One of Scotland’s biggest local authorities has pulled contentious plans to sign an official ‘friendship arrangement’ with a major Taiwanese city amid reported warnings and threats from Chinese officials, as well as concerns from major Scottish businesses.

Councillors in Edinburgh had been due to consider the five-year-long deal between Scotland’s capital and the port city of Kaohsiung later this week. However, the proposal has now been withdrawn from Thursday’s full meeting of the council, with leader Cammy Day accepting that “more discussion is required”, having taken into account “the views of the business community and other partners”