US, allies cannot allow China to dominate raw materials, technologies: Yellen - CNA

SEOUL: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will call on Tuesday (Jul 19) for deeper trade ties among allies to fortify their supply chains, combat inflation and thwart China's "unfair trade practices" and efforts to dominate key raw materials and technologies markets.

Yellen will make the comments in a major policy speech in Seoul after touring the facilities of South Korean tech heavyweight LG Corp during the final leg of her 11-day visit to the Indo-Pacific region.

"We cannot allow countries like China to use their market position in key raw materials, technologies or products to disrupt our economy and exercise unwanted geopolitical leverage," Yellen will say, according to excerpts released by the Treasury Department.

Instead, Yellen will say, the United States and allies like South Korea should focus on "friend-shoring", or diversifying their supply chains to rely more on trusted trading partners, strengthening economic resilience and lowering risks.

According to the excerpts of her comments, Yellen will say doing so would sustain the dynamism and productivity growth that comes with economic integration, while helping to insulate citizens in the United States and South Korea from price increases caused by geopolitical risks.

Western powers have raced to end their over-dependence on China as a key supplier since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the fragility of global supply chains and laid bare gaps in domestic capacities in key sectors.

Yellen will say the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine - actions Moscow calls "a special military operation" - made clear the necessity of addressing supply chain vulnerabilities and working to reduce logjams and shortages that have driven prices higher around the world.

Friend-shoring offered the United States and its allies a way to preserve the best features of the rules-based global order, while addressing unfair Chinese trade practices and ensuring access to vital inputs and products - from medicine to semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries, she will say.

In her comments Yellen was set to highlight a series of investments that LG has recently made to expand the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries in the United States.

She will say the key to the new approach on trade required countries to properly account for and factor in the costs of overly concentrated supply chains , geopolitical concerns and value - rather than "overly focusing on costs".

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2022-07-18 09:56:21Z
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China Central Bank Governor Pledges Stronger Support to Economy - Bloomberg

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China Central Bank Governor Pledges Stronger Support to Economy  BloombergView Full coverage on Google News
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJsb29tYmVyZy5jb20vbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlcy8yMDIyLTA3LTE3L2NoaW5hLWNlbnRyYWwtYmFuay1nb3Zlcm5vci1wbGVkZ2VzLXN0cm9uZ2VyLXN1cHBvcnQtdG8tZWNvbm9tedIBAA?oc=5

2022-07-17 06:26:00Z
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Myanmar orders companies, banks to suspend foreign loan repayments: Reports - CNA

Myanmar's central bank has ordered local companies and banks to suspend and reschedule repayment of foreign loans, according to local media, its latest effort to exert control over foreign currency flows. 

The central bank issued the order on Jul 13, according to Myanmar Now, a news agency. Reuters could not independently verify the document, which was circulating on social media.

"According to foreign currency law and foreign currency management rules, the repayment of foreign loans including original and interest values should be suspended and licensed banks should rearrange with their customers … regarding repayment schedule," the central bank statement said. 

Central bank officials did not answer calls seeking comment.

The kyat currency's plummet against the dollar has driven up fuel and food prices in a country already in crisis since the military seized power in a brutal coup last year, halting a decade of political and economic reforms.

To relieve some of that pressure, the central bank has announced a series of orders on local businesses depositing and exchanging foreign currency at local banks within one working day, and instructing ministries and local governments not to use foreign currencies for domestic transactions.

Last year, the central bank briefly tried tethering the kyat to a reference rate against the dollar after a slump in the exchange rate.

The official central bank exchange rate for the kyat is set at 1,850 per dollar but has tended to be well below the unofficial black-market rate.

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2022-07-16 08:18:00Z
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Russia warns that G7 attempt to cap oil price risks higher prices - CNA

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday (Jul 14) that attempts by the Group of Seven to cap oil prices may in fact cause them to rise.

"Those plans are anti-market and risky," she told a weekly briefing.

The cap scheme was first mooted last month by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as part of a campaign to increase pressure on Moscow to end what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. The shape of the final deal and price level have yet to be announced.

The United States and European Union have announced restrictions on Russian oil purchases as a way of punishing Moscow.

Russian oil has already sold with a hearty discount to global grades amid difficulties with financing and logistics.

The price of Russian Urals blend stands at around US$75 per barrel, in comparison to the Brent benchmark front-month futures of just below US$100. Russia had initially drafted its 2022 budget using the Urals average price of US$62.2 per barrel.

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2022-07-14 11:31:38Z
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Gordon Lam injured protecting child during stunt, taken to hospital - AsiaOne

They may be playing a part most of the time, but actors sometimes become real-life heroes.

Hong Kong actor Gordon Lam sustained an injury yesterday (July 13) while protecting a child on the set of Andy Lau's newest film I Did It My Way and was conveyed to a hospital, Hong Kong media outlets reported.

Gordon, 54, was performing a stunt where he had to traverse uneven ground with a child in his arms when he tripped over stones and fell.

However, he understood that the child he was holding would get injured if he wasn't careful so Gordon chose to bear the brunt of the impact instead.

The actor intentionally leaned into the fall with one side of his body slamming onto the ground hard, in turn causing multiple wounds on his body, but ensuring that the child was protected.

Gordon's fall and injuries left him temporarily immobile and crew members immediately called for an ambulance when they realised this, according to Hong Kong news reports.

After preliminary treatment was administered to the injured actor, it was then determined that he would be conveyed to the hospital for further examination.

Despite Gordon's injuries and hospitalisation, the filming still continued. Purportedly, the filming location in Tsing Yi was expensive to use so cast and crew had to work with the tight schedule afforded to them.

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Although actors Simon Yam and Chin Ka-lok were also present at the filming location, they were entirely unaware that this situation had occurred.

The film's director Jason Kwan said that they were filming in two different groups, shedding light on the lack of knowledge on set. When approached by Hong Kong media, he directed them to check with the producer, Andy, for more information.

It was later reported that Gordon is safely recovering in the hospital.

Said the actor: "It was a small incident, in order to ensure safety, I went to the hospital for a check-up. There are no serious issues, thank you for your concern!"

I Did It My Way is Andy's latest production, and will have a star-studded cast including Eddie Peng, Hedwig Tam and Andy himself.

The film is rumoured to follow criminal doings on the dark web, as well as the undercover forces of anti-narcotics authorities.

I Did It My Way is expected to be released in 2023.

READ ALSO: 'Even superstars have to do housework': Andy Lau mops the floor, goes viral

khooyihang@asiaone.com

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2022-07-14 04:26:00Z
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Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa set to fly to Singapore via Maldives - government source - Reuters

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa presents his national statement as a part of the World Leaders' Summit at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain November 1, 2021. Andy Buchanan/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

COLOMBO, July 13 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was expected to head to Singapore after fleeing to the Maldives in the early hours of Wednesday, a government source in Sri Lanka told Reuters, as protests continued in Colombo.

The source, who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the subject, said Rajapaksa could send his resignation to the speaker of Sri Lankan parliament after landing in Singapore.

An aide to Rajapaksa and the Singapore government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reporting by Waruna Cudah Nimal Karunatilake, writing by Krishna N. Das, Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-07-13 14:21:00Z
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Not all Scandals Are Equal as Firms Face China's Cancel Culture - Bloomberg

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1. Not all Scandals Are Equal as Firms Face China's Cancel Culture  Bloomberg
2. How Brands Handle Getting Cancelled in China  The Business of Fashion
3. View Full coverage on Google News

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2022-07-12 05:20:00Z
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