■ICELAND
PM accuses UK of ‘bullying’
Prime Minister Geir Haarde accused Britain in an interview yesterday of “bullying a small neighbour” over funds frozen in the online bank Icesave, and threatened to take legal action in response. Haarde told the Financial Times that London’s reaction to the collapse of the bank, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s threat to sue Iceland to recover British savings, had made the island’s banking crisis worse. “The UK authorities have said they will sue us ... well both countries can sue if they see it fit. Going to court is one way of settling disputes in a civilized way,” Haarde told the newspaper. Brown’s government used anti-terrorist laws to freeze the assets of failing Icelandic banks in Britain as it attempted to protect the deposits of thousands of British savers and public bodies. But Haarde rejected suggestions his government had abandoned British savers, saying: “To claim we were running away from our obligations was unfounded and reacting in this way ... caused us more damage than was necessary.” He said London’s move to put part of Icelandic bank Kaupthing’s British operations into administration “led to the collapse” of the parent bank. He said he would support Kaupthing’s plans to sue the British government.
■ELECTRONICS
Royal Philips slows buyback
Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe’s biggest television maker, said it will slow down its 5 billion euros (US$6.8 billion) share buyback after third-quarter sales fell short of analysts’ estimates. Philips will reduce the pace of purchases because of “the risks and opportunities presented by the deterioration of the economy and the financial market turbulence,” the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement yesterday. Third-quarter sales fell 2 percent to 6.33 billion euros, missing the median estimate from 12 analysts of 6.71 billion euros. Net income rose 7.9 percent on the sale of shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Philips, led by chief executive officer Gerard Kleisterlee, said it’s “cautious on end-market demand” this quarter as the economy weakens further. Philips will increase some prices and accelerate expense-reduction projects across the company to protect margins at a cost of as much as 230 million euros in the fourth quarter. Philips said it has a “strong balance sheet” after completing 3.1 billion euros of the buyback since December. “The slowdown of the buyback is logical,” Wing-Yen Choi, an analyst at Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers NV in Amsterdam, wrote in a note. “In these markets you can buy back your shares, but apparently the stock can drop even further the next day.” Philips fell 2.4 percent to 15.41 euros at 10:30am in Amsterdam yesterday, as the Amsterdam Exchanges Index jumped 6.2 percent.
■AVIATION
Jetstar expands routes
Australian budget carrier Jetstar Airways announced yesterday that it was expanding services on the highly competitive routes across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. Jetstar, a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas Airways, said it would start daily flights on April 28 from Auckland to Sydney and the Queensland Gold Coast. Chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the flights would complement Qantas’ four daily Auckland-Sydney services, and he did not see the parent carrier scaling back its New Zealand routes. Jetstar already flies between Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island and four Australian cities. Trans-Tasman services are also flown by Air New Zealand, the Virgin subsidiary Pacific Blue and Dubai-based Emirates
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2