■ 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
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 —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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