■TELECOMS
Deutsche mulls asset swap
Deutsche Telekom, the biggest German telecommunications operator, is looking to swap its lossmaking T-Mobile unit in Britain for an asset in another country, the Financial Times (FT) reported yesterday. FT quoted sources familiar with the matter as saying a swap was considered a “preferred option” to selling the unit outright or merging it with a British rival. Deutsche Telekom is active in 15 countries in the region, including Austria and Greece, the report said.
■INTEREST RATES
Indonesia cuts rates
Indonesia’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent yesterday in a bid to stimulate the economy as inflationary pressures ease. The cut was expected after the annual inflation rate dropped to 3.65 percent last month from 6.04 percent in May. Bank Indonesia said the economy would grow by between 3 percent and 4 percent this year, compared with 6.1 percent last year. Bank Indonesia has cut its policy rate by 275 basis points since December.
■BANKING
Merkel urges tough reform
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned yesterday that governments would fight off any attempt by banks to water down tough reforms of financial regulations. “There is perhaps a certain danger that banks which are doing quite well again might try to not exactly support the regulation efforts, but to put them in doubt again,” Merkel told the Wall Street Journal Europe in an interview. “I don’t see that they have a chance of succeeding, either with the American administration, nor in the European Union,” she said.
■AUTOMOBILES
China to revise Opel offer
China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC, 北京汽車工業) was expected to submit a revised offer yesterday for Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, German newspaper reports said. A binding offer is expected to follow in the next two weeks, BAIC executives reportedly told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Other contenders in the bidding process are a consortium based around Canadian car assembly group Magna, as well as RJH, the European subsidiary of US investors Ripplewood.
■MINING
BHP sells nickel refinery
BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest miner, said yesterday it had agreed to sell an Australian nickel refinery to Australian businessman Clive Palmer for an undisclosed sum. However, the Anglo-Australian group said it had written down the value of the refinery in Queensland by US$675 million. “Communications with our workforce, suppliers, customers and the community will begin immediately and will continue over the coming weeks to facilitate a smooth transition to the new owner,” Jimmy Wilson, president of BHP Billiton Stainless Steel Materials, said in a statement.
■ELECTRONICS
Siemens helps fight crime
Making up for its past misdeeds, Siemens is to help pay for anti-corruption campaigns by the UN and other bodies, the German electronics group said on Thursday in Munich. The company will provide up to US$7 million annually for 15 years to help prevent corruption. Siemens, which has admitted that for years its executives bribed their way to contracts for telephone exchanges and other multimillion-dollar projects, said the undertaking was made to the World Bank in Washington.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
RSS