■ MARKETS
HK's China plays rise
Hong Kong-listed China plays surged 6.2 percent yesterday in their sixth-straight gaining session as investors bet capital flows from China would lift their value as many trade at a discount to their China-listed peers. China said last week that residents may invest directly in Hong Kong-traded stocks. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up nearly 3 percent at 23,577.73, a record close. The China Enterprises index of H shares, or Hong Kong-listed shares in mainland companies, also ended at a record close, finishing at 13,989.87.
■ AGRICULTURE
US corn, soybeans drop
Corn and soybean futures in Chicago fell after an industry group said US farmers will harvest more than forecast by the government as rain this month helped crops. Wheat also declined. This year's corn harvest will total 13.109 billion bushels, 0.4 percent more than the US Department of Agriculture's estimate of 13.054 billion on Aug. 10, Professional Farmers of America said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. Soybean production will be 2.658 billion bushels, 1.3 percent more than the government forecast of 2.625 billion, the group said.
■ AUTOMAKERS
Izuzu, Toyota pair up
Japanese truckmaker Isuzu and automaker Toyota stepped up their collaboration yesterday, announcing they will work together to develop a system to make diesel engine exhaust cleaner. Isuzu Motors Ltd, a Toyota partner, will work with Hino Motors Ltd, Toyota's truck subsidiary, on the green diesel technology, and to develop heavy-duty truck cabins, both sides said in a statement. Isuzu and Hino, which already work together producing buses and truck components, said the agreement will help cut development costs by allowing the manufacturers to share technology at a time when global ecological standards are expected to get tougher.
■ REAL ESTATE
Low-cost housing planned
China will provide more housing for low-income families as part of efforts to stabilize soaring property prices, state media reported yesterday, citing Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan (曾培炎). Zeng said local governments should strive to offer adequate housing to low-income families and boost the healthy development of the real estate market, the China Securities Journal said. Houses under 90m2, the type supposed to be within the affordability of low-income families, should account for no less than 70 percent of newly built houses, the report said. Local governments should set aside funds for low-cost rental housing in their budgets, and at least 10 percent of the proceeds of land transfers should be used for the development of low-cost rental housing.
■ MARKETS
Higher inflation expected
Singapore expects inflation in the second half of this year to be higher than the first half amid strong economic growth, a senior official said yesterday. Last week, the city-state reported that consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in 12 years last month as soaring rents combined with the impact of a sales tax hike. "In the last 16 quarters we have been enjoying highly robust growth and so one would expect inflation to pick up, and indeed it well may pick up," Trade and Industry minister Lim Hng Kiang (林勛強) told Parliament.
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
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
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