. Every year, thousands of girls, some as young as 12,
are coerced or lured into prostitution with promises of
well-paid jobs. UNICEF, the UN’s children organization,
estimates that hundreds of child prostitutes work in Asia.
. Widespread
poverty in SE Asia leaves girls under 18 years of age vulnerable
to traffickers who entice the with the promise of a decent job
with better pay abroad. East Asia is home to 1/3 of the 1.2
million youngsters who are trafficked worldwide.
. Some
traffickers belong to large international crime syndicates,
relying on local brokers to recruit girls from villages. Others
operate independently, conducting business on their own.
. Investment in fixed assets accelerated sharply in
July in China as the impact of government measures to
cool economic activity began to wear off.
.
Staples, the office supply chain store, plans to invest in China
and expand in Europe. By taking a minority stake in
Shanghai-based OA365, it hopes to grab a chunk of China’s
estimated $25 billion office products market.
. China is preparing to sell up to 11 power
plants in a move that would open its fast-growing energy market
to foreign companies and raise some $2 billion.
. Amazon.com agreed to pay $75 million to
Joyo.com, China’s largest online of books, music and videos.
It will give Amazon its 7th international Web site.
. Lethal strain of avian flu is reported fund
in pigs in China, a discovery that could move the virus a step
closer to becoming a potentially deadly problem for people.
.
PRC’s influential elders have used Deng Xiaopeng’s 100th
birthday anniversary to emphasize urgency of one great endeavor
that Deng never embraced: overhauling one-party political
system.
. Police officers and soldiers took over in
rural northern China an 800-year old Buddhist temple that was
renovated by an American Buddhist group for $3 million,
arresting its spiritual leader and forcibly removing its
occupants.
. It also arrested 8 underground Roman
Catholic priests in a NE village after a nighttime
house-to-house search. The Govt. allows worship only at
state-approved sanctuaries. Persecution of dissidents is a
brutal affair.
. From China’s leadership has come the word:
no more porn. No more nudity on Internet. No more late night
erotica on the phone. Goodbye to racy text messages on the
mobile.
. China will offer 10-year residency permits
to foreigners who bring it important investments or business
skills, exempting them from rules that require most foreigners
to renew visas annually, officials said.
. In 6 months, Taiwan’s FSC (Financial
Supervisory Commission) has formatted amendments to the
securities trading law and certified public accountant law, has
tightened supervision of banks’ loan portfolios and
reorganized procedures for inspection of listed companies
. Taiwan’s economy grew at its fastest pace
for 4 years in Q2, but Govt. warned that momentum would slow
substantially in Q2 of the year and in 2005.
. Weakening demand in China and US of its products
will exert a drag on Taiwan’s economy.
.
GNP expanded 7.7% in Q2 from a year earlier helped by a low base
owing to the effect of acute severe respiratory last year and
stronger than expected corporate investment, said the
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics.
.
Govt. economists pointed out that continued slide in stock
market and concerns over slower global growth were already
taking their toll on consumer confidence.
.
Corporate investment will set an even stronger record,
rebounding to 24% growth following several years of contraction
and marking the strongest growth since 1993.
.
The
arrest and detention of a Hong Kong pro-democracy
politician (Alex Ho) having a trip to China less than a month
before an important election has raised concerns about mainland
China’s influence in the territory’s democratic process.
.
This month’s elections will be the most closely watched since
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
.
There have been unconfirmed reports of mainland China’s
interference in the territory’s democratic process.
.
A Hong Kong road show will offer international investors equity
in 15 Chinese hospitals, 3 brand-name food companies and scores
of other companies.
. More than 100 men were busted for betting on
cricket fight and now face up to 3 months in jail.
. Hong Kong has taken several steps to reduce
pollution in the past decade, including the conversion of taxis
to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It has a network of air
pollution monitoring stations whose readings are published on
the Internet every hour.
.
Hong Kong officials have not persuaded their counterparts in
Guangdong to tackle the issue as urgently as Hong Kong or
Beijing would like. Economic expansion in Guangdong, more than
15% in first half of this year, will make it hard to achieve the
targets.
