. Although China’s people & government are
passionate about reunification with Taiwan, the island’s
raucous election drama has been treated with extreme caution,
restricted news coverage and limited official comment.
. Although China has an estimated 500 missiles
capacity of hitting Taiwan, foreign officials and military
experts say they do not believe the Chinese military has the
training to mount an invasion.
. Commercial metals said its Q3 would be
impacted by lower steel scrap prices and a decline in demand
from China, because of Chinese Govt.’s efforts to moderate
growth.
.
Nissin soared 8% on top of a 13% gain as the market continued to
react to news that the China-based financial services group
expects its earning for its March’04 to be higher than
previously forecast.
.
Dell teamed up with Oracle to offer Linux-based software and
Dell servers in China, a move that appeals to the Chinese Govt.
while challenging Microsoft Windows’ dominance in the
world’s HZ computer market.
.
First complaint by any country (in this case by US) against
China seeks a WTO ruling that China’s tax breaks (by as much
as 17% for domestic chip production creates unfair competition
against imports.
. China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing
International’s $1.8 billion IPO fell 11% to 15.52 as US
seemed ready to file a WTO case over China’s chip subsidies.
.
Chinese fixed asset investment soared 53% in Jan-Feb. vs. a year
earlier as companies rushed to start new plants and
infrastructure project amid expectations of rising costs for raw
materials such as steel.
.
Accused by US of backsliding on human rights, the Chinese Govt.
issued a 40-page white paper describing 2003 as a “year of
great, landmark significance for progress in human rights in the
country.”
. Pres. Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan tried to defuse
a political crisis, calling for a recount after narrowly winning
reelection one day after a bizarre shooting slightly wounded him
and his VP.
. A diplomatic feud lingers between Japan and
China, as Japanese police prepared to hand over to prosecutors
some Chinese men on a disputed island, despite Beijing’s
demand for their quick release.
. Toshiba is making its first full-scale entry
into the auto parts by supplying the US automaker Ford with
hybrid motors for its new Escape hybrid SUV.
.
The benchmark Nikkei rose 1.7%, not far off a 21-month high hit
earlier last month. The Topix index hit its highest level since
’01. Investors are increasingly upbeat about the Japanese
economy, even as the yen rises.
. The planned series of presidential debates in the Philippines
got off to a slow start with only 2 candidates, Raul Rocco and
Eddie Villanueva, discussing population, poverty and human
development.
. A
senatorial candidate in the presidential ticket of Raul Rocco
filed graft charges against Pres. GMA for allegedly causing
“undue injury” to the Govt. in the eight billion-peso
“bailout” of Maynilad Water Services. It was labeled
an “outright giveaway to private interests of private
money.”
.
Metro Manila consumers not only suffer from poor service; they
are also forced to bear
onerous monthly charges made by private water firms.
.
RP cannot support 84 million people, and will reach 160 million
by 2030 if the growth rate is not slowed.
.
“Pyramiding” activities are on the rise again based on the
increasing number of reports on the so-called
“get-rich-quick” schemes, disguised as direct marketing
activities, warned the Dept. of Trade & Industry (DTI).
.
A US Republican survey identified RP as a “haven” for
terrorism, but “it doesn’t accuse the state as helping
terrorist groups.”
.
More young Filipino professionals are using the Internet to shop
and do business, according to results of the Aug-Dec 2003 survey
of marketing research from AC-Nielsen.
.
RP cancelled $63 million in loans to its land reform program
from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) due to sharp foreign
exchange fluctuations, said the project manager of the Dept. of
Agrarian Reform.
.
Green cards that would have taken 14 months to process in 2001
are now averaging 33 months. The number of pending applications
for replacing a lost green card and obtaining citizenship has
shot up 60% to about 6.2 million. Cases more than 6 months old
have increased by 89% since 2000, from 1.8 million to 3.4
million. The main reason for delays is increased security checks
since the 9/11 attacks.
.
