Adani’s bribery case is bad news for Modi
The case is against Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, who is executive director of the green energy business, and six other individuals. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi had made crony capitalism — especially Gautam Adani’s proximity to Modi — the central piece of his campaign, particularly in the Maharashtra poll. For regional opposition leaders, Adani’s link with Modi has not exactly been a hot button issue. In a press conference on Thursday last week, the Congress Party leader called for Buch’s removal and Gautam Adani’s arrest. While the DOJ indictment came too late to sway the vote in Maharashtra, it might yet cast a long shadow — on India’s national politics and relations with Washington next year.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2024 16:47 UTC
Philippine VP threatens to have Marcos assassinated
The Philippine Presidential Security Command boosted Marcos’ security and said it considered Duterte’s threat, which was “made so brazenly in public,” a national security issue. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte listens as she attends a joint committee hearing of the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, investigating the war on drugs during the administration of his father former President Rodrigo Duterte. The Philippine constitution states that if a president dies, sustains a permanent disability, is removed from office or resigns, the vice president takes over and serves the rest of the term. In a predawn online news conference, an angry Sara Duterte accused Marcos of incompetence as a president and of being a liar, along with his wife and the House speaker in expletives-laden remarks. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM [Marcos], [first lady] Liza Araneta and [Speaker] Martin Romualdez.
Source:Taipei Times
November 24, 2024 16:46 UTC
Trump names hedge fund manager as US Treasury secretary
Trump names hedge fund manager as US Treasury secretaryAFP, WASHINGTONUS President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named billionaire Scott Bessent as his US Treasury secretary, choosing the hedge fund manager to help execute an agenda promising tax cuts and tariffs. “Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists,” Trump said in a statement. Scott Bessent speaks during a rally for former US president Donald Trump in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 14. The US Department of Treasury has oversight across a range of areas, from federal finances to bank supervision. In 2015, he raised capital, including US$2 billion from Soros, to start his own hedge fund.
Source:Taipei Times
November 23, 2024 18:43 UTC
Discrimination rumors untrue: source
For example, then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) transited through Hawaii during outbound and return trips in a visit to Central American allies in 2014, the source said. Despite rumors that Lai is treated worse than his predecessors Ma and former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the US government’s handling of Taiwanese presidents’ transit through its territories significantly improved during Tsai’s presidency, the source said. That attested to Washington’s faith in the Democratic Progressive Party as a more reliable government worthy of dialogue and cooperation, the source said. Citing the editorial, the source said such narratives attempted to foster the illusion that Washington harbors suspicions of Lai and is giving him discriminatory treatment. Washington’s attitude toward Taiwanese presidents’ stopovers would not change because it is a different time or due to international situations, and its continued assistance despite regime changes shows the solid ties between Taiwan and the US, they said.
Source:Taipei Times
November 23, 2024 18:43 UTC
Mass killings are testing China’s crime narrative
However, a spate of random acts of violence is challenging the “party knows best” narrative. Even some independent data points to the perception that China’s law and order standards are among the best in the world. That deal in China has worked so long as the CCP continues to provide clear evidence that living standards are improving. Such independent windows into the party’s opaque world challenge the narrative that citizens are satisfied with their government. Previously, she was the BBC’s lead Asia presenter and worked for the BBC across Asia and South Asia for two decades.
Source:Taipei Times
November 22, 2024 21:46 UTC
Proposal to investigate NDF investments passes
Proposal to investigate NDF investments passesBy Lee Wen-hsin and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writerA proposal by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus to set up an investigation committee into National Development Fund (NDF) investments passed during a plenary vote at the legislature yesterday. Despite opposition from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the proposal passed with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and TPP lawmakers, who hold a combined majority in the legislature, voting in favor of it. Legislators from different parties hold placards stating their respective stances on a proposal to investigate NDF investments, at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday. A committee to investigate the agency’s investments and managerial misconduct should be established, with the results compiled into a report to inform about the reforms that are needed, it said. The committee would investigate whether wrong decisions were made regarding investments, corruption was covered up due to external intervention and whether the fund properly reviewed its failed investments to make improvements, it added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 22, 2024 16:42 UTC
Taiwan difficult to capture: CSIS expert
One lesson from the war game was the value of anti-ship missiles, Cancian said. In the next couple of years, “I think the most effective thing you could do is to give Taiwan 500 Harpoon missiles,” he said. “The other lesson is that once the fighting begins, it’s impossible to get any forces or reinforcements onto Taiwan,” Cancian said. Since Chinese forces would surround Taiwan, the US would not be able to get an airlift or sealift to the nation “at least for the first three or four weeks,” he said. “Taiwan would have to fight at least the first month, and maybe the first two months, with whatever it starts out with,” he added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 22, 2024 03:44 UTC
Adani Group faces US charges
Adani Group faces US chargesBRIBERY ALLEGATIONS: An Adani statement denied all charges, while share prices plummet and Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi called for the founder’s arrestAFP, NEW DELHIIndia’s Adani Group yesterday called US charges that their billionaire tycoon founder Gautam Adani had paid more than US$250 million in bribes “baseless,” as the opposition leader demanded his arrest. Chairperson and founder of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai on November 19, 2022. But we know that won’t happen as Modi is protecting him,” Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi. Adani and two other board members of his Adani Group “lied about the bribery scheme as they sought to raise capital from US and international investors,” US attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. The indictment drove steep losses in flagship listed unit Adani Enterprises Ltd and multiple other subsidiaries immediately after the Mumbai stock exchange reopened yesterday.
