■ Oil
Threat to Asia highlighted
Soaring oil prices pose a bigger threat to Asia than a slowdown in China, potentially upsetting the current economy recovery, a Citigroup report said yesterday. There is little sign that China's fast growth will come to a screeching halt, but an oil price shock which persists could prove worrying for many of the region's economies, the report warned. The Asia Economic Outlook said: "No country in Asia would see a surge in growth from higher oil prices, with the possible exception of Vietnam," the report said. Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia would see growth drop by about 0.6-0.8 percentage points by the fourth quarter and through the first half of next year, "sizeable but manageable effects," Citigroup said.
■ Crime
Criminals using SMS
A growing number of Chinese criminals send text messages or e-mails with the sole purpose of hoodwinking people into parting with their money, the Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. "Defrauders ... send false messages to a mass of cell-phone users, telling them they have won prizes in a lottery or they are offered very cheap smuggled goods," said Zhang Xinfeng, assistant minister of public security. "If they contact the defrauders, the latter usually ask them to remit money to appointed bank accounts for paying taxes, postage or insurance charges," he said. Many people believe this and spend all their money on goods they never see, while some officials have even embezzled public funds in order to come up with the money, he said.
■ Aircraft
Airline chooses Boeing
Air New Zealand will buy six new passenger jets from Boeing at a cost of NZ$1.35 billion (US$850 million) and plans to lease four more, the carrier said yesterday. The eight new Boeing 777-200s and two new 7E7s will enable the national carrier to develop new routes, increase the frequency of existing routes, and increase its passenger and freight capacity, it said in a statement. Air New Zealand is buying the 7E7s and four of the 777-200s from Boeing, while the remaining jets will be leased from International Lease Finance Corporation, the statement said. It also plans to buy a further 42 Boeing aircraft in the future, the statement said. Boeing will begin delivery of the 777-200s in September next year and the order will be completed by late 2006, it said.
■ Trade
Central Asia in US deal
The US and five Central Asian countries signed an agreement Tuesday that provides a forum to address trade issues and enhance trade and investment. The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Zoellick said the agreement would "increase and diversify trade and investment opportunities." The US, he said, looked forward to working closely through the TIFA to further strengthen its economic relationships with the five countries and the region as a whole. The TIFA will have a regular forum to address trade issues that hamper intra-regional trade and economic development and can act as impediments to investment, Zoellick said.
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
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
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
RSS