■ FINANCE
Bank of China posts risks
Bank of China (中國銀行) said it had posted 26.3 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) in potential losses on assets at the end of last month, partially related to US subprime mortgage-backed securities. China’s largest foreign exchange bank also reported a net profit of 17.8 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Wednesday. The potential losses on assets for the first nine months of the year more than doubled from 10.8 billion yuan a year earlier because of new paper losses on loans and foreign currency investment securities, the bank said.
■RUSSIA
Foreign reserves drop
Foreign currency reserves fell by US$31 billion last week, the Central Bank said yesterday, as Moscow defended the ruble against volatility and poured money into struggling firms. Currency reserves fell from US$515.7 billion to US$484.7 billion in the week ending last Friday, the Central Bank said in a statement, a fall of 6 percent. The country has the biggest foreign currency reserves in the world after Japan and China, amassed in recent years thanks to high oil prices.
■ELECTRONICS
Hitachi reports quarterly loss
Hitachi Ltd reported a quarterly loss of ¥17.4 billion (US$167 million) yesterday amid a global slowdown in export markets and a surge in prices for oil and other raw materials. The quarterly loss compared with a net profit of ¥558 million in the same period last year. The company also slashed its profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March to ¥15 billion from ¥40 billion. Sales were projected at ¥10.9 trillion, down 3 percent from last year. For the July to September period, soaring raw materials costs and slack demand hurt Hitachi’s automotive systems and semiconductor businesses, the company said.
■ELECTRONICS
Sharp reports lower profits
Sharp Corp said yesterday its net profit in the first half slumped 35 percent because of the global economic downturn, which has eroded demand for its products and forced prices down. The company said in a statement that net profit fell to ¥28 billion for the six months to Sept. 30. Operating profit dropped 35.8 percent to ¥50.76 billion on sales of ¥1.56 trillion, down 4.8 percent from the same period last year. The company left its forecast for the full year unchanged from a downward revision made earlier this month, with net earnings to drop 41.1 percent to ¥60 billion. It forecasts operating profit to fall 29.2 percent to ¥130 billion on revenue barely changed at ¥3.42 trillion.
■ELECTRONICS
Hynix reports higer losses
South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, said yesterday its net loss rose sharply in the third quarter on lower world prices and losses on write-offs. The net loss was 1.65 trillion won (US$1.2 billion) for July to last month, the fourth consecutive quarterly deficit. The figure compared with a 707 billion won loss in the second quarter and a 168 billion won net profit in the third quarter of last year, the company said in a statement. The third-quarter operating loss was 463 billion won, from a profit of 262.9 billion a year earlier.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS