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October
EU appeals to shared values to tempt Taiwan's chip firms
Written by Nur Yasmin
Tech powerhouse Taiwan, home to companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) (2330.TW), has become front and centre of efforts to resolve a shortage of chips that has shut some auto production lines around the world and whose impact is now being felt in consumer electronics too.
While TSMC is building a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in the U.S. state of Arizona, it has given no suggestion of interest in a similar facility in Europe.
Speaking at a virtual Taiwan-EU investment forum, Sabine Weyand, director general of the European Commission's trade section, said the impact of the chip shortage on auto makers was a reminder of how essential chips are.
"With the European Chips Act, Europe will step up its efforts to increase production, but we also want to cooperate with our like-minded partners including Taiwan," she said, referring to legislation proposed by the commission last month.
"Not only because Taiwan excels in the production of semiconductors, but also because technology is ultimately a question of security. We want the EU's digital agenda to be shaped together with our like-minded partners and according to our common values."
Neither the EU nor its member states have formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed and democratically-ruled Taiwan.
Taiwan's government is keen to sign a Bilateral Investment Agreement with the EU, which first included Taiwan on its list of trade partners for such a deal in 2015, the year before President Tsai Ing-wen first became Taiwan's president, but has not held talks with Taiwan on the issue since then.
Tsai told the same forum that Taiwan, with its democracy, freedom and respect for human rights, was a "natural" partner for the EU.
"Starting talks on a bilateral investment agreement can be the beginning of an even more concrete partnership for democracies like us."
October
Myanmar military won't allow ASEAN envoy to meet Suu Kyi
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's ruling military has not blocked a special Southeast Asian envoy from visiting the country but will not allow him to meet detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, because she is charged with crimes, the junta's spokesman said.
A delay in the United Nations approving the military government's U.N. ambassador nomination was politically motivated, spokesman Zaw Min Tun added, saying the U.N. and other countries and organisations "should avoid double standards when they are engaging in international affairs".
The spokesman's remarks, issued by the military in a summary dated Wednesday, come as international pressure builds on the junta to implement a five-point peace plan its top general Min Aung Hlaing agreed to in April with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Myanmar has been in political and economic paralysis since the military's Feb. 1 coup, which triggered an outpouring of anger and protest that has not abated, with some civilians forming militias to take on the powerful army.
The junta's inaction on the ASEAN plan was "tantamount to backtracking" and some member countries were "deep in discussions" about excluding Min Aung Hlaing from a summit this month, Erywan Yusof, the bloc's special envoy, said last week.
Erywan earlier this week said he was in consultations with parties in Myanmar, does not take sides or political positions and looks forward to a visit.
The junta spokesman also insisted Myanmar's judicial system was fair and independent would handle Aung San Suu Kyi's case accordingly, adding the chief justice was appointed by the previous government.
October
Afghan foreign minister to hold talks in Turkey
Written by Nur Yasmin
NATO member Turkey maintained its embassy in Afghanistan after Western countries withdrew following the Taliban takeover, and has urged those countries to step up engagement. At the same time it said it will only work fully with the Taliban if they form a more inclusive administration.
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on Twitter that acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and other ministers would hold talks in Ankara on aid, migration, air transport and trade.
Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed the planned talks with Cavusoglu, but did not provide further information.
Turkey has been working with Qatar to help operate Kabul airport and re-open it to international travel.
On Monday, Muttaqi appealed to the world for good relations, but avoided making firm commitments on some humanitarian issues, key concerns for the international community.
The visit comes a day after Cavusoglu told reporters that he and ministers from other countries plan to visit Kabul for talks with the Taliban.
October
The United Arab Emirates and South Korea on Thursday agreed to start negotiations on a bilateral trade deal targeting a broad expansion of economic ties.
The UAE last month announced it would seek economic agreements with South Korea and seven other countries includingIndia, Britain and Turkey.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the UAE and South Korea will include deals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop green technology, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-Koosaid.
"We are aiming to make our CEPA a new-generation free trade agreement," he told a news conference in Dubai.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi, speaking alongside Yeo, said negotiations would start within two months and that a deal could be reached within a year.
