IV. International
(03-16-07)
. Asia’s
growing air pollution—billowing plumes of soot, smog and
wood smoke—is making the Pacific region
cloudier and stormier, disrupting winter weather
patterns along the west coast and into the Arctic.
.
Investors are watching
Asian markets. Worries about China’s economy helped
2/27’s sell-off in markets around the globe. The
Nikkei fell for the 5th straight session
to close down 3.3%,
Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng index fell 4%, and the Shanghai
Composite Index, which has proven volatile in recent
weeks, fell 1.6%.
. Authorities
detained 8 people who took part in a rare demonstration
against Burma’s military government, said one of the
protesters (Htin Kyaw) after his release.
.
The Dow Jones industrial
average ell more than 500 points on 2/27 before gaining
some of it back. The
US joined a global
market plunge sparked by growing concerns that the US
and Chinese economies are cooling and that
equities prices have become over-inflated.
. The
Shanghai Stock Market, where nearly 9% skid on 2/27
started a global sell-off, rose nearly 4%, helping to
steady trading in the
US.
And DOC’s report that the GDP rose at an annual rate
2.2% in Q4 was slightly below market expectations, but
not enough to puncture next day’s nascent recovery.
. Chinese
mainland citizens may be able to open RMB accounts at
subsidiary banks of the Hong Kong & Shanghai
Banking Corp (HSBC), Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank &
the Bank of East Asia next month.
.
In many ways,
Taiwan
is the success story that mainland China could have
been, absent the millstone of Communism. While most
resource-rich countries like Brazil and Russia pump
finite resources out of the ground to fill their
coffers, Taiwan accumulated its breathtaking $265
billion in foreign currency reserve.
. A big
number of the 1 million Chang Kai-shek’s supporters who
fled to Taiwan in 1949 were bourgeois Chinese—governing
elites, merchants, Chinese capitalists and well-educated
professionals. Free universal education helped bring the
economy into the 20th century. Its secret to
success: hard work, a market economy and a little help
from the US.
.
The Taiwanese government enjoys tweaking its nose at its
stepparent across the strait. A bigger worry for Chinese
leaders is that Taiwan may change its official name fro
the “Republic of China” or even declare independence.
China is Taiwan’s #1 export market, with nearly 40% of
Taiwan’s exports going to China. The mainland has
attracted more than 2/3 of Taiwan’s foreign investments.
More than 700k Taiwanese firms have set up on the
mainland, and Taiwanese companies employ some 10 million
people in China. Over 300k Taiwanese businessmen and
their dependents now live in the Greater Shanghai area.
. Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said ruling party lawmakers
will conduct a fresh investigation into the Japanese
military use of brothels during WW II. At issue is
whether or not these women were kidnapped and forced
into sexual slavery.
.
Talks between Japan and North Korea on normalizing
relations ended after their top envoys blamed each other
for lack of agreement on key historical issues, e.g.,
abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents
in the 1970s and 1980s.
.
If US households used
their houses as ATMs—taking equity out of their homes to
prop up profligate consumption—global traders used the
year like a low interest credit card to finance their
investments elsewhere. With Japanese interest rates at
0.5% and interest rates in the US at 5.25%, traders
borrowed billions in yen, and invested billions
into US treasuries.
.
Han Myeong Sook,
South Korea’s
first female prime minister, stepped down and returned
to her ailing liberal Uri Party to help boost its
chances in December’s presidential elections.
.
South Korea and the US reached a final consensus in more
than half of the 19 negotiated sectors during the fifth
round of free trade agreement (FTA) talks in Seoul.
. The
country’s top 10 business groups paid more corporate
income taxes last year from a year earlier, despite
smaller profits, as the sluggish corporate investment
reduced the amount of business-related expenses eligible
for tax deductions.
.
A Philippine
election lawyer (Lilia de Lima) claimed to have been
told by a commissioner on Elections (Comelec) employee
that original documents of election cases were lost in
the Sunday (3/11) dawn fire that razed the Comelec
building, contrary to the assurance of the poll body’s
chairman Benjamin Abalos.
.
Lower fiscal deficit trimmed the national government
debt to gross domestic product (GDP) last year compared
to the 2005 level, the Bureau of Treasury
reported.
.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the
Philippine government would have to improve its tax
effort to an additional 2 ½% of GDP if it wants to
balance its budget.
. Thailand’s
military-installed government finalized the takeover of
the country’s only independent television, iTV, and said
it would temporarily pull it off the air after it failed
to pay millions of dollars in license fees.
. Its
Finance Minister (Pridiyathorn Devakula) resigned
3/01 due to disagreement with various Cabinet ministers
an disapproved of Somkid Jatunipitak as an economic
advisor though he resigned after a week on the job. No
replacement has yet been named.
.
All oil traders have decided to cut diesel prices by
0.40 baht per liter, citing the diesel supply in
Asia
higher than the demand. But they remain reluctant to
reduce gasoline prices which continue to increase in
Singapore.
.
A 15-year old Laotian
girl died from bird flu, the country’s first confirmed
death from H5N1 virus, the Health Ministry of Laos
said as it stepped up surveillance and public awareness
effort.
. Expressing
optimism that bilateral relations between Thailand and
Laos would be further improved and strengthened,
Thailand’s PM Surayud Chulanont said his government
would encourage those Thai business interests to invest
in that country.
.
Dep. PM & Standing Government Member, Somsavat
Langsavad, raised concerns over the declining area of
forest in Laos, leading to big environmental problems
for the younger generation. He warned that water
resources had begun to dry up due to logging.
.
Survivors of the
crash-landing of a Boeing 737-400 in Indonesia
with 140 passengers and crew said the plane appeared to
be going fast and shook violently before it tumbled
down, lurched off the runway and exploded in flames,
killing at least 21 people.
.
A 3-judge panel found Roberto Lobato, a former interior
minister, guilty of fueling violence in E. Timor
a year ago that ultimately led to the government’s
downfall. He was sentenced to 7 & 1/2 years in prison.
. The
Indonesian and Japanese governments have agreed to step
up defense cooperation, especially in their bid to
support stability and security in the Asia Pacific
region, a defense ministry spokesman said.
.
The White House signaled
its growing impatience with
Pakistan’s
failure to crack down on Islamic extremists, dispatching
VP Cheney for an unannounced visit to pressure Pres.
Pervez Musharraf to do more against a resurgent Taliban
and al Quaeda fighters.
.
Working for the public
was a gift from God for Zille Huma Usman,
Punjab’s
provincial minister for social welfare. But Muhammed
Sarwar violently disagreed, killing her before a crowd
because, he said, God does not allow women to work.
Where does it go from here? Even if the male killer is
convicted, the judiciary ensures that he receive a light
sentencing, reinforcing the view that men can kill women
with virtual impunity.
.
In their 4th round of composite dialogue,
besides the core issues of
Kashmir,
India and
Pakistan will discuss nuclear and conventional arms
issue, strategic restraint regime and conventional as
well as nuclear balance in the region, said the Foreign
Office spokesman.
