■CHINA
SOHO to buy property
Property developer SOHO China said it has agreed to buy a top Shanghai office building from US investment bank Morgan Stanley for around 2.45 billion yuan (US$358.7 million). The 52-story office and retail complex, Dong Hai Plaza, is located on downtown Shanghai’s Nanjing Road, one of the world’s busiest shopping streets, SOHO China said in a statement late on Tuesday. The deal came as office vacancy in China’s financial hub hovers at record high levels as cost-conscious companies remain reluctant to rent more space due to ongoing global economic uncertainty.
■AVIATION
Air France drops CSA bid
Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s largest airline, said it’s pulling out of the bidding for Ceske Aerolinie AS (CSA), the Czech Republic’s state-controlled carrier. In the current economic environment, Air France “believes that CSA might focus on developing and implementing a stand-alone recovery plan aimed at restoring its profitability,” the Paris-based carrier said in a statement yesterday. The Czech finance ministry received four bids in March for a majority stake in CSA, including from OAO Aeroflot’s Darofan AS, as well as Air France. The ministry said then that the only criterion in a second round of bidding would be price. The Czech government estimated that its 91.5 percent stake would fetch between 3 billion koruna (US$165 million) and 5 billion koruna.
■RUSSIA
Mirax assets frozen
A Moscow court yesterday froze the assets of major developer Mirax, including a landmark skyscraper being built in the main business district, over the company’s failure to repay a US$242 million loan to Alfa Bank. Dmitry Tafintsev, spokesman for the Moscow Arbitration Court, said the court froze several assets of Mirax in the Moscow City business district, including the massive Federation Tower. Federation Tower, to be one of the symbols of Moscow City, is to be completed next year and host the offices of Russia’s largest private bank VTB. VTB says it has no immediate plans to move to the new offices.
■FINANCE
Sentiment improves
Financial services executives believe business conditions will bottom this year before a recovery in the sector and broader economy occurs next year, a new study from KPMG LLP showed. About 70 percent of the 130 executives polled believe revenue and profitability in the financial services sector will improve next year, according to the business climate survey conducted by the audit, tax and advisory firm. However, respondents were split about whether a recovery among financial firms will lead or lag a rebound in the broader US economy. More than half of the executives surveyed said the downturn made it more difficult to raise capital or receive financing to operate businesses.
■TOBACCO
BAT appoints Burrows
British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second-biggest cigarette maker, said yesterday it had appointed Richard Burrows, who resigned as head of ailing Bank of Ireland Group, as its new chairman. The Irishman succeeds Jan du Plessis, who leaves BAT to become chairman of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto. Burrows takes up his new post on Nov. 1, the maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes said in a statement.
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
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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