■TELECOMS
Deutsche mulls asset swap
Deutsche Telekom, the biggest German telecommunications operator, is looking to swap its lossmaking T-Mobile unit in Britain for an asset in another country, the Financial Times (FT) reported yesterday. FT quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying a swap was considered a “preferred option” to selling the unit outright or merging it with a British rival. Deutsche Telekom is active in 15 countries in the region, including Austria and Greece, the report said.
■INTEREST RATES
Indonesia cuts rates
Indonesia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent yesterday in a bid to stimulate the economy as inflationary pressures ease. The cut was expected after the annual inflation rate dropped to 3.65 percent last month from 6.04 percent in May. Bank Indonesia said the economy would grow by between 3 percent and 4 percent this year, compared with 6.1 percent last year. Bank Indonesia has cut its policy rate by 275 basis points since December.
■BANKING
Merkel urges tough reform
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned yesterday that governments would fight off any attempt by banks to water down tough reforms of financial regulations. “There is perhaps a certain danger that banks which are doing quite well again might try to not exactly support the regulation efforts, but to put them in doubt again,” Merkel told the Wall Street Journal Europe in an interview. “I don’t see that they have a chance of succeeding, either with the American administration, nor in the European Union,” she said.
■AUTOMOBILES
China to revise Opel offer
China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC, 北京汽車工業) was expected to submit a revised offer yesterday for Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, German newspaper reports said. A binding offer is expected to follow in the next two weeks, BAIC executives reportedly told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Other contenders in the bidding process are a consortium based around Canadian car assembly group Magna, as well as RJH, the European subsidiary of US investors Ripplewood.
■MINING
BHP sells nickel refinery
BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, said yesterday it had agreed to sell an Australian nickel refinery to Australian businessman Clive Palmer for an undisclosed sum. However, the Anglo-Australian group said it had written down the value of the refinery in Queensland by US$675 million. “Communications with our workforce, suppliers, customers and the community will begin immediately and will continue over the coming weeks to facilitate a smooth transition to the new owner,” Jimmy Wilson, president of BHP Billiton Stainless Steel Materials, said in a statement.
■ELECTRONICS
Siemens helps fight crime
Making up for its past misdeeds, Siemens is to help pay for anti-corruption campaigns by the UN and other bodies, the German electronics group said on Thursday in Munich. The company will provide up to US$7 million annually for 15 years to help prevent corruption. Siemens, which has admitted that for years its executives bribed their way to contracts for telephone exchanges and other multimillion-dollar projects, said the undertaking was made to the World Bank in Washington.
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