■ ENERGY
BP's Moscow offices raided
Raids on the Moscow offices of British oil giant BP on Wednesday were conducted by secret service agents and may be part of a looming "redistribution" of oil assets in Russia, newspapers said yesterday. "Market sources do not exclude that the measures could be a new serious step in the redistribution of assets in large companies" as Russian President Vladimir Putin prepares to leave power in May, the Vremya Novostei daily said. An interior ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday that the raids on BP and its joint venture TNK-BP were part of a long-running criminal inquiry into Sidanko, a company that was merged to form TNK-BP in 2003. But the newspapers did not find that argument convincing and quoted company officials as well as security officers saying that the Sidanko inquiry has long been wrapped up. TNK-BP is Russia's third-largest oil company.
■ INVESTMENT
Ping An eyes Fortis stake
China's Ping An Insurance (平安保險) said it plans to buy a 50 percent stake in the asset management arm of Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis for 2.15 billion euros (US$3.35 billion). The insurer has entered a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Fortis on the purchase of the stake in Fortis Investment Management NV/SA, Ping An said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late on Wednesday. The companies will continue talks on the proposed deal, aiming to reach a final agreement by the middle of next month, Ping An said, adding that the proposed deal would improve its integrated platform of financial services, increase its asset management capability and "enhance the process of the company's globalization."
■ METALS
Australian gold firms merge
Australian gold producers Lahir and Equigold said yesterday they are merging, a deal that will create one of the world's largest gold companies with combined assets of A$9 billion (US$8.4 billion). Equigold had agreed to a Lahir offer of 33 shares for every 25 Equigold shares, valuing Equigold at A$5.33 a share or A$1.1 billion, the companies said. The combined group will have assets in Australia, West Africa and Papua New Guinea, producing in excess of 34,000kg of gold a year from next year, they said. The deal, expected to be completed in June, subject to regulatory approval.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Import tariffs to be lifted
The government said yesterday that import tariffs on dozens of grains and raw materials will be lifted and it will try to freeze public utility charges in an effort to battle inflation. The announcement came after the Korean won plunged to a 26-month low against the US dollar this week. Starting on April 1, tariffs will be lifted on imports of about 70 grains and raw materials, including wheat, corn, soybean cake and coffee cream, and will be cut on 18 other items, the president's office said in a statement.
■ AVIATION
Alitalia deal in jeopardy
A bid by Air France-KLM to take over Alitalia was under threat as the head of the French-Dutch company warned unions at the loss-making Italian airline there was little or no room for negotiation. "It's not a traditional negotiation," chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta told a news conference in Rome on Wednesday, a day after failed talks with union leaders over the bid.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
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