■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.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a