BloombergIt has been a good year for Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. Investors are piling money on Reliance, betting that newer businesses such as telecommunications and retail could soon unlock value. While the success of the phone operator was cause for cheer, the business mogul’s plans to pare Reliance’s debt have sent the company’s stock soaring to a record. Ambani has vowed to slash the group’s net debt to zero by early 2021. Reliance Industries had a net debt of 1.54 trillion rupees (US$21.6 billion) at the end of March 31, Ambani told shareholders in August.

By Sean Lin / Staff reporterThe Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators to halt a review of an anti-infiltration bill, saying that the bill would subject Taiwanese working or studying in China to “thought censorship,” essentially reinstating martial law. The DPP caucus last month sponsored a motion to allow the bill to advance to a second reading and earlier this month filed a motion to review it on Tuesday next week, which passed with a majority vote. If passed, the bill would reinstate martial law and usher in an era of “green terror,” he said, referring to the DPP’s affiliation with the pan-green camp. The review’s scheduling shows that it is being pushed through before the Jan. 11 presidential and legislative elections, KMT Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民) said. The DPP caucus has “neutered” the Mainland Affairs Council with the bill, as council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) has not yet said a word about it, Hsu added.

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporterAir carriers in Taiwan and China are to offer additional flights for Taiwanese heading home for the Lunar New Year holiday next month, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday. As in the past, the two sides would only limit the number of additional flights departing from certain Chinese airports, the agency said, adding that it would not limit the total number of additional flights that carriers can offer. Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport are not covered by the program, it said, urging carriers to pay attention to the rule when applying to offer additional flights. Taiwanese carriers have proposed dispatching two extra flights from Pudong and one from Shengzhen on the two dates, the agency said. “The additional flights are being offered due to Taiwan’s internal affairs and are different from those provided for homebound travelers for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The agency does not comment on personnel decisions, an FAA spokesman said. “The FAA continues to follow a thorough process for returning the Boeing 737 MAX to passenger service,” the spokesman said. Boeing shares rallied on the announcement of the leadership shake-up, which came after calls in the US Congress for Muilenburg to go. Following the announcement, Calhoun reached out to lawmakers, airline CEOs, suppliers, regulators and other key stakeholders, a Boeing spokesman said. Muilenburg is to leave the company immediately, but Calhoun would not take the CEO post until Jan. 13, while he exits existing commitments, Boeing said in a news release.

While district councils have little power, they select some of the 1,200 electors who choose Hong Kong’s chief executive. In the next election, pro-democracy parties will fill nearly 10 percent of those seats. District councils are elected in a fully democratic process (compared with only half the seats in the Hong Kong Legislative Council). However, that model’s failure in Hong Kong has hardened anti-China sentiment and turned many voters away from the pan-blue camp, which favors closer ties with Beijing. The Chinese state, built on a millennia-old paradigm of political order, cannot cope with intergovernmental conflict.

AFP, WASHINGTONThe US has temporarily stopped sending bomb-detecting sniffer dogs to Jordan and Egypt after several of the animals died due to what US officials say was lack of care. The dogs “play a critical role in our CT [counterterrorism] efforts overseas and in saving American lives,” the spokesperson said. The OIG investigators recommended that the US government stop supplying Jordan with sniffer dogs — but the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which sends sniffer dogs abroad, refused to comply. The investigators renewed their earlier recommendation to stop sending dogs to Jordan and have added Egypt to the black list. This time the state department complied.

AFP, HONG KONGA colorful cast of political novices who won Hong Kong’s local elections are attending cram courses and trading tips on how to take the fight to the territory’s pro-Beijing establishment in their own neighborhoods. The territory’s district councils are the only elections in which Hong Kongers can vote for every seat — and they did so in record numbers this year. Hong Kong’s district councils deal with bread-and-butter issues such as bus timetables and garbage collections. Sky-high housing costs fuel Hong Kong’s political crisis, with public anger palpable over the pro-Beijing establishment’s cozy links with tycoons. Beijing forbids Hong Kongers from directly electing their leader — a stance which lies at the heart of the territory’s political unrest.

By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterDue to robust market demand in Taiwan and the gradual stabilization of its Vietnamese unit, Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp (東和鋼鐵) is expected to have a better growth outlook next year than its local peers, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益投顧) said in a note on Monday. Tung Ho is an integrated electric furnace steel manufacturer with a product mix of rebar, H-beams, billets, steel structures and plates. A steady increase in the permitted gross floor area for building is buoying demand for construction steel and especially benefits Tung Ho, the nation’s largest construction steelmaker, Capital Investment said. The total permitted floor area is forecast to exceed 35 million square meters this year — the third-highest since 2011, Capital Investment said. As a result, the firm’s consolidated revenue is forecast to increase 6.21 percent to NT$47.3 billion next year and net profit could grow 21.67 percent to NT$1.73 billion, with earnings per share of NT$1.72, Capital Investment said.

His remark was aimed at putting on an act to get recognition from Han supporters in anticipation of their attacks. A call by KMT Tainan chapter head Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) gained more than 10,000 new members for the party. This kind of connection is missing between Wu and Han supporters. However, the Han supporters tend to be from the outer circle. From an international perspective, whether the KMT likes it or not, Tsai’s historic role as the first female president of Taiwan has been lauded.

More than 5,000 rice products from Japan and around the world competed in the annual International Contest on Rice Taste Evaluation in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. The 87-year-old Taiwanese farmer, who has grown rice for nearly six decades, won the award with his organic rice grown in Taitung’s Chihshang Township (池上). Hsieh added that for him, the knowledge needed to produce quality rice is more profound than that of calligraphy. In the contest with Japanese products, Hsieh’s rice received the second-largest number of votes and won a gold prize, he said. As Japan highly values rice quality and flavor, Hsieh’s rice could be said to be among the world’s best, Hu said.

By Ann Maxon / Staff reporterSeveral Kaohsiung city councilors yesterday criticized Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for missing an event the city government held to mark his first anniversary in office. “As Han has stopped answering to the city, Kaohsiung residents might as well do away with this telephone operator,” she added. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors said that Han has been “full of lies” and “irresponsible” over the past year. “His lies have embarrassed Kaohsiung residents,” Lin said. “There has never been a Kaohsiung mayor who has put in less effort and cared less about the city” than Han, DPP Kaohsiung City Councilor Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) said.

Staff writer, with CNAThe first section of the Taipei MRT circular line would not start operations by the end of this year as planned, as a final inspection has yet to be scheduled, the New Taipei City Department of Rapid Transit Systems announced on Monday. If not, he hoped the line would start operations as soon as possible once its safety is ensured, he said at the time. There were no plans to conduct a final inspection yesterday, a Ministry of Transportation and Communications official said. After the final inspection, an inspection committee would offer opinions for improvements to the line, they said. The ministry would approve the line’s launch only after all improvements have been made, the official added.

“In the current difficult security situation in East Asia, relations between Japan and South Korea are extremely important. South Korea is an important neighbor,” Abe told reporters after the meeting. Moon urged Japan to reverse the tighter trade controls it had placed on South Korea, his spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said after the meeting. For his part, Abe called on Seoul to resolve a disagreement over South Korean court rulings holding Japanese companies liable for cases of forced labor during the 1910-1945 colonization. However, under pressure from the US, South Korea last month suspended its plan to withdraw from a military information-sharing pact with Japan.

Staff writer, with CNAFormosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) is to reduce its year-end bonus for employees due to weaker profits resulting from falling product prices, a source within the industrial conglomerate said yesterday. FPG’s year-end bonuses are closely watched by the market, because they tend to set the benchmark for the private sector. After the release of the fourth-quarter earnings report, executives would sit down with union representatives to discuss the year-end bonus, the source said. FPG added a cash gift of NT$15,000 to the previous to the year-end bonus, but the group decided to scrap the gift after raising the ceiling for year-end bonuses to seven months of salary from six months, the source said. However, the union might request that the cash gift be maintained this year because of the reduction to the year-end bonus, the source said.

Staff writer, with CNAA strong and unwavering national defense that does not make compromises is the key to defending Taiwan, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday as she promoted 20 senior military personnel in Taipei. In her address, Tsai said that China has continued to pressure Taiwan on various fronts: isolating the nation internationally, intensifying military threats and infiltrating the nation’s politics in an attempt to divide society. “This is because safeguarding the Republic of China is never about making compromises, but depending on a strong and unwavering national defense,” Tsai said. Although Tsai did not elaborate on what she considered to be “making compromises,” she was likely referring to the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) long-standing support of the so-called “1992 consensus” as a basis for cross-strait relations. At yesterday’s conferral ceremony, five officers were promoted to the rank of two-star general — lieutenant general or vice admiral — with a further 15 elevated to the rank of one-star general — major general or rear admiral, the Ministry of National Defense said.