TAIPEI (REUTERS) – As talks for Taiwan to access BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine via two major Taiwanese companies reached a head last week, the German firm’s Chinese sales agent put forward a template contract seeking access to Taiwanese medical records. The clause sparked alarm, as such a requirement would be anathema to Taiwan’s government, long wary […]
SINGAPORE – Adopting a long view, building an open and inclusive architecture, and fostering greater interoperability are some possible ways for Asean and China to achieve even tighter economic linkages, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Monday (July 12). He was delivering the closing address for the FutureChina Global Forum, a two-day event bringing […]
BEIJING (CAIXIN GLOBAL) – Like many money-losing tech startups, dominant Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing has relied heavily on private equity financing since its inception in 2012. Through 23 rounds of financing, Didi raised more than US$35 billion (S$47.3 billion) from nearly 100 investors, valuing the company as high as US$62 billion in an August […]
SINGAPORE – Apart from deepening cooperation in existing areas such as trade, Asean and China can benefit from exploring new “building blocks” of growth in areas such as digitalisation and sustainability, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Monday (July 12). With sound economic fundamentals and a total combined population of two billion people, there […]
JAKARTA (BLOOMBERG) – Indonesia’s state-owned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma is delaying a plan to sell Covid-19 vaccines after public backlash against the move. The company will focus on preparing the programme first, said Mr Ganti Winarno Putro, a spokesman for the company. Kimia Farma was earlier set to market Sinopharm’s shots, which were ordered for […]
SINGAPORE – There will be a proposal to permit social gambling in person among family and friends, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (July 12). In a release, the MHA said it would be amending gambling laws later this year and invited feedback from the public on the proposed amendments. It recognised […]
SINGAPORE – There will be a proposal to permit social gambling in person among family and friends, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (July 12). In a release, the MHA said it would be amending gambling laws later this year and invited feedback from the public on the proposed amendments. It recognised […]
SINGAPORE – Stallholders at hawker centres, food courts and coffee shops here are still only cautiously optimistic about the prospects for business once dine-in restrictions are eased for groups of up to five people from Monday (July 12). More than 20 stallholders The Straits Times spoke with on Sunday said they were holding off on […]
MASINLOC, THE PHILIPPINES (NYTIMES) – The fishermen along the western coast of Luzon Island, in the Philippines, have known for generations that the seas, the tides and the weather can determine their fortunes. More recently, they have added China to that list. Scarborough Shoal, a nearby triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the South […]
LUCKNOW, INDIA (AFP) – An Al-Qaeda offshoot in Kashmir planned attacks in northern India ahead of the country’s Independence Day, police claimed after arresting two men with alleged links to the group on Sunday (July 11). The two men were detained in a district in Lucknow city, the capital of the northern state of Uttar […]