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Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Monday, June 19th, and this is your FT News Briefing.

AstraZeneca is protecting itself from U.S.-China tensions, and France is pushing back on a plan

by Germany on Europe's air defenses. Plus, corporate America has poured a lot of money into

diversity plans over the past three years. But now, it's pulling back.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a trip to China. The hope is to smooth over

a relationship that's been on the rocks lately. Companies are watching this trip closely,

because the geopolitical tensions are causing businesses to make some tough choices.

For example, the FT recently learned that the Anglo-Swedish drug maker, AstraZeneca,

has put together a plan to spin off its China business. I'm joined now by the FT's global pharmaceutical

correspondent, Hannah Kushler. Hi, Hannah. Hi. Okay, so what do we know about AstraZeneca's plans so far?

cautionary note, this is not going to necessarily happen. But I think that the company thinks it's

quite wise, according to people that we've spoken to about the talks. Somewhat is just in case

measure. As tensions rise between the U.S. and China, there's a lot of potential conflict there.

The U.S. is the world's largest pharmaceutical market. It's really important to every pharmaceutical

company. AstraZeneca is the largest foreign drug maker in China. It sees a lot of potential there.

The country has an aging population, and the government is trying to encourage the sales of more

innovative drugs. And maybe it just wants to make sure it kind of keeps the Chinese government on

side. What exactly would an AstraZeneca breakout look like? Do we know yet? We don't know for sure,

but what we understand there in talks about is a listing of a separate entity of the Chinese

...