■ Profits expected to rise
Japan's publicly traded companies may report a 78 percent gain in net income this year, because of increased exports, lower costs and a recovery in the stock market, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, citing its survey. Net income at 1,601 industrial companies may rise to ¥9.34 trillion (US$83 billion), according to the survey, which excludes banks, brokerages and insurers. Sales may gain 1.1 percent to ¥416.6 trillion, while group current profit, or pretax profit from operations, may climb 21 percent to ¥19.3 trillion, the first record high in three years, the paper said.
■ Hollinger
Barclays reconsider bid
The Barclay brothers will bid for Britain's biggest-selling broadsheet daily if it comes on the market separately from the other assets of Hollinger International, Sir David Barclay said yesterday. "We will bid for the Telegraph when it comes on the market on its own," Barclay told The Observer weekly but ruled out the possibility they might buy Conrad Black's entire Hollinger International media empire. "In fact, Hollinger has invited us to participate in the sale, and if they choose the route of selling it on its own, we'll bid," said Barclay.
■ Security chip
China planning standard
China is drafting a national standard for security chips used in personal computer mainboards, the China Daily reported, citing David Wei, a research director at Hong Kong-listed Legend Group Ltd. Legend, China's biggest computer maker, which has been appointed by the government to develop the security chip, is in talks to other companies to form an alliance to promote the standard, the report said, citing Wei. The chip will provide higher levels of security over current software information security measures such as anti-virus software and firewalls, the newspaper said, citing Wei.
■ Labor unions
Singapore pilot turfed out
Ryan Goh, a Singapore Airlines Ltd pilot singled out as the instigator in November's removal of pilots' union leaders, will lose his permanent residency in Singapore, the Straits Times reported. Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew last month said Goh instigated the leadership change of the Airline Pilots Association of Singapore, the report said. The union voted out its union leaders for agreeing to wage cuts last year. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on Saturday said it would cancel the permits Goh needs to maintain his residency, the newspaper said. Goh, a 43-year-old Malaysian national, has been a permanent resident of Singapore since 1981, the report said.
■ Finance
Woori picks new boss
State-run Woori Financial Group has recommended a former Samsung Goup executive as its new boss to lead the privatization of South Korea's second largest financial group, officials said yesterday. The group's recommendation committee said former Samsung Securities president Hwang Young-key, 52, was chosen as the sole candidate for Woori's chairman. The veteran international financier once worked at Britain's Banker's Trust Co and led the restructuring of Samsung Securities in 2001 as a confidant of Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from