Source:Taipei Times
November 21, 2024 16:39 UTC
Israel, Hezbollah trade blows despite ceasefire talks
Israel, Hezbollah trade blows despite ceasefire talksReuters, JERUSALEM and BEIRUTIsrael and Lebanon’s Hezbollah traded deadly blows yesterday as their war raged on, despite signs of progress in US ceasefire efforts, with airstrikes pounding Beirut’s southern suburbs and rockets flying into northern Israel. US mediator Amos Hochstein was in Israel for talks with Israeli officials to try to secure a ceasefire, which he said was “within our grasp” during a visit to Beirut earlier this week. Smoke rises from Beirut southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Ashrafieh, Lebanon, November 21, 2024. Photo: ReutersIn southern Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike killed three people in the village of Chaaitiyeh, about 10km from the border, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Speaking before he left Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close an agreement if possible.
Source:Taipei Times
November 21, 2024 16:39 UTC
Lawmakers scuffle amid recall debate
KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), a committee coconvener, was presiding, but DPP lawmakers occupied the podium area to protest alleged contraventions of procedures by Hsu. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying, center, left, attempts to reach the podium at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNAThe proposal to increase the recall threshold would deprive Taiwanese of their right to recall unfit, incompetent elected officials, or those found guilty of crimes, they said. There was pushing and shoving as Hsu, supported by other KMT lawmakers, called for the meeting to start and gave no time for examination of the proposed amendments before suspending proceedings. KMT Legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄), who initiated the amendments, said that they are needed, as recalls have succeeded “too easily” due to low thresholds.
Source:Taipei Times
November 20, 2024 21:43 UTC
Tensions over China’s overcapacity will rise under Trump
Tensions over China’s overcapacity will rise under TrumpBy Brendan KellyWhile US president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats are likely to dominate headlines in the near term, China’s industrial overcapacity remains a larger, core challenge for the global economy and trading system in the coming years. On Oct. 29, a month after US tariffs targeting China’s overcapacity went into effect, the European Commission imposed its own tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs). The policies driving China’s overcapacity — and the resulting trade tensions — are probably here to stay. That said, addressing the complex global challenges posed by China’s overcapacity will require additional trade restrictions and innovative policy tools. Tackling China’s overcapacity problem will require rebalancing the economy and overhauling industrial policies.
Source:Taipei Times
November 20, 2024 17:31 UTC
Case closed on Ko vice president buy-off claim
Case closed on Ko vice president buy-off claimBy Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNAAn investigation into allegations by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) that someone offered him US$200 million to run for vice president instead of president has been disbanded for lack of evidence, the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said today. After the revelation, attorney Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) filed a complaint with the prosecutors’ office, saying the offer would contravene the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) if proven true. Huang also called on Ko to reveal the identity of the alleged perpetrator. Prosecutors said they questioned Ko and Chen as witnesses to ascertain the person’s identity and searched for evidence. However, as there was no prosecutable evidence, the office closed the case earlier this year, they added.
Source:Taipei Times
November 20, 2024 07:20 UTC
Man-yi floods thousands of Philippine homes
Man-yi floods thousands of Philippine homesWORST IS OVER? Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam. The Cagayan broke its banks, spilling water over already sodden farmland and communities, affecting tens of thousands of people. An aerial view shows flooding from a river overflow caused by heavy rains and induced by Typhoon Man-yi in Tuguegarao City, Philippines, on Monday. Man-yi dumped heavy rain, smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least eight lives.
Source:Taipei Times
November 20, 2024 03:46 UTC
Taiwan blasts jailing of HK activists
“The people of Taiwan and Hong Kong share a common pursuit of freedom and democracy,” she said. The Hong Kong government should protect its people’s rights, freedom of speech and the right to an unbiased judiciary process, it said. The Democratic Progressive Party also condemned the rulings, saying that the full-on persecution of Hong Kong’s democracy supporters highlights the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarian nature. Hong Kong Outlanders, a Hong Kong support group in Taiwan, panned the ruling as illogical and symbolized the death of the concepts of the rule of law and an independent judiciary in Hong Kong. The group urged the Taiwanese government to continue to support Hong Kong protesters and provide them with channels to conditionally seek asylum.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2024 21:43 UTC
UK seeking ‘pragmatic’ China ties: PM
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer works on board a UK government plane as he travels to a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday. No British prime minister has met Xi since then-British prime minister Theresa May visited Beijing in 2018 in the midst of a trade push during Brexit negotiations, although her successor, former British prime minister Boris Johnson, spoke to the Chinese president during the pandemic. Then-British prime minister Rishi Sunak attempted to renew relations at the G20 summit in 2022 where a bilateral was planned, but cancelled due to Ukraine developments. However, Conservative leaders have toyed with designating China a threat to British security — stronger language than the US had used. Reeves, who is understood to be taking a leading role in pursuing new economic opportunities with China, is to head to Beijing in January.
Source:Taipei Times
November 19, 2024 03:48 UTC