Zeyoudi said he hoped half of the eight CEPA agreements would be completed by the end of 2022.
The UAE's economy contracted last year when it was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and it faces increasing economic competition from Saudi Arabia.
Zeyoudi told Reuters the "ultimate goal" for the UAE would be to lift all tariffs and quotas on goods and services. He also said the UAE planned to start CEPA talks with Japan, Chile, Georgia and Ukraine.
"We have many countries who are interested."
October
Suicides among Japanese children at record high during pandemic -media
Written by Nur Yasmin
Child suicides in Japan are the highest they have been in more than four decades, local media have reported, citing the country's education ministry.
As the COVID-19 pandemic prompted school closings and disrupted classrooms last year, 415 children from elementary to high school age were recorded as having taken their own lives, according to the education ministry's survey.
The number is up by nearly 100 from last year, the highest since record-keeping began in 1974, the Asahi newspaper reported on Thursday.
Suicide has a long history in Japan as a way of avoiding perceived shame or dishonour, and its suicide rate has long topped the Group of Seven nations, but a national effort brought numbers down by roughly 40 percent over 15 years, including 10 straight years of decline from 2009.
Amid the pandemic, suicides increased in 2020 after a decade of declines, with the number of women committing suicide surging amid the emotional and financial stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic, although fewer men took their own lives.
The education ministry said a record high of more than 196,127 school children were absent for 30 days or more, media reported.
The results showed that changes in school and household environments due to the pandemic have had a huge impact on children's behaviour, NHK quoted an education ministry official as saying.
October
ASEAN to discuss excluding Myanmar leader from summit - sources
Written by Nur Yasmin
Southeast Asian foreign ministers will discuss excluding Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from a coming regional summit at a meeting on Friday, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have strongly criticised the military government's inaction on a five-point plan that it agreed to with the bloc in April, centring on dialogue among all parties, humanitarian access and an end of hostilities.
Friday's previously unscheduled, virtual meeting will be hosted by current ASEAN chair, Brunei, said the sources based in ASEAN member countries, who included a diplomat and another government official.
Myanmar's military spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to calls seeking comment on the meeting. Brunei's foreign ministry did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Erywan Yusof, the bloc's special envoy to Myanmar, last week confirmed some members had been "deep in discussions" about not inviting the coup leader to the Oct. 26-28 virtual summit.
He said the junta's lack of commitment to the process was "tantamount to backtracking". Erywan's office declined to comment on Friday's meeting.
Myanmar, with a long history of military dictatorship and international allegations of systematic human rights abuses, has been ASEAN's trickiest issue since the group was formed in 1967, testing the limits of its unity and its policy of non-interference.
The United Nations, United States and China, among others, have backed ASEAN's efforts to find a diplomatic solution, but pressure on the group has mounted in recent months, with some critics calling for tougher measures to respond to Myanmar's recalcitrance.
More than 1,100 people have been killed since the coup, according to the United Nations, many during a crackdown by security forces on strikes and protests allied with Aung San Suu Kyi's ousted government.
Erywan said this week he was in consultations with parties in Myanmar, does not take sides or political positions and looks forward to a visit.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tin, in written remarks dated Wednesday, said the envoy would not be allowed to meet Suu Kyi because she is charged with crimes.
October
Japan's largest opposition party focuses on human rights in party platform
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's largest opposition group unveiled a campaign platform on Wednesday that said it would stand for rights like supporting same-sex marriage and different surnames for couples, marking out differences with the conservative ruling party.
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), led by Yukio Edano, is facing a critical test in the Oct 31 general election, the first it is contesting since its formation last year, hoping to make a dent in the ruling party coalition that holds a clear majority in parliament.
But it is struggling in opinion polls, and with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also emphasizing social safety nets and similar policies long espoused by the Democratic Party from which the CDPJ was formed, it is facing a battle to stake out its own territory.
Party president Yukio Edano told a news conference that the emphasis on legal steps towards diversity would be one of the biggest differences between the two groups - although the CDPJ also wants to steer away from nuclear power, which the LDP would retain as an option.
"This is clearly our biggest difference - (allowing) couples with different surnames, equality laws for LGBTQ, and laws recognising same-sex marriage," he said.
