■ Currency policy
US to press China on yuan
The US will press Asian countries including China this week to adopt flexible currencies and remove barriers to investment and trade, said John Taylor, the Treasury's undersecretary for international affairs. "We're going to continue to urge China to move toward a flexible exchange rate," Taylor said in an interview in advance of meetings today and tomorrow of finance ministers from the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The US had a record US$124 billion trade deficit with China last year. The meeting in Santiago, Chile, of finance officials from both sides of the Pacific Ocean will also focus on developments in the global economy, including China's attempts to slow its pace of growth, trade and the budget deficits of countries like the US and Japan.
■ Online trading
EBay expands in S Korea
EBay announced late Tuesday it has agreed to buy 3 million shares of South Korea's Internet Auction for US$325 million in cash. The purchase, made from a collection of institutional traders, will take eBay's stake in the online trading company to 86 percent from 62 percent. The San Jose, Califofnia-based online auction company said it plans to pursue a tender offer for the remainder of Internet Auction's shares in the coming weeks. EBay said it does not expect the share purchases to affect its previously announced third-quarter and full-year 2004 forecast.
■ Banking
ABN Amro to double assets
ABN Amro Holding NV, the biggest Dutch bank, said it plans to double the assets it manages in Asia to US$28 billion by 2009. "It's not unreasonable to double the assets under management in Asia in the next four to five years," said Arne Lindman, who started today as chief executive of ABN Amro Asset Management in the Asia-Pacific. "There's a need to grow in line with the market." Lindman, a member of ABN Amro Asset Management's global executive committee since last year, replaces Frank Kusse, who last month moved to the Netherlands with ABN Amro Asset Management as global head of retail sales. Lindman was previously chief executive of Alfred Berg Asset Management, a unit of ABN Amro Asset Management, in Sweden. Assets under management at ABN Amro's Asian unit quadrupled to US$14 billion from US$3.5 billion in the past four years.
■ Telecoms
Whampoa to sell HTIL stake
Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa (和計黃浦) is set to sell its 30 percent stake in its second-generation mobile telephone business to offset huge losses from its third-generation operations, a press report said yesterday. The ports-to-telecoms group owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) will dispose of its 30 percent stake in second-generation mobile business Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) when the unit has its initial public offering next month, the South China Morning Post said. The move will allow Hutchison to offset massive losses from its 3G business, the newspaper said, citing sources from a syndicate underwriting the spin-off. During the first half of this year, the company booked an US$8.92-billion loss from its "3" third-generation mobile telecoms business. The sources said HTIL was waiting for regulatory approval, expected Thursday, for its US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion share sale.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft