■ Retail
Home Depot eyes Orient
Home Depot, the world's biggest fix-it-yourself retailer, is in talks to take a 49 percent stake in Chinese chain Orient Home Co (東方家園) for US$200 million, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The paper said the Orient Group had held discussions with a number of international retailers but Home Depot, which had revenues last year of around US$81 billion, was the favorite. An official at the Orient Group was quoted in the report as saying "the two parties are still discussing all kinds of possibilities for the deal." However, citing people close to the negotiations, the newspaper said no agreement had been signed and parties could still fail to strike a deal. An agreement would give the US group a foothold in China's fast-growing home improvement market, estimated to be worth around US$50 billion. Outside the US the company only has outlets in Canada and Mexico.
■ Banking
Sumitomo's suit rejected
A Japanese court yesterday rejected Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co's suit against UFJ Holdings Inc for scuttling a planned alliance and merging with another company, a court official said. Sumitomo Trust and UFJ had agreed on a broad tie-up under which Sumitomo would take over UFJ's trust banking operations, but UFJ scrapped that and merged with Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. Sumitomo Trust had demanded ?100 billion (US$850 million) in compensation from UFJ. But Tokyo District Court turned that down, a court official said on condition of anonymity, citing court rules. Sumitomo Trust expressed regret for the court decision and said in a statement that it will decide on a response after studying the ruling carefully.
■ Electronics
Sharp aims for top spot
Sharp Corp, which ceded its position as the top liquid crystal display (LCD) TV-maker in the US to Sony Corp, can win back market share when it begins output at the world's biggest LCD factory this year, said Toshishige Hamano, senior executive director of Sharp's international business division. Sharp's share of the LCD-TV market in the US fell to 18 percent by value in December, about 10 percentage points lower than a year earlier and down from the 25 percent share it held in August, as Sony introduced new LCD-TVs under the Bravia brand name. Sharp also ceded market share in Japan to Sony. In October, Sharp will start up the world's biggest LCD-TV factory in Kameyama, central Japan, which will allow the company to cut more panels from a single piece of glass.
■ Economics
Indonesia outlook lowered
Fitch Ratings yesterday said it has lowered the outlook for Indonesia's sovereign credit ratings to stable from positive owing to risks arising from the country's external balance sheet. Fitch affirmed its other ratings on Indonesia. "The revision to the outlook on Indonesia's sovereign ratings reflects greater concern over risks to the external balance sheet that need to be addressed with greater urgency and importance," said Fitch's sovereign ratings team associate director, Ai Ling Ngiam, in a press release. "The reversal towards a weakening in the current account balance position coincides with a period of heavy public sector" debt settlement, she said.
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