spare clothing, phone charges, there will always be a paramedic, there will be a security muscle in the city, we have no muscles, and it will be a team of volunteers, people who need first—aid, needy paramedic, and that support. this paramedic, and that support. as on emergency services is known to be higher at weekends. if you can deal with the situation like on the ground where it is “p like on the ground where it is up then people don't have to take themselves up to a&e. the take themselves up to me. the idea has take themselves up to a&e. the idea has already been proven elsewhere and venues throughout bath had asked for their own bus. vulnerable, tipsy, or maybe even lost, this bus is one that will always have a seat for you. i'm janelle with the catch up. britain's human rights watchdog have recommended that sex means biological sex rather than legal sex. this means that people who have changed their legal everyone

on birth and marriage documents would no longer be legally classed as such and trans people could be excluded from areas that they identify with. you've probably heard the hype about the £2 shein nails but did you know about the manchester—based nail designer who was shocked to see her designs being sold on their site. bonnie has more. she is a 28—year—old nail designer, she's accusing the chinese owned fashion company shein of stealing her designs. shein have said they take all claims of infringement seriously stopping the well�*s favourite dog has come alive in the new barbie live—action film and a teaser was released earlier this week featuring a star—studded lineup including some talented brits.

time now to leave you with ten seconds of submergence. scientists have filmed a snail fish swimming at an extraordinary depth making it the deepest observation of nature that has ever been made. and with that you are all caught up. have a good night.

hello, i'm gavin ramjaun with your update from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the programme: the race for the premier league top four hots up — as manchester united beat brentford but stay behind newcastle who thrash west ham and pile the pressure of manager david moyes. an emphatic el classico in the copa del rey — karim benzema's hat—trick does the damage for real madrid, to knock out barcelona. and on the eve of one of golf�*s biggest tournaments, we'll be at augusta to preview who will marvel at the masters this year?

thanks forjoining us on the programme. lots to get through — but we start with football