The former minister of mines and geology for the African Republic of Guinea was arrested on Tuesday in New York and charged with taking $8.5m in bribes in exchange for assigning lucrative investment rights to a Chinese-owned conglomerate. Mahmoud Thiam, an American citizen, was arrested at his home in Manhattan and was expected to appear in court later in the day. Mr Thiam, a former UBS banker, […]
Investors are making a record bet on global bank shares following the US election, according to a new survey of institutional money managers that also highlights the risks to the sector if Donald Trump fails to deliver faster economic growth. The allocation that investors made to bank stocks this month climbed to a weighting of 31 per cent above their benchmarks, up from 25 per cent in […]
Low interest rates pose one of the biggest threats to the US economy and expose investors to the potential for heavy loses from a price shock across a range of markets, according to an independent arm of the US Treasury. The concerns are raised in the Office of Financial Research’s annual financial stability report to Congress, which concludes that threats to stability remain “in a medium range”. […]
Boeing Chinese hackers are targeting aviation systems in the quest for information and intellectual property which will boost the country’s competitiveness, security researchers say. Cyberattacks against the aviation industry are nothing new, but with the inclusion of Internet-capable devices at the basic level of embedded devices to in-flight Wi-Fi and connected aviation systems, there are more avenues than ever that threat actors can exploit. Successful attacks which […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The minority Christian governor of Indonesia’s capital sobbed in court Tuesday on the first day of his blasphemy trial as he recalled the role of Muslim godparents in his childhood and said he would never intentionally insult Islam. The national upheaval over the governor’s alleged blasphemy has challenged Indonesia’s reputation for practicing a moderate form of Islam, shaken the government and exposed religious […]
BEIJING Chinese soldiers laid wreaths on Tuesday at a ceremony to mark the 1937 massacre of civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing by Japanese troops. The televised event at the Nanjing Massacre memorial recalls an incident in which China says Japanese soldiers killed 300,000 people in the city that was then its capital. A postwar Allied tribunal put the toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese […]
By Kanupriya Kapoor | JAKARTA JAKARTA A tearful governor of Jakarta denied on Tuesday he had intended to insult the Koran at the start of his blasphemy trial in the Indonesian capital, which is seen as a test of religious freedom in the world largest Muslim-majority nation. Around 100 Muslim protesters calling for the jailing of Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, chanted “God is […]
By Ayesha Rascoe and Matt Spetalnick | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The White House on Monday insisted that Washington’s “one China” policy should not be used as a “bargaining chip” with Beijing after President-elect Donald Trump said the United States did not necessarily have to be bound by its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of China. Signaling further resistance Trump will face in Washington if he tries to […]
MEXICO CITY China and Mexico pledged on Monday to deepen ties at a meeting between their top diplomats following last month’s U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has tested Washington’s relationship with both countries. Before arriving in Mexico on Sunday, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with members of Trump’s team in New York, including his pick for national security adviser, retired Army Lieutenant General […]
By Nick Carey and Ginger Gibson | CHICAGO/WASHINGTON CHICAGO/WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s challenges to China on trade and Taiwan are rattling American companies who have long benefited from stable relations between the two countries but now fear retaliation by Beijing if Trump were to act. Trump jarred Chinese officials on Sunday by saying the United States did not necessarily have to stick to its long-standing position […]
Posted December 13, 2016 09:33:11 Photo: Jakarta protesters hold a sign that reads “Jail Ahok”. (ABC News: Adam Harvey) Indonesia’s reputation for religious tolerance is expected be tested at the upcoming blasphemy trial of Jakarta’s Christian Governor “Ahok” Basuki. Key points: Targeted after telling voters they were being misled by clerics saying Muslims could not vote for a Christian Sparked reports that Mr Purnama criticised the Koran […]
Thousands of giant panda fans from around the world have chosen the names Ya Lun and Xi Lun for the new female twins at the Atlanta zoo, officials said on Monday. Ya means “elegant,” Xi means “happy,” and Lun refers to the fluffy black-and-white bears’ mother, Lun Lun. The names were announced on the 100th day after their Sept. 3 births, in line with Chinese tradition, Zoo […]
