■Euro zone
Industrial activity falls
Industrial activity in the 12-nation euro zone last month registered its steepest fall since January 2002, data showed yesterday. The region's purchasing managers' index (PMI), a measure of manufacturing operations, fell 1.1 points month-on-month to 48.4 in December, NTC Research said. The decline was the biggest in 11 months and came after the PMI had gone up over October and November. For the fourth month running the index remained below the boom-bust level of 50, indicating that the sector was still experiencing contraction.
■ Strike
Venezuela's oil choked
Leaders of Venezuela's crippling strike claimed Wednesday that since the protest was launched one month ago, only about 4.5 million barrels of oil were exported, equivalent to about six percent the November figure. The Democratic Coordinator (CD), one of the strike organizers, said only six oil tankers left the country since the beginning of the strike as compared with 240 to 260 in a regular month. The vessels were "carrying around 4.5 million barrels in total" the CD said in a statement. In November, Venezuela exported an average of about 2.8 million barrels of oil a day. The CD estimated output at 190,000 barrels a day, well short of the government's figures and only a fraction of regular output. It said daily crude production was of 145,000 barrels in western Venezuela, 25,000 in the east and 20,00 in the south.
■ Automakers
Hyundai boost sales target
South Korea's top automaking conglomerate, Hyundai Motor Group, said yesterday its sales target for this year was 65.2 trillion won (US$55.3 billion), up 15.6 percent from last year. The company said it also planned to invest 5.23 trillion won this year, up 65.5 percent over last year, with research and development expenditure seen at 2.25 trillion won, up 49 percent. Hyundai said it ranked as the nation's third largest conglomerate in terms of sales last year, after the Samsung and LG groups. Hyundai Motor alone is expected to raise its sales to 30.1 trillion won this year, up from 27.3 trillion won. Kia Motors, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co, is expected to increase sales from 14.15 trillion won to 16.7 trillion won. Hyundai Motor is aiming to sell a total of 2.04 million vehicles this year, up from 1.85 million a year earlier, with exports accounting for 1.20 million units, up from 1.06 million a year earlier.
■ Labor
Workers want flexibility
Many hard-pressed British workers are starting to value flexible hours allowing them to take care of family concerns above extra cash, according to a government survey published yesterday. Almost half of the 4,000 respondents in the Department of Trade and Industry survey said they most sought flexible working hours when looking for a new job. A third said flexibility was more important than an extra UK Pound 1,000 (US$1,600) a year, with just 10 percent preferring a company car, and seven percent opting for gym membership. The research, conducted in partnership with a recruitment website, coincided with a DTI campaign to highlight new "family friendly" employment rights that will see employers encouraged to consider requests from parents of young children for a more flexible approach.
Agencies
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,