■MINING
Australia probes Rio Tinto
Australia’s corporate watchdog is probing mining giant Rio Tinto after China jailed four staff for bribery and industrial espionage, the body’s chief said yesterday, describing the inquiry as “routine.” Tony D’Aloisio, head of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), told public broadcaster ABC’s Inside Business program the body was checking for possible breaches of Australian corporate law. Australian citizen Stern Hu (胡士泰) has announced he will not appeal his 10-year sentence handed down last month. Three Chinese colleagues were given jail terms of between seven and 14 years. The four were arrested in July last year during failed iron ore contract talks, which the Shanghai court said cost China heavy losses.
■AUSTRALIA
Swan defends stimulus end
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said he remains confident the government is acting appropriately by withdrawing fiscal stimulus gradually as the global economy recovers from recession. Australia is performing better than other developed nations and many businesses expressed optimism in consultations with the government, Swan said yesterday in his weekly economic note. Retailers remain cautious and property developers said demand is weakening after the government reduced its grants to first-home buyers, Swan said. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.25 percent on Tuesday, its fifth increase in seven months, while the nation’s jobless level is 5.3 percent, about half that of the US.
■AVIATION
Qantas sees recovery
Qantas Airways Ltd, Australia’s biggest carrier, said an improving global economy is feeding a recovery in business demand, while leisure travel remains strong in the face of increased borrowing costs. “We are seeing very strong leisure demand despite interest rates having gone up,” Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said on the Sky Business Channel yesterday. “We’re still seeing the business market recovering because confidence is returning to the business sector.” Qantas is increasing capacity as domestic economic growth and gains in the Australian dollar spur travel demand.
■COSMETICS
Iran is No. 7 consumer
Iran has emerged as the world’s seventh largest consumer of cosmetics, spending US$2.1 billion annually on various beauty products, the state-run English-language Iran Daily newspaper said yesterday. The report quoting a survey conducted by TMBA, a private economic research body, said that Iran accounts for 29 percent of the cosmetics market in the Middle East. About 14 million Iranian women aged between 15 and 45 years living in major cities spend about US$7 a month per capita on cosmetics, the survey said, without giving a complete breakdown on the nation’s spending. The average monthly salary in Iran is between US$600 and US$700.
■TELECOMS
Egyptian court blocks sale
An Egyptian court has upheld a verdict that prevents France Telecom SA from gaining full control of the Egyptian Co for Mobile Services, allowing Orascom Telecom Holding SAE to keep its stake in the Egyptian company. France Telecom’s offer to buy the outstanding shares in the Egyptian Co at 245 Egyptian pounds (US$44.4) per share is unfair to minority shareholders, Hamdi Yassin, the presiding judge in the case, said after Saturday’s ruling, which can be appealed.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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