- IV.
International
.
The
creation of a regional bond market is to promote financial
stability in the Asia-Pacific region because a focus of
discussion among policymakers after the last Asian financial
crisis of 1997-1998.
.
Last year, finance ministers of the ASEAN +3 group (The Assn.
of SE Asian nations, plus China, Japan & S. Korea) endorsed
the Asian Bond Markets Initiative which aims to develop liquid
bond markets for the region.
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The US has shut down some embassy offices on terror threats.
.
Chinese
and Pakistani troops wrapped up their first joint anti-terrorism
exercises in China’s southwestern Muslim region of
Xinjiang, the Chinese Govt. said.
.
China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled
a senior roads official (Bi Yuxi) in Beijing for allegedly taking
bribes.
.
Driehaus International Discovery Fund is
investing in Hong Kong to take advantage of surging terrorism from
mainland China.
.
China’s Hainan Air Lines whose largest shareholder is
George Soros, said it was bidding for Hungarian carrier Malev to
help its overseas expansion, said Bloomberg.
.
Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay about $62 million to
help a troubled Chinese brokerage in order to win Beijing’s
approval for a landmark investment banking venture in the country.
.
China is planning to tap global bond markets with an
issue of more than $1 billion in an effort t allay investor fears
of a hard economic landing and encourage domestic companies to tap
intl. capital markets.
.
China is poised to dominate more than $400 billion global
market in clothing, and India will also significantly increase its
clothing exports, starting in 2005 when import restrictions are
eliminated in US and other rich nations, said WTO.
.
Hong
Kong’s
mutual fund inflow in Q2 plummeted nearly 90% for Q1, shrinking
from$2.07 billion to $227 million amidst concern about rising
rates and slowing growth in China.
.
One month before a crucial vote, the hard realities of Hong
Kong’s complicated electoral complicated electoral system have
forced democracy activists to scale back their hopes of
translating broad public support into political power strong
enough to defy the Chinese government.
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The Chinese government will not allow the Chief
Executive to be picked by direct elections in 2007, as demanded by
democracy advocates. It also won’t allow all 60 Legislative
Council seats to be filled by direct elections the following year.
.
Three
leading Japanese electronic makers, e.g., Hitachi,
Matsushita and Toshiba, are discussing joining forces
to produce liquid crystal display panels.
.
Japanese teachers face “re-education” as they resist
nationalist moves. Critics say schoolchildren are being
brainwashed by new orders to recite the national anthem in front
of the flag.
.
Japanese machinery orders were higher in June, a sign that the
momentum of corporate investment growth remains strong.
.
Japanese bank lending fell 3.4% in July vs. a year
ago to $4.05 trillion, the 43rd straight yearly decline
but deter than June’s 3.7% drop.
.
A pipe burst at a nuclear plant, spewing non-radioactive steam
that killed 4 workers &injured 7 others in Mihan, Japan. The
incident followed safety lapses at several of Japan’s 52
reactors.
.
Consumer demands for DVDs, mobile phones and cameras is
boosting the market share and profits of groups, such as Hitachi
and NEC.
.
Japan’s Govt. said
oil prices are a risk, but it expects a solid ounce of growth, as
consumer spending rises gradually and capital spending increases.
.
Japan and US appear close to reaching an agreement
that could result in resuming the beef trade.
.
Asian retailer Aeon is
to raise the equivalent of $1 billion in a share offering, making
its 1st offering in 25 years and available in Japan this year.
.
Japanese scientists have developed the assisted reproduction
technique in which eggs of a salmon species are implanted with
trout tissue, and the fish hatch as trout, Nature reports.
.
Two of Japan’s largest banks, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial
Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc. agreed to a merger
that would form the world’s biggest bank, with combined total
assets of $1.7 trillion. Citigroup had $1.4 trillion at the end of
Q2.
.
In
his first speech as PM of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong
directly addressed the tight control the government exerts over
the affluent city-state, saying he wanted a more open and
inclusive society where economic growth was not an end in itself.