"We'd like a comprehensive strengthening of human rights so nobody is left behind."
The LDP remains socially conservative and, while progress has been made on LGBTQ rights in society, much more needs to be done. New Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during the LDP leadership race that he was not in favour of same-sex marriage, for example.
The CDPJ's roots lie in the Democratic Party of Japan, which succeeded in defeating the LDP-Komeito alliance in 2009, and held power for a bit more than three years - a period that included the March 11, 2011 tsunami and disaster at the nuclear power station in Fukushima which tinged the party with an image of failure in the eye of voters.
A recent poll by the Asahi Shimbun daily found only 13% were planning to vote for them, far behind the LDP's 47%; most other polls record support in the single digits.
Moreover, the LDP has co-opted several of their positions on social safety nets and income distribution, said Airo Hino, a political science professor at Waseda University in Tokyo.
"Kishida has really drawn a lot closer in his policies to what the CDPJ has been saying, so it's going to be pretty hard for them to stand out," he said.
Criticising the LDP may be one way for it to do so. Edano said Kishida's administration was no different from those of his predecessors, Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga. Suga's tenure, in particular, saw the LDP's popularity nosedive, while the last days of Abe were marred by money scandals.
"If either Abe or Suga was in power, it would be a lot easier for the opposition," Hino said. "But with Kishida, it's hard to see how far criticism will take them unless they can develop their own distinct character."
October
Russia can help Europe, isn't using gas as a weapon, says Putin
Written by Nur Yasmin
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia was not using gas as a weapon and was ready to help ease Europe's energy crunch as the region's bloc called an emergency summit to tackle skyrocketing prices.
Energy demand has surged as economies have rebounded from the pandemic, driving up prices of oil, gas and coal, stoking inflationary pressures and undermining efforts to cut the use of polluting fossil fuels in the fight against global warming.
China, the world's second biggest economy and its biggest greenhouse gas emitter, has boosted coal output and imports, as domestic coal prices have hit record levels and power stations have struggled to keep the lights on in homes and factories.
The energy crunch has amplified Wednesday's call by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for tripling investment in renewables to steady markets and fight climate change.
Europe's gas squeeze has shone a spotlight on Russia, which accounts for a third of the region's supplies, prompting European politicians to blame Moscow for not pumping enough.
Putin told an energy conference in Moscow that the gas market was not balanced or predictable, particularly in Europe, but said Russia was meeting its contractual obligations to supply clients and was ready to boost supplies if asked.
He dismissed any idea that Russia was using energy as a weapon: "This is just politically motivated chatter, which has no basis whatsoever."
Russia and Europe have been embroiled in a dispute over a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2, to supply Russian gas to Germany. The pipeline is built but awaits approval to start pumping, amid opposition from the United States and some Europeans nations which fear it will make Europe even more reliant on Russia.
Some European politicians say Moscow is using the fuel crisis as leverage, a charge it has repeatedly denied.
DE-GAS EUROPE
The European Commission outlined measures on Wednesday that the 27-nation EU would take to combat the energy crisis, including exploring joint gas purchasing among countries to cushion price spikes.
EU countries hold an extraordinary meeting on Oct. 26 to discuss the price spike.
"The only way to fully decouple gas from electricity is no longer to use it to generate power," EU energy policy chief Kadri Simson said. "This is the EU's long-term goal, to replace fossil fuels with renewables."
The Paris-based IEA said the world had to invest $4 trillion by 2030 in clean energy and infrastructure - triple current levels - to achieve net zero emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, the target of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
"The world is not investing enough to meet its future energy needs," it said in a report, published before the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, which starts on Oct. 31.
WINTER SPIKE?
As renewables have failed to fill gaps amid surging demand, oil and gas prices have roared higher.
Benchmark crude was trading close to last week's more than three-year high above $84 a barrel. The benchmark European gas price is up more than 350% this year, trading above $31 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Wednesday, although down from last week's spike above $52.
Citi bank raised its forecast for European and Asian benchmark gas prices for the fourth quarter by about $3, saying European prices could average $30.90/mmBtu.