. Lone Star, the US private equity company, has
acquired 3 office towers in central Tokyo for $1.1 billion in
the latest sign that foreign investors expect a rebound in
selected parts of Japan’s moribund property market.
. JAL will offer frequent flyer cards that
will replace boarding passes on domestic trip. It will be
introduced at Tokyo’s Haneda airport this winter and will be
extended to other airports later.
. Daiei, the Japanese supermarket company, has
sent its creditor banks a new restructuring plan to try to fend
off a possible bid from Wal-Mart.
. Seoul invited bids for its biggest natural gas supply
contract, worth an estimated $30 billion over 20 years. It
underscores NE Asia’s voracious appetite for energy.
. In the past, South Korea tended to make contracts of smaller
amounts and for shorter term. Signing a contract for 20 years is
a very new approach.
. South Korea & Japan, which have scant
energy resources, are among the world’s biggest importers of
oil & gas.
.
The South Korean economy grew at annualized rate of 5.5% in Q2
slightly faster than the 5.4% in Q1, said the Bank of Korea.
.
North Korea said it would not attend talks about its nuclear
weapons programs, casting doubt on the 6-nations’ diplomatic
process set up to resolve the crisis.
. Novartis said it would make its largest investment in
Asia by building a $180 million production plant in Singapore
which is seeking to become the region’s bio-medical hub.
.
This is the 3rd pharmaceutical company after Pfizer
and GlaxoSmithKlein have already unveiled similar plans.
.
Singapore hopes drug production will exceed $5 billion this year
and nearly $15 billion by 2014. Novartis will open a new plant
in 2007 and produce pills for the global market.
. Philippines’ budget deficit in July rose by 22% from a year ago
to 19.3 billion pesos ($345 million) as growth in Govt. expenses
outpaced tax collection and other revenues during the month.
. Riot police dispersed protester demanding RP
lift ban on allowing its citizens to go Iraq for jobs.
. Thailand’s central bank raised its key repurchase rate by 25
basic points, a long awaited move expected to bolster the bath
after sharp oil price rises.
. Thailand
pulled out its small contingent of 450 troops from Iraq,
declining US request to extend its military presence there that
irritated its restive Malay Muslim minority.
. Thailand’s credit rating was bolstered by
S&P’s report citing a rise in foreign reserves &
dwindling govt. debt.
. Indonesia’s formerly aloof president (Megawati Sukarnoputri) has
emerged from the palace and braved the hustings. She had
discovered in recent weeks what many world leaders learned long
ago: the power of incumbency.
. Indonesia
is a far freer society than under Suharto. But the legal system
remains mired in corruption to the extent that many people, from
small street peddlers to intl. businessmen, believe the rule of
law remains a promise only.
.
Under the new democracy in Indonesia, there is only the
semblance of legality, and that’s not good.
.
A militant Muslim cleric (Abu Bakar Bashir) was charged under a
tough anti-terrorism law in the bombing of a Jakarta hotel and
would face the death penalty if convicted.
. Vietnam said is doesn’t have plans for commercial
flights to Spratly Islands, apparently seeking to reduce tension
with China.
. Gujarat (India) will reopen religious riots
probe. It is seen as a further rebuke of the Hindu Nationalist
BJ Party which was accused of complicity in violence against the
Muslim minority.
. India is likely to reduce sharply its
customs and excise taxes on crude oil and gasoline imports in an
effort to check the country’s rising inflation rate.
. Tata Steel of India
paid $286 million for Singapore’s NatSteel, making the
first move into a foreign market by Tata, the metal group’s
parent company.
. Authorities in NE India urged Bangladesh last
week not to kill about 100 wild elephants that have strayed
across the border and gone on a rampage, killing 13 people and
injuring dozens.
. Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan promised to
intensify his campaign against terrorism despite continuing
criticism from the country’s Islamic hardliners.
. A campaign by Buddhist monks’ party, the National
Heritage Party, in Sri Lanka to outlaw religious
conversions, suffered a setback after the Supreme Court ruled
that its proposed bill went against the Constitution.
. Katmandu (Nepal) was temporarily cut off
because of blockade ordered by Maoist insurgents, prompting the
government to consider negotiation.
