Irish journalist. Chief Europe Correspondent @SCMPnews. Reporting on Europe-China. Geopolitical flâneur. Fermanagh man. Find me on bluesky

Brussels
Joined April 2009
Scoop: EU mulls sanctions reprieve for Chinese fabric-maker accused of aiding Russia In Feb 2025, a Hubei textiles firm was blacklisted for supplying banned tech to Russia. Now, it's at the centre of a quid pro quo involving Europe's tech leader, ASML scmp.com/news/china/article/…
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Chinese automakers outsold Japanese rivals in Europe for the first time over a quarter Registrations of Chinese-branded cars doubled from a year earlier in the last quarter to make up 12.7% of total sales, ahead of Japanese manufacturers at 11.9%.
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While European manufacturers like Volkswagen AG and Renault SA still dominate the region, the speed of China’s surge has been a surprise. Five years ago, Chinese brands accounted for barely 1% of European sales bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Finbarr Bermingham retweeted
Breaking my long silence here to commemorate the moment I got to announce the results of a tense election in Brazil on the front page of one of the world’s major newspapers. I will remember this day for the rest of my life. Read the story here - bit.ly/3TXV6sB
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Finbarr Bermingham retweeted
What these students in Serbia did will be studied for decades to come and be emulated around the world
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Finbarr Bermingham retweeted
*LULA WINS BRAZIL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, DATAFOLHA PROJECTS
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Sad news, enjoyed reading their stories
News: Rest of World, the nonprofit newsroom focused on the impact of technology outside the West founded by Sophie Schmidt, tells donors in an email it will “cease publishing as a standalone entity” at the end of January.
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Washington plans for Viktor Orban to be a "joint candidate" for the US, China and Russia to be UN secretary general, WSJ reports wsj.com/opinion/viktor-orban…
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Weird that this sourced story is in the wsj opinion section, by the editorial board. Anyone?
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In an age of slop and vertical videos and short attention spans and dying newspapers and AI stealing original reporting, nothing is more revolutionary than reading a book. 💪🏻 👏
I've won the Air Mail Tom Wolfe Prize for my book THE YAHOO BOYS!!! In an age of slop and vertical videos and short attention spans and dying newspapers and AI stealing original reporting, nothing is more revolutionary than reading a book. Long live long-form journalism!
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In author and computer engineer Liu Cixin’s science fiction hit The Three-Body Problem, three suns throw a doomed world into chaos. Chinese astronomers say they have found a real three-star system that is far better behaved. amp.scmp.com/news/china/scie…
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JUST IN: Sefcovic, speaking post meeting in Dublin, says the EU may proceed with safeguards before the next round of talks with China "In some cases we prefer negotiations but in others what could be most appropriate will be safeguards"
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Sefcovic: "There are always issues - you need to be very clear about legality of the case, because as you know, those who are not happy like to take us to WTO or other courts. So we just want to be sure that we have very solid case from economic but also legal POV"
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Finbarr Bermingham retweeted
Scoop: EU mulls sanctions reprieve for Chinese fabric-maker accused of aiding Russia In Feb 2025, a Hubei textiles firm was blacklisted for supplying banned tech to Russia. Now, it's at the centre of a quid pro quo involving Europe's tech leader, ASML scmp.com/news/china/article/…
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France ‘certain’ united front with Germany pushed China into hybrid car deal scmp.com/news/china/diplomac…
I'm in Dublin for EU trade ministers meeting. China on the agenda. French minister Forissier says he is "certain" Franco-German pressure forced Beijing into concessions on hybrid cars "I'm certain that it played a role, it's v important the German-French engine starts again"
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I'm in Dublin for EU trade ministers meeting. China on the agenda. French minister Forissier says he is "certain" Franco-German pressure forced Beijing into concessions on hybrid cars "I'm certain that it played a role, it's v important the German-French engine starts again"
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Slovenian minister Logar said EU needs "coherence" on China: "There are 27 shades of gray as countries diversify themselves by their relations to China, their economical involvement with trade with China, and every country has its own specific circumstances"
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Irish minister McEntee, hosting, would not be drawn on new instruments, spoke more of the need for Europe to stay open "We need to make sure that, however we respond to the imbalance, however we try to diversify, we are supporting & not hindering our own industries and sectors"
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