■ BANKING
S Korea to privatize KDB
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday his government would privatize the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) in three years as part of his economic reforms. “The policy to privatize the KDB remains unchanged,” Lee told a televised news conference. “It is said to take about four years, but the government plans to privatize it in three years while monitoring market situations.” Seoul’s financial watchdog said last month it would turn KDB into a holding company this year in preparation for privatization, but it did not give a timeframe for completing the whole process.
■ CREDIT
Loan strategy reconfigured
China is making it easier for companies to sell short-term debt, to try to reduce an over-reliance on bank loans for funding and decrease risks in the financial system. Non-financial companies will no longer need government approval to sell commercial paper with maturities of less than one year on the interbank market, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its Web site late yesterday. They will only need to register with a dealers association before issuing the debt. “The financing structure in China has been unbalanced, direct financing is underdeveloped and enterprises have relied too much on bank lending which has created hidden risks,” the central bank said in a separate statement.
■ OIL
CNOOC signs agreements
China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd (CNOOC, 中國海洋石油), China’s biggest offshore oil producer, signed agreements with overseas partners to develop 22 areas off the Chinese coast that the company’s parent offered for international bidding last year. CNOOC signed “production sharing contracts” with foreign companies to jointly explore in these areas, chairman Fu Chengyu (傅成玉) said at the Boao Forum in Hainan yesterday. “Those foreign companies basically include every one of our current partners in offshore development in China.” Companies in China are accelerating efforts to find oil as demand for fuel for power plants, cars and machinery rises in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
■ COMMODITIES
Chavez chides IMF
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that his government could afford to buy some of the IMF’s gold reserves as the US-based lender faces hard times. Chavez raised that idea with a chuckle as the IMF, the lender of last resort for countries in trouble, considers trimming costs by selling off some of its gold reserves. “Look at how the US empire must be in unimpeded decline, that the International Monetary Fund ... is selling its crown jewels,” Chavez said during a speech at a military parade.
■ CONSUMING
Cash cards may be unsafe
Millions of cash cards and security access cards may now be unsafe, the Hanover-based c’t magazine reported recently. Experts have succeeded in cracking the encryption of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip used in a widely available card system. Stored information was successfully read out and copied from chips in the Mifare Classic series, the report claims. Depending on the intended use for the card, this could potentially lead to personal data landing in the wrong hands. One way to tell whether a card includes an RFID chip is to hold it against a very bright light source. “You can see lines all the way around the chip. That is the antenna,” says Christiane Ruetten from c’t.
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers