■ Telecoms
Minorities reject PCCW bid
Minority shareholders of Singapore-listed Pacific Century Regional Developments Ltd yesterday rejected tycoon Richard Li's (李澤楷) proposal to sell the company's 22.7 percent stake in dominant Hong Kong phone company PCCW Ltd (電訊盈科). At an extraordinary general meeting in Singapore, 76.3 percent of minority holders voted against the deal. Li, son of prominent Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), announced in July an agreement to acquire the 22.7 percent stake in PCCW held by Pacific Century Regional Developments for a total of HK$9.16 billion (US$1.18 billion).
■ Music players
Zune overtakes Sansa
Microsoft Corp's Zune took second place in the US digital music-player market in its first week on sale, passing SanDisk Corp's Sansa, market researcher NPD Group Inc said. Zune captured 9 percent of the market in the week ended Nov. 18, New York-based NPD said in a statement on Wednesday. Apple Computer Inc's iPod remained the leader, with a 63 percent share in volume terms. Microsoft started selling its first music player on Nov. 14.
■ Wages
India leads in regional rise
India had the highest average salary increase in the Asia-Pacific region in the past year, according to results of a survey by human-resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates Inc. Wages in India gained 13.8 percent, almost matching the 13.9 percent gain last year, Hewitt said yesterday in a statement. The Philippines was second, recording an 8.2 percent increase. China's wage-growth slowed to 8 percent from 8.3 percent last year, the survey showed. Hewitt said it surveyed more than 1,400 foreign, locally owned and joint-venture companies this year in 11 markets including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It measured actual and projected salary increases.
■ Funds
China appoints managers
China has picked 10 foreign fund managers to help it invest part of its enormous social security fund abroad, the government and state media said yesterday. China's social security fund, which manages about 200 billion yuan (US$25 billion), will initially allow them to manage just US$1 billion, but the figure could rise, the China Daily reported. The winners include six US companies -- Alliance Bernstein, BlackRock, JanusINTECH, PIMCO, State Street Global Advisors, and T. Rowe Price, the fund said on its Web site. Also included on the list are AXA Rosenberg of France, INVESCO of Britain, Allianz of Germany and a consortium formed by China International Capital Corp and Swiss-based UBS.
■ Steel
Baosteel looking for allies
China's largest steelmaker, Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼集團), may ask Nippon Steel Corp and South Korea's POSCO to take a stake in the company if it lists on overseas markets, a Nihon Keizai Shimbun report said yesterday, quoting Baosteel chairwoman Xie Qihua (謝企華). "I think there can be a cross-shareholding with Nippon Steel and Posco," Xie said in an interview with the Japanese business daily. "The timing is good." The size of the shareholdings being contemplated by Baosteel have not been determined but are likely to be a few percent, the newspaper 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