■INTERNET
FTC may block Google deal
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may seek to block Google’s purchase of mobile telephone advertising company AdMob on anti-trust grounds, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the FTC “appears to be laying the groundwork” for an anti-trust challenge to the US$750 million acquisition announced in November. A Google spokesman defended the proposed acquisition to the Journal, saying “there is overwhelming evidence that mobile advertising will remain competitive after this deal closes.”
■RESOURCES
No appeal in Rio case
Rio Tinto’s former China iron ore head Stern Hu (胡士泰) has decided not to appeal his conviction for accepting bribes and stealing commercial secrets, his lawyer said yersterday. Hu, an Australian citizen, was last month sentenced to 10 years in jail on the charges after a trial that raised concerns about China’s judicial process as well as business practices within the iron ore industry. “Mr Hu has decided not to appeal for a number of reasons, including his lawyers’ opinions,” lawyer Shi Keqiang said after meeting Hu yesterday afternoon, the last day it was possible to file an appeal.
■AUSTRALIA
Unemployment steady
Australian unemployment held steady last month at 5.3 percent, official figures showed yesterday, a much lower rate than in other advanced economies and further evidence of a recovery in full swing. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said nearly 20,000 new jobs were offset by a rise of about 4,000 people looking for work, in figures that were in line with economists’ forecasts. Unemployment has fallen from 5.8 percent in October as Australia mounts a strong and quick recovery from the global slowdown.
■JAPAN
Current account surplus rises
Japan’s current account surplus in February expanded by 29.6 percent from a year ago, thanks to a strong rise in exports outpacing the growth of imports, the finance ministry said yesterday. The surplus in the current account — the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world — reached ¥1.47 trillion (US$15.8 billion), up ¥335.8 billion from a year ago. Exports surged 47.3 percent to ¥4.86 trillion while imports rose 31.6 percent to ¥4.09 trillion.
■STEEL
Cheung Kong sues BlueScope
The Hong Kong utility controlled by the region’s richest man, Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), said yesterday it is suing Australia’s BlueScope Steel over a New Zealand mining deal that collapsed two years ago. Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (長江基建集團) said it had filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Australia accusing the company of misleading and deceptive conduct, two weeks after it confirmed it was suing Merrill Lynch over the same sale. Cheung Kong said BlueScope gave false information and failed to disclose various customer and shipping matters related to its subsidiary, New Zealand Steel Mining.
■TRADE
China, Costa Rica sign deal
China signed a free trade deal yesterday with Costa Rica, a country that only established diplomatic ties with the Asian giant in 2007, but which now joins a small group of nations who enjoy such an accord. China’s Commerce Ministry said the pact was signed in Beijing.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
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