■EMPLOYMENT
Australia sheds more jobs
Australia’s unemployment rate jumped to a five-year high last month, official figures showed yesterday, with a warning of further job cuts to come. The jobless rate rose 0.5 percentage points to 5.7 percent last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed, and analysts said the economy was now in recession. The figure was well up on expectations of 5.4 percent unemployment, with the bureau saying the economy shed 34,700 jobs over the month on a seasonally adjusted basis.
■EUROPE
No recovery this year: ECB
European economies can only expect to begin their recovery next year, the European Central Bank (ECB) predicted yesterday. “This year, global demand is likely to remain very low since global economies including the eurozone are “in a serious downturn,” the ECB wrote in its monthly newsletter, published yesterday. The ECB responded to the economic downturn last week with a 0.25-basis-point rate cut to 1.25 percent, the lowest interest rate since World War II.
■CURRENCIES
HK to use yuan for trade
Hong Kong is ready to become the first region outside China’s mainland to use the yuan for trade, the territory’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) said yesterday, as Beijing expands the reach of its tightly controlled currency. “We, in Hong Kong, have completed the necessary technical preparations for becoming the first place outside the mainland to benefit from the scheme,” Tsang said in comments released by his press office. The mainland Cabinet announced approval on Wednesday for companies in Shanghai and four southern cities near Hong Kong to use yuan in foreign trade.
■OPTICAL DISCS
Sharp, Pioneer join forces
Japan’s Sharp Corp and Pioneer Corp said they would set up a joint venture to merge their optical disc businesses, aiming to beef up one of their focus operations and take a leading position in the growing Blu-ray disc market. The new joint venture, which aims to start operations in October, will develop, produce and sell optical disc drives, recorders and players. Demand for Blu-ray machines has been picking up since last year, when Toshiba Corp gave up on its HD-DVD format, allowing the entertainment industry to back a rival optical disc format developed by the Sony Corp-led Blu-ray camp.
■INTERNET
Russia to limit investment
Russia plans to restrict foreign investment in “strategic” Internet portals and Web sites as a national security measure, the daily Vedomosti reported yesterday. The communications ministry is in the process of developing “security criteria” that will determine which firms will be prohibited from seeking foreign investment, the newspaper said, quoting a ministry spokeswoman. “The Internet has de facto become a strategic resource,” spokeswoman Elena Lashkina was quoted as saying.
■BANKING
Sumitomo expects loss
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, one of Japan’s top three banks, said yesterday it expected a net loss of ¥390 billion (US$3.9 billion) for the past year to last month. The bank blamed turmoil on global markets for the huge loss, which was much worse than the group’s earlier forecast for a profit of ¥180 billion. The group also announced a plan to issue new shares worth up to ¥800 billion to help it ride out the turbulent economic times.
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
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
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