■AUTOMOBILES
Government targets investors
The British government is taking legal action to bar four investors involved in the collapse of automaker MG Rover from any company management positions, British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said yesterday. The businessmen, known as the Phoenix Four, reportedly collected millions in pay and pensions from the company before its collapse, a report released by Mandelson’s department said. Former Rover executives John Towers, Peter Beale, John Edwards and Nick Stephenson responded angrily, calling the report a “witch hunt” and a “whitewash for the government.” MG Rover went into administration in 2005 and its assets were later sold to China’s Nanjing Automobile Group (南京汽車).
■CHINA
Dollar advises diversity
It makes sense for China to diversify its huge stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, the US Treasury’s economic and financial emissary to China said yesterday. China’s forex reserves, the world’s biggest stockpile, stood at US$2.13 trillion at the end of June. China has expressed concerns in the past about the value of its holdings of US Treasuries, as massive US debt offerings pose the risk of eroding the value of dollar assets. “The general issue is that China has a huge amount of reserves and it makes some sense to diversify what you put these reserves [into],” David Dollar told a meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Chinese city of Dalian. “It’s healthy to have a wide and different type of reserve currencies,” he said.
■BANKING
Banks deny Myanmar links
Two Singapore banks have rejected a report by a US-based rights group that said Myanmar’s ruling junta deposited billions of dollars with them. DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) said in separate statements late on Thursday that there was no truth in the report by EarthRights International (ERI). ER had said in a report released on Thursday that energy giants Total and Chevron were propping up the Myanmar military regime with a gas project that allowed the junta to stash almost US$5 billion in the two Singaporean banks.
■AVIATION
Pilots, management to meet
Pilots of India’s Jet Airways were scheduled to hold a meeting yesterday with the airline management and the government’s chief labor commissioner to resolve a four-day strike that has led to the cancelation of more than 800 flights. Operations at India’s second-largest private airline remained disrupted as more than 150 flights across the country were canceled yesterday, the airline’s Web site said. At least 400 pilots have been on mass sick leave since Tuesday to protest the sacking of two pilots by the airline.
■ELECTRONICS
Console price cuts work
Sony and Microsoft sold more game consoles last month after they cut prices, helping ease the overall decline in the US video-game market. Last month sales of Sony’s PlayStation 3 console gained 13 percent from a year earlier, the first increase in 10 months, and those of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 rose 10 percent, researcher NPD Group said on Thursday. Nintendo’s Wii console, the industry leader, slumped 39 percent to 277,400 units, NPD said. Sony cut the price of the PS3 by 25 percent on Aug. 19 and Microsoft lowered the price of its most powerful console, the Xbox 360 Elite, by a similar proportion to US$300 on Aug. 27.
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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