■GAS
Gazprom opens Belarus taps
Russia’s gas monopoly said yesterday it is resuming supplies to Belarus now that it has paid a US$200 million bill. The Kremlin said Alexei Miller, the chief of Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom natural gas company, has told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev the company would resume supplies to Belarus. Belarus said on Wednesday it had paid the debt to Russia, but demanded in return that Moscow pay what it claims is a US$260 million debt for transit of gas to the West. Belarus has threatened to cut transit of Russian gas yesterday if Moscow doesn’t pay up. Miller told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday that the dispute arose after Belarus had demanded that Gazprom pay a higher transit fee than agreed in the contract. Putin said Gazprom must pay for transit in accordance with the contract, Russian news agencies reported.
■AUTOMAKERS
Ford to build Thailand plant
Ford Motor Co said yesterday it would spend US$450 million to build a new plant in Thailand, giving a much-needed boost to an economy reeling from deadly political unrest. Ford said the factory in Rayong, about 150km southeast of Bangkok, would employ up to 2,200 workers with production scheduled to begin in 2012, starting with the next-generation Ford Focus. It will have an initial output capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year, mostly for export, boosting Thailand’s efforts to be a regional hub for car production.
■JAPAN
Trade growth disappoints
Japan logged a smaller-than-expected rise in its trade surplus last month as the slowest export growth in five months signaled that a trade-dependent recovery may be losing steam, data showed yesterday. Exports for the world’s second-largest economy rose 32.1 percent to ¥5.31 trillion (US$59 billion), the sixth consecutive monthly rise, but the increase was below market expectations of 37 percent. The trade surplus reached ¥324.2 billion last month, the 12th straight month of improvement on year-earlier levels but below economists’ forecasts of more than ¥450 billion.
■SOUTH KOREA
Growth projection raised
South Korea yesterday raised its economic growth projection for this year to 5.8 percent, up from 5 percent, reflecting growing confidence about its solid economic recovery. The revised outlook matches a forecast laid out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which said in a six-monthly report that Asia’s fourth-largest economy is projected to grow 5.75 percent this year. GDP is forecast to grow 4.5 percent in the second half after 8.1 percent and 6.3 percent advances in the first and second quarters, the finance ministry said. It forecast next year’s growth at about 5 percent.
■NEW ZEALAND
GDP grows a fourth quarter
New Zealand’s economy grew 0.6 percent in the three months to March, marking the fourth straight quarter of growth following a long recession, official figures showed yesterday. The rise in GDP in the latest quarter compared with the previous three months followed revised growth of 0.9 percent in the last quarter of last year, Statistics New Zealand said. Economic activity in the first quarter was 1.9 percent higher than the same period a year earlier.
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
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
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