Crude oil surged to the highest in 17 months amid efforts to cut production, pushing up the outlook for global inflation and sending 10-year Treasury yields above 2.5 percent for the first time since October 2014. Chinese equities tumbled. Oil jumped more than 4 percent in New York and London after Saudi Arabia signaled it will cut output by more than previously agreed amid a weekend deal to […]
By J.R. Wu | TAIPEI TAIPEI U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s declaration that the United States could link its policy on Taiwan to trade negotiations with China prompted concerns on the island that it may become a pawn in wider superpower discussions. “Trump’s comments regularly mention Taiwan. What advantage is this giving Taiwan? This is something we must consider,” Johnny Chiang, an opposition Nationalist lawmaker, told reporters. “Otherwise, […]
The Chinese government has warned Donald Trump that the two countries will have “nothing to discuss” if the US president-elect’s incoming administration decides to discard the four-decade old “One China” policy. “Adherence to the One China policy is the political bedrock for development of [bilateral] relations,” Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said on Monday. “If compromised, there will be nothing to discuss on co-operation in major fields.” […]
Photo: Bullit Marquez, AP FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2016, file photo, protesters burn a mock American flag during a protest against the planned joint US-Philippines military exercise in central Philippines in front of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines. The Philippines has again thumbed its nose at the U.S., its longtime defense ally, saying it won’t be used as a springboard for U.S. ships and […]
Boeing officials, already dismayed by Mr. Trump’s attack last week over the costs of a new Air Force One, acknowledged that the Iran jet deal still faced contingencies — a polite way of saying they were deeply worried about whether Mr. Trump and the Republican-led Congress would support it. Continue reading the main story Beyond that deal, Boeing and other companies that export jet engines, high-tech products […]
Mobile computing in 2016 was quite literally explosive, but when you look beyond the schadenfreude of watching Samsung mishandle its defining crisis of the year, the past 12 months have hardly set the world alight. The best example of the current state of affairs is the Google Pixel XL. Technically, this is the best Android phone on the market at the moment. Its 5.5-inch AMOLED screen is […]
By Caren Bohan | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President-elect Donald Trump questioned whether the United States had to be bound by its long-standing position that Taiwan is part of “one China” and brushed aside Beijing’s concerns about his decision to accept a phone call from Taiwan’s president. “I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a ‘one China’ […]
MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe the alleged payoffs in the Bureau of Immigration (BI) over the 1,316 Chinese nationals recently arrested in an illegal online casino of Chinese gaming mogul Jack Lam at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga. Aguirre earlier considered letting the BI investigate its own ranks, but later decided to give the task […]
This is part of a series on the global rise of exchange traded funds The morning after the US election Steven Bregman, a New York-based hedge fund manager, began to notice something strange going on in a corner of the stock market. His screen showed that shares of gold mining companies were being sold indiscriminately, falling by double digits, even though the price of gold itself had […]
Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is targeting the arrival of 200,000 Chinese visitors to the emirate by 2021. Khalid Jasim Al Midfa, chairman of SCTDA, said that China is a major international source market for tourism and commerce. Hotels in Sharjah welcomed more than 75,000 Chinese visitors during the first three quarters of 2016, a 75 percent year on year growth, he said. “Through taking […]
By David Lawder | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump is stacking his trade transition team with veterans of the U.S. steel industry’s battles with China, signaling a potentially more aggressive approach to U.S. complaints of unfair Chinese subsidies for its exports and barriers to imports. Led by Wilbur Ross, a billionaire steel investor and Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, Dan DiMicco, the former CEO of steelmaker Nucor […]
FRANKFURT German semiconductor chipmaking machinery company Aixtron (AIXGn.DE) is considering reducing the size of the business with a partial sale, its chief executive said in an interview published on Friday, opening the door for bidders after a deal with a Chinese firm collapsed. “There are two options: First, we could hope that the markets for our products recover and continue investing high sums in new equipment. But […]
