■ Banking
Hundreds punished
China punished 1,697 employees at financial institutions for bank frauds and other crimes in the first half, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said. Among them, 570 managers and heads of branches were fired or sent to prison, the regulator said in a statement on its Web site, citing a speech by Liu Mingkang (劉明康), the watchdog's chairman, at an internal meeting. "Credit risk is still the biggest risk with financial institutions, and most of such cases involve a large number of people and a huge value, causing very bad social influences," Liu was quoted as saying. China is stepping up efforts to crack down on bank frauds and corruption at a time when Bank of China (中國銀行) and China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行) are preparing for overseas share sales that could raise a combined US$10 billion.
■ Oil
Seoul answers IEA's call
South Korea will tap its strategic oil reserves to help the world cope with supply disruptions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US, officials said yesterday. Seoul will release 2.88 million barrels, 3.8 percent of its total 74.65-million-barrel strategic oil reserves, before Sept. 18, they said. The measure follows a call from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for all 26 member states to pour 60 million barrels of oil into the global market in a month to deal with the supply shock. South Korea last tapped its strategic oil reserves during the Gulf War in the early 1990s, according to the commerce, industry and energy ministry. "Talks with oil refiners will take place on Monday and Tuesday and a detailed plan is to be made ready by the end of the week," said Oh Young-ho, chief of the ministry's Energy Resources Policy Office. The planned release will likely affect Seoul's plan to increase its total reserves by 6 million barrels this year, he said.
■ Economy
Fuel plan sparks protest
Hundreds of bus drivers, vendors and workers staged a noisy rally in Jakarta yesterday to protest against the Indonesian government's plan to increase fuel prices. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled a plan on Wednesday to raise fuel prices in order to support the weakening rupiah which plunged to a four-year low last week as oil prices surged. "We don't agree with the rising fuel prices because that would raise operational costs on the ground which would cut our income," said Yardin, who heads a bus drivers' union. Some 500 protesters chanted patriotic songs and waved posters carrying anti-government slogans.
■ Real estate
Crackdown may hurt GDP
South Korea's crackdown on real-estate speculation may reduce the country's economic growth until the end of next year, the central bank said. GDP growth may fall by 0.04 percentage point in the second half and by 0.18 percentage point next year if the crackdown reduces the average house prices by 6 percent by the end of next year, the Bank of Korea said on Sunday. "The fall in house prices could lower economic growth by discouraging consumer spending and construction investment, but it won't turn off the economic recovery ... In the long-run, the property crackdown would strengthen the economy's growth potential," the bank said. The frowth rate will reach between 4 percent and 5 percent in the second half of this year and 5 percent next year, Finance Minister Han Duck Soo said on Aug.16.
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
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
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