■ Economy
Moody's upbeat on Japan
Moody's Investors Service said yesterday that its rating outlook for Japanese com-panies is generally positive on expectations that their credit quality will continue to improve for the time being. "Signs of improving credit quality ... support a favorable rating outlook for the Japanese corporate sector," the credit rating agency said in a report. "The holes that existed in corporate balance sheets have largely been filled through restructurings, debt forgiveness and a highly supportive monetary policy," the agency said, adding that it expects credit quality and credit ratings to con-tinue to improve. Average earnings coverage of in-terest charges has increased four-fold to almost nine times from two times in 1995, according to a Moody's survey of the largest 1,000 companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
■ Internet
S Korean portal buys Lycos
South Korea's top Internet portal, Daum Communica-tions Corp, said yesterday it has acquired the US portal business of Spain's Terra Lycos. Daum said it has acquired all of Lycos' opera-tions for 111.2 billion won (US$95.3 million). The deal will be financed by Daum's cash reserves and bonds, it said. Daum said it aims to become a global leader in the sector by combining Lycos' brand and Daum's business know-how. Daum expects the NASDAQ-listed Internet portal to turn profitable by next year on the back of strong growth in the US advertising market. Lycos has been buffeted by heavy losses since 1999. Daum president Lee Jae-Woong, however, said Lycos, the seventh-most visited Web site in the US, would help his firm secure a foothold in the rapidly growing US Internet market.
■ Financing
GE unit buys stake
GE Consumer Finance, a unit of US giant General Electric, yesterday agreed to purchase a 38 percent stake in Hyundai Capital, the financial services affiliate of South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Group. The accord was part of a strategic alliance between the two companies under which GE Consumer will invest one trillion won (US$857 mil-lion), including 480 won for the 38 percent stake, in Hyundai Capital by 2006, Hyundai Capital said in a statement. GE Consumer was also given an option to buy another 5 percent stake in Hyundai Capital, the statement said. The alliance will help GE Consumer enter South Korea's fast-growing auto loan and consumer financing market and aid Hyundai Capital raise its global profile, Hyundai officials said.
■ Crime
Trial opens in Malaysia
The trial of a former tycoon charged with fraud in Malaysia's biggest-ever financial scandal began yesterday. Eric Chia, the 72-year-old ex-managing director of Perwaja Steel, has pleaded innocent to a charge of criminal breach of trust in connection with the firm's near-collapse in the 1990s. Government lawyers claim Chia -- who was arrested in February but remains free on bail -- illegally approved a 76.4 million ringgit (US$20 million) payment by Per-waja to a bogus Hong Kong company. Chia faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and an unspecified fine. Chia left Perwaja in 1995, and authorities launched a probe in 1996 after an auditor found the company to close to bankruptcy.
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
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
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