■ Telecoms
Minorities reject PCCW bid
Minority shareholders of Singapore-listed Pacific Century Regional Developments Ltd yesterday rejected tycoon Richard Li's (李澤楷) proposal to sell the company's 22.7 percent stake in dominant Hong Kong phone company PCCW Ltd (電訊盈科). At an extraordinary general meeting in Singapore, 76.3 percent of minority holders voted against the deal. Li, son of prominent Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), announced in July an agreement to acquire the 22.7 percent stake in PCCW held by Pacific Century Regional Developments for a total of HK$9.16 billion (US$1.18 billion).
■ Music players
Zune overtakes Sansa
Microsoft Corp's Zune took second place in the US digital music-player market in its first week on sale, passing SanDisk Corp's Sansa, market researcher NPD Group Inc said. Zune captured 9 percent of the market in the week ended Nov. 18, New York-based NPD said in a statement on Wednesday. Apple Computer Inc's iPod remained the leader, with a 63 percent share in volume terms. Microsoft started selling its first music player on Nov. 14.
■ Wages
India leads in regional rise
India had the highest average salary increase in the Asia-Pacific region in the past year, according to results of a survey by human-resources consulting firm Hewitt Associates Inc. Wages in India gained 13.8 percent, almost matching the 13.9 percent gain last year, Hewitt said yesterday in a statement. The Philippines was second, recording an 8.2 percent increase. China's wage-growth slowed to 8 percent from 8.3 percent last year, the survey showed. Hewitt said it surveyed more than 1,400 foreign, locally owned and joint-venture companies this year in 11 markets including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It measured actual and projected salary increases.
■ Funds
China appoints managers
China has picked 10 foreign fund managers to help it invest part of its enormous social security fund abroad, the government and state media said yesterday. China's social security fund, which manages about 200 billion yuan (US$25 billion), will initially allow them to manage just US$1 billion, but the figure could rise, the China Daily reported. The winners include six US companies -- Alliance Bernstein, BlackRock, JanusINTECH, PIMCO, State Street Global Advisors, and T. Rowe Price, the fund said on its Web site. Also included on the list are AXA Rosenberg of France, INVESCO of Britain, Allianz of Germany and a consortium formed by China International Capital Corp and Swiss-based UBS.
■ Steel
Baosteel looking for allies
China's largest steelmaker, Baosteel Group Corp (寶鋼集團), may ask Nippon Steel Corp and South Korea's POSCO to take a stake in the company if it lists on overseas markets, a Nihon Keizai Shimbun report said yesterday, quoting Baosteel chairwoman Xie Qihua (謝企華). "I think there can be a cross-shareholding with Nippon Steel and Posco," Xie said in an interview with the Japanese business daily. "The timing is good." The size of the shareholdings being contemplated by Baosteel have not been determined but are likely to be a few percent, the newspaper said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
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