- IV.
International
. Fearing
that carriers of SARS are being sent to the rural hinterlands to
be quarantined, peasants in several provinces of China, e.g., Yuhuan (Zhejiang Province), Linzhou (Henan Province),
Xiong (Hebei Province) have sabotaged SARS-designated facilities,
rioted and attacked officials. Their steady march into rural China
is particularly worrisome because of the rudimentary level of
health care in those areas.
. Russia approved a plan backed by the nation’s
largest oil producer, AO
Yukos, for a $28 billion pipeline to carry 400,000 barrels of
oil a day from eastern Siberia to China,
beginning 2005, and perhaps, South Korea, after that.
. Motorola has reopened its Beijing office after closing down when a staff member contracted
SARS. The employee is recovering, and the building was cleaned and
the rest of the staff was quarantined for 2 weeks before returning
to work.
. China will
sign a trade & security treaty with 10 SE Asian countries at a
summit in June in a move designed to promote peaceful resolution
of disputes, e.g., dispute over ownership of Spratly Islands.
. China’s Premier
Hu Jintao vowed that every resource would be used to stop the
spread of SARS as workers in the south of the country moved into
the streets to stop the widely-prevalent habit of spitting.
.
WHO is concerned about reports that some patients in Hongkong
may have suffered relapses, and some seemingly healthy people
might be infecting others with SARS virus.
. A US Govt. panel extended by 45 days a national
security review by Hutchison Whampoa’s plan to take control of
Global Crossing, threatening to scuttle the $250 million
transaction, said Bloomberg News.
. Sunday
Communications, the territory’s smallest cellular network
operator, has unveiled a service that traces subscribers through
their mobile phones, if they wish.
. Taiwan reported
a sharp increase in the number of SARS cases & deaths, dashing
hopes that the outbreak of the respiratory illness had been
contained.
. Japan’s central
bank should buy more shares to support the nation’s weak stock
market, a Govt. panel recommended.
. Lockheed Martin won an order from JSAT Japan, its
first contract for a commercial satellite in 2 years.
. Japanese Prime Minister J. Koizumi is considering a visit to China
in August. This move would mark a warming of icy relations between
the Asian neighbors.
. US
foreign investment in South
Korea has plummeted 72% since January, when North
Korea began breaking its nonproliferation commitment in
earnest, and its stock market has dropped 18.3%.
. Pres. Roh Moo-hyun appealed to the Bush Adm. during a
Washington visit this week to keep US forces stationed in his
country.
. The
capture of the freighter Pong
Su illustrates that the North
Korean Govt. has for years operated as a crime syndicate,
smuggling drugs and counterfeit money around the world to generate
income to keep itself alive. Finding and stopping North Korean
drug trafficking can be immensely difficult.
. On April 30, US State Dept. issued an annual report
keeping N. Korea on its terrorism list with Cuba, Iran, Iraq,
Libya, Sudan & Syria.
. N. Korea is
believed to have exported $520 million worth of missiles to Iran,
Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and UAE in 2001.
. Philippine Pres.
GMA warned MILF rebels that time was running out to prove they
really want peace & distance themselves from foreign
terrorists. She threatened to ask US to include them in its
terrorist list which will impose financial & visa penalties on
group members.
. Agriculture sector grew by 2.79% in Q1 of this year
versus Q1 5.24% growth in 2003 due to onslaught of El Nino dry
weather phenomenon.
. Govt. has no plans of going back to the intl. market
to raise the remaining $900 million
to complete its $2.4 billion financing requirement this
year.
. Govt’s 2003 macroeconomic targets need to be
reviewed given the recent developments on the global economic
front, according to Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Rafael Buenaventura.
. Germany’s
Gerhard Schroeder began Europe’s courtship of SE Asia this week,
starting with P.M. Mahathir Mohamad in talks aimed at building
economic & political ties. Other stopovers include Singapore,
Indonesia & Vietnam.
. Mahathir accepted an invitation to attend G8 summit
in Evian, France on June 1-3.
. Seven
Navy vessels carrying about 3,000 Indonesian
marines sailed for the troubled province of Aceh as officials
talk with rebels to keep alive the peace deal. It has increased
its troops from 38k to more than 45k.
. As war drums beat louder in Aceh, a staunchly Muslim
province, momentum is building at other end of giant archipelago
to get tougher with separatists in resource-rich, Christian Papua
where guerrilla movement is low key & rebels are poorly-armed.
. Trade
India draws its list of suppliers from its exhaustive database of
over 70,000 Indian exporters & manufacturers.
. India’s DOT
proposes to alter cellular license conditions that stand in the
way of mergers & acquisitions in the cellular industry. It
plans to allow a cellular operator to acquire more than one
license in a circle, paving the way for consolidation in the
industry.
. Scientists at the Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) have filed for a
US patent for what they say is the world’s first DNA test to see
if a forensic sample belongs to humans or animals, and also
identify the exact species of the animal.
. The
Intl. Rep Institute (IRS) is seriously concerned about voter
intimidation and dirty political tactics by the ruling party ahead
of Cambodia’s general
elections in July.
. Human Rights
Watch urged the
UN not to approve a draft deal with Cambodia
to try the leaders of the Khmer Rouge genocide because a
planned court did not meet decent standards of justice.
. The North Korean nuclear crisis was discussed at a
meeting of senior officials from 23 Asian-Pacific nations,
including North Korea, in Cambodia
last week.
. The
US State Dept. expressed regret that Burma’s
military Govt. has failed to open a dialogue with the country’s
democratic opposition.
