■ BANKING
DPJ eyes BoJ candidates
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary-General Yukio Hatoyama said his party could consider Haruhiko Kuroda and Hirofumi Watanabe as candidates for the next head of the Bank of Japan (BoJ). On March 12, the upper house of Japan's parliament controlled by the opposition rejected the government's nomination of BoJ Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto to succeed Toshihiko Fukui as head of the bank. DPJ leaders have asked Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to propose a candidate other than Muto, arguing that his previous career at the Ministry of Finance threatens the bank's independence.
■ AVIATION
HK airport gets busier
Hong Kong International Airport, Asia's third-busiest airfield by passenger numbers, handled 7.3 percent more people last month than the same month last year because of increased Lunar New Year travel. The airport handled 3.9 million people last month, Airport Authority Hong Kong said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Cargo volume increased 5.1 percent 247,000 tonnes, it said. "It was a good start to the year," chief executive officer Stanley Hui (許漢忠) said in the statement. "Hong Kong people took advantage of the buoyant local economy and treated themselves to a Lunar New Year holiday."
■ OIL
PDVSA turns to euro
Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) will sign some oil contracts in euros in the face of a plummeting dollar, local media reported, citing officials. "There are some contracts in euros, contracts for crude, products and spot markets in euros. This is a subject which we are working on," Energy Minister and PDVSA chief Rafael Ramirez said in an interview with the journal El Universal published on Friday. It remained unclear which oil sales would require payment in euros. Venezuela, Latin America's leading petroleum producer, has previously backed Iran's proposals for OPEC to abandon the dollar and use the euro for oil pricing.
■ MALAYSIA
Projects on, Abdullah says
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged to push ahead with big-spending development projects amid concerns of possible economic fallout after his ruling coalition's election losses. The stock market fell 7.8 percent last week after the opposition won control of five states and a third of parliament. Abdullah's government remained in power, but with its lowest parliamentary majority in 51 years of rule. Abdullah insisted the economy remained "fundamentally strong" and said plans for US$325 billion in public and private investment to create five economic zones in rural areas would go ahead even though some of the states were in opposition hands.
■ BANKING
China loan growth healthy
Chinese banks' loan growth may top a government target for the first quarter, Wu Xiaoling (吳曉靈), a former vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said yesterday. "We still have one month to watch lending growth for the first quarter and it may still exceed our target," Wu, a deputy head of the Fiscal and Economic Committee, said in an interview in Beijing. She didn't specify the target. The government is trying to prevent excess liquidity from fueling 11-year high inflation and investment leading to industrial overcapacity.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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