RP-based call centers and other outsourcing firms may be pushed
to resort to pirate employees to meet huge staff requirements,
which could hurt the entire industry in the long run, an
industry practitioner warned.
. Big Apple Oriental Tours,
a NY travel agency has been indicted for organizing “sex
tours” to Thailand & RP, the first such case
involving a US-based company, said the NY State Attorney
General.
. Fewer
people sharing the national wealth are richer and so spend more
on high value-added products, which helps drive the economy up. Thailand
had 38.9 million people inn1972, roughly the same as the
Philippines. Today, Thailand has a population of 69 million and
RP 84 million. Thais average $1,960 per capita; RP is struggling
at $1,020.
. Indonesian, Malaysia & Singaporean members of Jemaah
Islamiah who were enrolled in Islamic boarding schools &
training camps in Afghanistan & RP, share al Quaeda’s
ideology, but do not need an order from OBL to act.
. More than 240 of Jamaah Islamiah’s members
have been arrested since the Bali & Jakarta attacks,
including many of its leaders. They portray a network that
defies police efforts to quash it, exploiting school, family
& religious connections to stay alive.
. Jemaah
Islamiah plans to close its training camp in RP, according to
Indonesia police as its main ally MILF (Moro National Liberation
Front) conducts peace talks with the Philippine government.
.
Jemaah Islamiah continues to draw strength from family ties,
with women playing a largely unseen role.
. General Wiranto, retired armed forces chief,
recording artist, and indicted war crime suspect, tapped into
the disillusionment with the country’s experiment in
democratic reform. Six years after Suharto’s ouster, many
Indonesians felt that order has given way to lawlessness, ethnic
conflict and separatism in outlying islands, and the rapid
economic growth in the 1990s has been stalled by corruption.
.
Wiranto is looking to win the Golkar presidential nomination at
a party convention in mid-April. Defeated by Pres. Megawati’s
party 5 years ago, Golkar has resuscitated its organization and
is now projected to win by some opinion surveys to be the
favorite in April 5 parliamentary elections.
.
His supporters say he demonstrated his integrity and commitment
to constitutional rule when he helped ease Suharto from power,
refusing an offer from the former leader to take control
himself.
.
He was indicted by UN prosecutors in East Timor for his role in
human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces following its
vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999 when up to 2k East
Timorese were killed in militia violence directed by Indonesian
officers.
. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia led
his ruling coalition to a landslide victory in national
elections winning control of all states, except North Kelantan,
and 80% of seats in national parliament.
. Malaysian ceasefire observers have begun
arriving in RP aiming to shore up a fragile ceasefire between
Govt. and Muslim rebels fighting for an Islamic state on
southern Mindanao.
. Secretary of State Colin Powell sought to assure Indians
that the Bush administration would not try to halt the
outsourcing of high-tech jobs to their country.
. For
the first time in India’s modern history, the farmer
(or kisan) has easy access to affordable credit.
.
India’s economic growth rate is expected to exceed 8% this
year; the best monsoon rain in 5 years produced record harvests;
and interest rates are lower than they have been in 31 years.
. Since
1991, a succession of Indian governments has been moving
cautiously toward opening a traditionally centralized economy by
dismantling government-controlled and encouraging private
investment.
. The
green revolution introduced high-yield seeds and modern farming
methods that severed reliance on foreign food aid that plagued
India in the 1960s, and made the country self-sufficient in food
grains.
. Govt. forces in Nepal killed as many as 500
rebels and at least 18 police & soldiers died in some of the
fiercest fighting since a cease-fire collapsed last year.
. Special Operations forces are playing a secretive but
leading role in battle against armed Afghan fighters believed to
be holding out in Pakistani tribal areas.
. Tribal leaders sought to broker a peaceful outcome to
the 6-day battle between Islamic militants in a remote area near
Afghanistan.
.
Arrests were made in the killing of Afghanistan’s aviation
minister, confessing that they fired on him with rocket-launched
grenades & assault rifles, Afghan security officials said.
