■ENERGY
Temasek selling power firm
A Japanese-led consortium has won the bid for a Singaporean power company being sold by state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings, sources told Dow Jones Newswires yesterday. Japan’s Marubeni Corp heads the consortium and will pay Temasek about US$2.5 billion for Senoko Power, they said. Senoko is the second of three local power generation firms Temasek is unloading as part of efforts to liberalize the domestic energy market. Temasek said in March that it had signed a share purchase agreement with SinoSing Power Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of China Huaneng Group (華能), to sell Tuas Power Ltd for S$4.235 billion (US$2.96 billion). Temasek’s third power generator is Power Seraya.
■BUSINESS ETHICS
Court rules against Wal-Mart
Mexico’s Supreme Court on Thursday compared the practices of US retail giant Wal-Mart in Mexico to employer-worker relations during the dictatorship of former Mexican president Porfirio Diaz. The country’s top court backed a Wal-Mart employee who had complained that vouchers handed out by the company as part of its salary payments could only be spent in the company’s stores. The practice of vouchers “that come from the worker’s salary only to be exchanged in the management company’s establishment is similar to what happened in old company stores [during Diaz’s dictatorship],” the court said in its decision.
■BANKING
Seoul scraps limit on banks
South Korea will scrap the limit on purchases of non-deliverable forwards on the won, a finance ministry official said. The move will be effective from Sept. 8, Sohn Byung-doo, director in charge of the currency market at the ministry, said yesterday in Seoul. Banks may only buy a certain amount of this type of derivative. Non-deliverable forwards are derivatives that oblige traders to exchange one currency for another at a set price and date in the future. The derivatives are called “non-deliverable” because settlement is made in US dollars.
■MINING
Facility closed after deaths
BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s largest mining company, suspended operations at its Western Australia iron ore mines following the second worker fatality in 10 days, the company said yesterday. Both deaths occurred at the company’s Yandi mine, in the Pilbara region, with the latest incident occurring on Thursday night after a collision between two vehicles, spokeswoman Samantha Evans said. Officials immediately halted operations at its Western Australia mines due to safety concerns, she said. The company did not know how long operations would remain suspended, Evans said.
■PHILIPPINES
Inflation hits new high
Inflation rose to its highest rate in nearly 17 years last month, climbing to 12.5 percent from a year ago, the government said yesterday. The National Statistics Office said the figure brings the country’s consumer price index for the first eight months of the year to 8.8 percent, up from 2.6 percent for the same period last year. It said prices for almost all commodities rose except for food, beverages and tobacco. The inflation rate last month was the highest since December 1991, when it was 13.2 percent.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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