.
Jemaah Islamiyah has new leadership and is likely
planning new attacks, an official in Singapore said.
.
Angered
by mass defections to South Korea, North Korea called off
talks with its neighbor on
economic
exchanges. It accused the US of a hand in the defections and of
trying to destabilize the Communist regime.
.
South Korea’s consumer sentiment in July succumbed
to its lowest in nearly 4 year, reflecting the deepening sense of
gloom surrounding Asia’s 4th largest economy.
.
South Korea’s economy has been struggling since the
consumer credit bubble burst last year, leaving households mired
in debt.
.
South Korea’s exports jumped 38% in the year to the end of
July but the momentum is likely to weaken, hurt by higher oil
prices and Beijing’s efforts to slow the economy.
.
North Korea accused its longtime ally (China) of
conspiring with the US to help hundreds of nationals to defect
earlier this month.
.
The South Korean Govt. and the country’s financial watchdog
are t blame for last year’s credit card debacle, which has left
households crippled with debts and lenders mired in bad loans.
.
Philippines
has instructed investors interested in taking over the country’s
electricity transmission grid to submit initial offers.
.
The new movie “Imelda” shows the life &
career of Imelda Marcos, a demonstration that if you act like
royalty and believe that you are royalty, the world will treat you
as royalty. All it takes is ego, show biz savvy and a lot of
chutzpah.
.
Last year the Supreme Court found her guilty of funneling more
than $600 million from the Philippine Govt. into Swiss bank
accounts and awarded the entire amount to the Govt. She faces 150
other court cases.
.
Even under siege she projects an unruffled regality. When her
troubles are mentioned, the strongest emotion she can muster is a
huffy indignation that her motives might be thought of as anything
but noble.
.
As a personality study “Imelda” is a devastating portrait
of how power begets self-delusion. Shown in front of her dead
husband’s open coffin, it’s clear that her show biz canniness
never deserts her.
.
Bangkok’s
gubernatorial candidate include a business executive known for his
marketing flairs;
a
woman famed for helping to rescue and rehabilitate prostitutes;
and a police captain known for his wayward son and the city’s
most notorious massage parlor operator.
.
Thailand will join Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in
joint patrols to fight piracy and terrorism, Indonesia’s
military chief said.
.
An
Indonesian court overturned the convictions of 4 senior
officers blamed for the carnage during East Timor’s 1999 vote
for independence.
.
Vietnam
broadcast a nationwide warning about the recurrence of bird flu,
saying 3 people who died of respiratory illness have been
identified as having been infected with H5 virus.
.
India
and Pakistan agreed to have further talks aimed at resolving
difference over the Siachem region, which forms a disputed
border between the 2 South Asian countries.
.
Tension escalated in
India’s northeastern state of Manipur after protesters,
demanding abolition of the security law, held a general strike
that closed schools, businesses and Govt. offices in the state
capital of Imphal.
.
Pakistan
has uncovered fresh evidence on the whereabouts of al Quaeda
leaders’ hiding places along its rugged borders with
Afghanistan, senior Pakistani officials said.
.
Senior Pakistani officials said some al Quaeda fugitives fled
after reports revealed that a Pakistani computer expert from
OBL’s network had been arrested and was cooperating with
investigators.
.
Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan’s designated prime minister,
survived a suicide bomb attack after addressing a crowd. The
attack was attributed to al Quaeda.
.
A
pro-Maoist trade union in Nepal has threatened to force the
closure of businesses it says are pro-Govt. unless the Govt. stops
calling it a terrorist organization.
.
Gen.
Abdurrashid Rashid decided to run after securing support across
the war-torn country’s deep ethnic divides, said his spokesman.
He was feted by thousands of supporters at a rally in the northern
city of Mazer-e Sharif in Afghanistan.
.
The US military in Afghanistan acknowledged it had held but
later released an alleged Taliban official handed over by an
American vigilante group operating in the country.
