■BANKING
UK bailout hits £850 billion
The UK’s support for its banks has hit £850 billion (US$1.4 trillion) in the wake of the global financial crisis, a watchdog report said yesterday, amid tensions over performance pay for senior bankers. The National Audit Office said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government was justified to spend the “unprecedented” amount on rescuing the banks, which went into meltdown after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2007.
■FINANCE
TSE to pay compensation
A Japanese court yesterday ordered the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) to pay compensation of more than US$120 million over its failure to stop a massive trade blunder in December 2005. The lawsuit against Asia’s biggest bourse was filed by Mizuho Securities — part of Japan’s second-biggest bank, Mizuho Financial Group — which demanded ¥41.5 billion (US$470 million) in compensation. The TSE has admitted that a fault in its system prevented a Mizuho Securities trader from canceling the erroneous order, caused by a simple typing error that left the firm saddled with a loss of ¥40.7 billion.
■BEVERAGES
Suntory buys Pepsi bottler
Japanese beverage maker Suntory said yesterday it had bought a Pepsi bottler in the US state of South Carolina for US$113 million as part of its global expansion efforts. Privately owned Suntory said its US-based joint venture subsidiary Pepsi Bottling Venture would pay US$113 million to buy the assets of Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Conway-Myrtle Beach, Inc. “We believe the purchase will create synergy effects and benefit our North American operations,” a Suntory spokesman said. “This is part of our long history of expansion efforts in foreign markets.”
■SOUTH KOREA
Economy expands 3.2%
South Korea’s economy expanded 3.2 percent in the third quarter, the central bank said yesterday, a better performance than initially estimated amid stronger growth in manufacturing, exports and services. The revised figure for the three months ended on Sept. 30 compared with the previous quarter remains the country’s strongest growth in more than seven years since an expansion of 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2002, Bank of Korea figures show.
■ENERGY
China signs Exxon LNG deal
State-owned Sinopec Corp (中國石化) said yesterday it had signed a 20-year contract with Exxon Mobil Corp to buy gas from Papua New Guinea in the latest of a flurry of foreign deals to secure fuel for China’s booming economy. The liquefied natural gas will come from a project being developed by Exxon Mobil and other investors in Papua New Guinea’s central highlands. Sinopec gave no financial details. The contract calls for Sinopec to buy some 2 million tonnes of gas per year, which it will import through a terminal in China’s eastern port of Qingdao.
■TECHNOLOGY
Cisco to take over Tandberg
US networking giant Cisco said on Thursday it planned to go ahead with its US$3.4 billion takeover of Norwegian video conferencing company Tandberg. Cisco said in a statement that it controls approximately 89 percent of the outstanding shares of Tandberg and had decided to waive the condition that it control 90 percent.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
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