■AVIATION
Passenger numbers plunge
Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, said passenger traffic last month fell 1.9 percent and cargo shipments plunged as the global recession reduced demand for business travel and retrained trade. The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, was 76.6 percent, a 0.5 percentage-point decline from a year earlier, the Paris-based carrier said yesterday in a statement. Cargo traffic contracted by 23 percent. The global recession will cause industry passenger numbers to fall by 3 percent this year and airlines to log combined losses of US$2.5 billion, International Air Transport Association estimates show. The decline in freight “is absolutely horrendous and that says a lot about where corporate Europe is,” said Andrew Fitchie, a London-based analyst at Collins Stewart. “It’s not looking good at all.” Global air freight plunged almost 23 percent in December, the International Air Transport Association said on Jan. 29. The decline was the largest the trade body had ever recorded.
■FOREIGN EXCHANGE
China, Malaysia ink deal
The central banks of China and Malaysia have signed a currency swap agreement, the Chinese government said, as Asia’s second-largest economy strengthened regional ties amid the global crisis. The People’s Bank of China and Bank Negara Malaysia announced the three-year, 80 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion) agreement on Sunday, the Chinese central bank said in a statement on its Web site. “The arrangement aims to promote bilateral trade and investment to boost the economic development of the two countries,” the brief statement said. Arrangements such as these ease liquidity trouble as they boost the amount of yuan that Malaysian banks can draw on while servicing local companies that use the Chinese currency when trading.
■BANKING
S Korean banks downgraded
International agency Moody’s said yesterday that it had downgraded ratings for eight South Korean banks, citing their dependence on the government to secure foreign currency funding. The foreign currency long-term senior debt ratings of the eight banks, including the country’s largest lender Kookmin Bank, were cut to “A2.” The revised ratings carry a stable outlook, except for state-run Korea Development Bank, which has a negative outlook. Because the banks rely on government support to secure foreign currency funding during the crisis, Moody’s believes their foreign currency debt ratings should not be higher than that of the government, senior credit officer Beatrice Woo said in a statement. “Therefore, their foreign currency debt ratings are best measured and constrained at the A2 foreign currency sovereign bond level,” she said.
■TELECOMS
SingTel reports growth
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) yesterday reported a 35 percent increase in regional mobile subscribers, despite stiff competition and the global economic crisis. SingTel’s combined regional mobile customer base reached 232 million on Dec. 31, Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications firm said. On a quarterly basis, the increase was 7.3 percent, or 16 million customers, it said. All six of the company’s regional mobile associates posted double-digit customer growth, ranging from 13 percent to 55 percent, compared with a year earlier, SingTel said. The company has stakes in Thailand’s Advanced Info Service, India’s Bharti, Globe Telecom of the Philippines, Indonesia’s Telkomsel, Pacific Bangladesh Telecom and Pakistan’s Warid Telecom.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland