■ 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.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
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