"Current prices are above fundamentally justified levels, should remain volatile and could still reach $100/mmBtu or above this season if the weather gets very cold," it said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries trimmed its world oil demand forecast for 2021 but said surging gas prices could boost demand as customers switch to oil products.
In China, the most-active January Zhengzhou thermal coal futures touched a record high of 1,640 yuan ($254.54) per tonne on Wednesday, up more than 190% so far this year.
Local governments in top Chinese coal producing areas Shanxi and Inner Mongolia ordered about 200 mines to boost output, but rain flooded 60 mines in Shanxi. China's coal imports surged 76% in September.
Seeking to ease the power crunch, Beijing said it would allow power plants to charge commercial customers market-based prices, breaking with a policy that had allowed industry to lock in fixed-price electricity deals with suppliers.
October
COVID-19 curbs in Sydney could ease early amid surge in vaccinations
Written by Nur Yasmin
New South Wales could ease more restrictions in Sydney a week earlier than planned on Oct. 18 as Australia's most populous state races towards its 80% double-dose vaccination target, the government said on Wednesday.
The southeastern state is expected to hit the mark over the weekend, beating forecasts, and officials previously promised to relax further restrictions on vaccinated residents on the first Monday after reaching that milestone.
"If we hit 80%, we've always said it will be the Monday following," state Premier Dominic Perrottet told ABC Radio. "We will have this discussion with our team on Thursday and we will make a decision to be announced on Friday."
Retail stores, pubs and gyms can allow more vaccinated patrons when inoculation reaches 80%. Mandatory masks will not be required inside offices and nightclubs can reopen for seated drinking, while weddings can have unlimited guests.
Sydney's more than 5 million residents came out of a nearly four-month lockdown on Monday after the 70% vaccination target was reached, with state officials promising a phased easing of remaining restrictions after vaccination rates reach 80% and 90%.
The NSW government has warned infections will increase with reopening but has brushed aside warnings from some health experts that hospitals could be overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases under Perrottet's strategy of living with the virus.
Daily infections in New South Wales rose to 444 on Wednesday, up from 360 a day earlier, but well down from the pandemic high of 1,599 in early September.
Australia is in the grip of a third wave of infections fuelled by the Delta variant that has hit Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities, and the capital Canberra.
Canberra's 400,000 residents will exit lockdown on Friday as the first-dose vaccination rate topped 95%, one of the highest among Australia's regional capitals.
Victoria, which includes Melbourne, suffered the deadliest day of the Delta outbreak on Wednesday with 13 deaths. It reported 1,571 new infections, up from 1,466 on Tuesday.
Even with the Delta outbreaks, Australia has managed to keep its coronavirus numbers relatively low, with some 133,400 cases and 1,478 deaths.
October
British American Tobacco pulls out of army-ruled Myanmar
Written by Nur Yasmin
British American Tobacco (BATS.L) will cease all operations in military-ruled Myanmar and withdraw by the end of this year, the company said on Tuesday, the latest Western firm to pull out of the country in turmoil since a February coup.
Responding to a query from Reuters about the status of its operations in the Southeast Asian country, the company said the decision was taken having assessed the long-term viability of its Myanmar business.
"Like any global company, we continuously evaluate our operations around the world," the company said.
"Having evaluated the long-term operational and commercial viability of our business in Myanmar, we have taken the decision to withdraw from the country and cease all operations."
Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, ending a decade of tentative democracy and economic reform that followed the end of a half century of military rule in 2011 and years of crippling western sanctions.
Many big companies in Myanmar initially expressed their commitment to the country in the weeks after the coup, but a months-long army crackdown on strikes and protests and the killing of more than 1,000 civilians has forced many firms to rethink.
BAT did not elaborate on the reason for its decision to pull out of the country.
BAT started operating in Myanmar in 2013, two years after a quasi-civilian government led by technocrats and retired generals embarked on sweeping reforms to lure investors.
The country's fragile economy is now in dire straits, with the kyat currency losing more than 60% of its value last month, pushing up food and fuel costs. The World Bank has forecast an 18% contraction in gross domestic product this year.
The United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union have responded by imposing targeted sanctions on the military and its vast network of business interests.