■ Free trade
US works with Singapore
US trade representative Robert Zoellick joined officials in Singapore yesterday, seeking to resolve the final sticking points of a free trade agreement (FTA) which would become the first between Washington and an Asian country. Zoellick, who arrived on Sunday from Sydney where he attended a meeting of world trade ministers, was also scheduled to call on Prime Minister Goh Chok-tong, who has successfully pursued FTAs with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the European Trade Association. A team of US negotiators has been in the city-state for more than a week holding the 11th round of talks. The US is Singapore's second-largest trading partner following Malaysia. A US-Singapore FTA is expected to be a model for other potential US pacts in the region.
■ Telecoms
Netcom to purchase assets
China Netcom Communication Group Corp, China's No. 2 fixed-line operator, plans to lead a group of investors to buy most of Asia Global Crossing Ltd, after the fiber-optic network operator filed for bankruptcy. Asia Global Crossing said China Netcom will set up a new company, which will probably include Newbridge Capital Ltd and Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund, according to a statement on PRNewswire. The investors will provide US$120 million of equity to the new company and an undisclosed amount of loans. "We believe that the newly recapitalized company will be well positioned to capture a large share of the future data communications needs of carriers and enterprises in the region," Edward Tian, chief executive officer of China Netcom, said.
■ Airlines
Dragon users increase
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd, the smaller of the city's two carriers, handled more passengers and cargo in October than in the year-earlier month, helped by rising traffic in China. Dragonair's passenger volume rose 31 percent to 341,355 people last month from a year earlier, it said in a faxed statement. Its cargo volume jumped 58 percent to 19,020 tonnes last month from the year-ago period, a record monthly volume. In the first 10 months of the year, the airline carried 18 percent more passengers and 62 percent more cargo. "Passenger numbers overall continued to rise, with the bulk of that increase being accounted for by business traffic," Chief Executive Officer Stanley Hui said in the statement. "The amount of cargo carried in October was yet another monthly record for us -- the fifth monthly record we have seen set so far this year."
■ Economy
Singapore cuts forecast
Singapore cut its economic growth forecast for this year by at least a third as exports to the US falter and last month's bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali threatens to curb investment in the region. The city-state's economy will probably expand between 2 percent and 2.5 percent, the government said, cutting its forecast of between 3 percent and 4 percent growth. Exports to the US shrank 5.7 percent October as overseas shipments had their worst performance in four months, a separate report showed. The economy shrank at an annual pace of 10.1 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, revised figures today showed, as sales slumped at companies such as Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
Agencies
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
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