■ BANKING
S Korea to privatize KDB
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday his government would privatize the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) in three years as part of his economic reforms. “The policy to privatize the KDB remains unchanged,” Lee told a televised news conference. “It is said to take about four years, but the government plans to privatize it in three years while monitoring market situations.” Seoul’s financial watchdog said last month it would turn KDB into a holding company this year in preparation for privatization, but it did not give a timeframe for completing the whole process.
■ CREDIT
Loan strategy reconfigured
China is making it easier for companies to sell short-term debt, to try to reduce an over-reliance on bank loans for funding and decrease risks in the financial system. Non-financial companies will no longer need government approval to sell commercial paper with maturities of less than one year on the interbank market, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its Web site late yesterday. They will only need to register with a dealers association before issuing the debt. “The financing structure in China has been unbalanced, direct financing is underdeveloped and enterprises have relied too much on bank lending which has created hidden risks,” the central bank said in a separate statement.
■ OIL
CNOOC signs agreements
China National Offshore Oil Corp Ltd (CNOOC, 中國海洋石油), China’s biggest offshore oil producer, signed agreements with overseas partners to develop 22 areas off the Chinese coast that the company’s parent offered for international bidding last year. CNOOC signed “production sharing contracts” with foreign companies to jointly explore in these areas, chairman Fu Chengyu (傅成玉) said at the Boao Forum in Hainan yesterday. “Those foreign companies basically include every one of our current partners in offshore development in China.” Companies in China are accelerating efforts to find oil as demand for fuel for power plants, cars and machinery rises in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
■ COMMODITIES
Chavez chides IMF
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that his government could afford to buy some of the IMF’s gold reserves as the US-based lender faces hard times. Chavez raised that idea with a chuckle as the IMF, the lender of last resort for countries in trouble, considers trimming costs by selling off some of its gold reserves. “Look at how the US empire must be in unimpeded decline, that the International Monetary Fund ... is selling its crown jewels,” Chavez said during a speech at a military parade.
■ CONSUMING
Cash cards may be unsafe
Millions of cash cards and security access cards may now be unsafe, the Hanover-based c’t magazine reported recently. Experts have succeeded in cracking the encryption of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip used in a widely available card system. Stored information was successfully read out and copied from chips in the Mifare Classic series, the report claims. Depending on the intended use for the card, this could potentially lead to personal data landing in the wrong hands. One way to tell whether a card includes an RFID chip is to hold it against a very bright light source. “You can see lines all the way around the chip. That is the antenna,” says Christiane Ruetten from c’t.
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