■ Oil
Prices rise again in US.
US oil prices struck a fresh record high above US$44 a barrel yesterday, on contin-uing concerns that any hiccup in the tightly stretched supply chain could lead to a major dis-ruption in global crude flows. US crude struck US$44.28 a barrel, US$0.13 up from Tuesday's settle-ment and the highest since oil futures were launched on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 1983. London's Brent crude was US$0.18 higher at US$40.82 a barrel. Oil's latest boost was triggered on Tuesday, when the head of the OPEC producers' cartel said there was no spare oil imme-diately available to cool ed-hot prices.
■ Oil
PetroChina scraps gas plan
A Chinese state oil company has called off plans for a foreign consortium inclu-ding Royal Dutch/Shell and ExxonMobil to invest in a multibillion-dollar pipeline to supply natural gas to China's booming eastern cities, according to Shell. The announcement came as PetroChina Co said its workers on Tuesday welded into place the last segment of the 4,000km-long pipeline that links gas fields in the northwest to Shanghai and nearby cities. The US$5.2 billion pipeline was the first major energy project opened to foreign investors. Shell said the consortium failed to find "common ground" with PetroChina.
■ Banking
Foreign firms' limits eased
China has announced new steps meant to ease the expansion of foreign banks, cutting capital requirements and scrapping a waiting period for opening branch offices. The measures take effect Sept. 1 and will help China comply with inter-national standards, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in a statement issued late on Tuesday. The government has promised to let foreign banks compete on an equal footing with Chinese banks by 2006 under the terms of its WTO membership. The latest changes affect foreign banks licensed to handle the yuan, China's tightly regu-lated currency, and will "reduce the operating costs of foreign banks and pro-mote their healthy develop-ment," the commission's statement said. The capital requirement for branches dealing with Chinese com-panies will be cut by 25 percent to 300 million yuan (US$36 million), while the limit for branches handling individuals will fall by 15 percent to 500 million yuan, the agency said. It said a one-year waiting period between the openings of new bank branches will be scrapped.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Bristol-Myers to pay SEC
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, the largest US maker of AIDS drugs, will pay at least US$75 million to settle a US Securities and Exchange Commission probe of whether the company encouraged wholesalers to buy excessive supplies, people familiar with the matter said. The settlement may be announced today, the people said. The com-pany has been under SEC scrutiny since 2002 over "channel stuffing" -- giving incentives to wholesalers to buy more drugs than they could sell. Bristol-Myers agreed last week to settle related shareholder lawsuits for US$300 million, the largest payment by a drug company in a securities-fraud case in US history. Bristol-Myers in March last year restated more than US$2.5 billion in revenue, saying it improperly booked sales to two of its largest wholesalers after shipping more goods than they needed for retail demand.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
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