China rate hike prompts Asia stocks slowdown

Most Asian stocks slipped Wednesday on fears of a slowdown in the Chinese economy after Beijing announced its first interest rate rise in three years.
Traders grew concerned that any easing in the world’s second biggest economy could hurt the exports of other countries looking to China’s growth as the key to recovery from the global downturn. Tokyo tumbled 1.65 percent, or 157.85 points, to 9,381.60 and Hong Kong had slipped 0.65 percent by the break.Sydney was 0.66 percent, or 30.8 points, lower at 4,624.9, with resources firms hit as they rely heavily on Chinese demand.Shanghai was 1.16 percent up in the afternoon and Seoul rose 0.71 percent, adding 13.12 points to end at 1,870.44. The People’s Bank of China announced late Tuesday it would raise the benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points each, as Beijing tries to contain inflation and soaring property prices. It was the first rate rise since December 2007.

Asian territorial rows challenge stability: Gates

HANOI: Territorial disputes in Asian waters pose a threat to regional stability, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned on Tuesday, defending America’s naval presence in the Pacific, despite criticism from China.

“Disagreements over territorial claims and the appropriate use of the maritime domain appear to be a growing challenge to regional stability and prosperity,” Gates said, reflecting growing friction with China.

In a statement at high-level Asian security talks in Hanoi, Gates did not mention China but endorsed an international approach to solving maritime disagreements that Beijing opposes, and he insisted the US Navy would not back away from sailing into Pacific waters.

The Pentagon chief stopped short of direct criticism of China but his words underscored a mounting rivalry with China, as Beijing flexes its newfound military and economic might in a

China detains Nobel Peace Prize winner’s wife-group

WASHINGTON: Chinese authorities are detaining the wife of jailed Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Price laureate Liu Xiaobo at her Beijing apartment, a U.S. human rights group said on Sunday.

In a statement, Freedom Now said that Liu Xia has not been charged with a crime but has not been allowed to leave her home or use her mobile telephone after visiting her husband in jail to tell him about his award.

When he heard the news, Liu Xiaobo cried and said the Nobel “award is for the Tiananmen martyrs,” according to the Washington-based group, which said it represents the Chinese dissident. The group works worldwide for the release prisoners of conscience and provides free legal counsel.

Freedom Now lawyer and spokeswoman Beth Schwanke said one of the group’s human rights specialists, Yang Jianli, obtained news of Liu Xia’s detention from a source in China they

Apple iPad Wi-Fi lands in China today

Apple stores in Beijing and Shanghai as well as authorized retailers around the country began offering the Wi-Fi model of the touch screen device, millions of which have already been sold in the United States and a dozen other nations.
Hundreds queued up Friday for the first official iPads sold in China, the world’s biggest Internet market, after months of grey-market action among avid buyers unwilling to wait for the Apple tablet.
Analysts predicted strong demand for the iPad despite a paucity of Chinese content and the country’s huge illegal market for Apple products, which are slipped in from Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States.
At the Apple’s Beijing store, a customer Han Ziwen said that he had camped out for 60 hours to ensure he was first in line when the flagship outlet’s doors opened at 8:00 am.
Apple has not said when the 3G-equipped versions will go on sale in China, which is home to at least 420 million Internet users.

One dead as police fire at H-Kashmir protest

SRINAGAR: Indian police opened fire on Saturday to disperse thousands of people protesting against Indian rule in the held Kashmir, killing a child and wounding 25 demonstrators.

Fresh demonstrations broke out on Saturday, a day after four protesters were killed and 75 injured in daylong clashes between protesters and government forces.

A teenage boy was killed during Saturday clashes, said a doctor at a north Kashmir hospital.

Two planes collide at Beijing airport

BEIJING: Two aircraft collided at Beijing”s international airport on Saturday, China”s state media reported.

The wing of a taxiing Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 hit the tail of a stationary Air China Boeing 737-800, the report said.

Pilot error was likely to be behind the incident, in which no one was hurt, said the report, citing an official from China”s Civil Aviation Administration.

Beijing”s airport, which was shrouded in fog at the time of the incident, is home to one of the world”s largest terminals, the 98-hectare (245-acre) Terminal Three, designed by Norman Foster and opened in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Afghan govt: Bus hits bomb, killing 25

KABUL: A packed bus hit a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 25 people aboard, as NATO announced another U.

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Afghan govt: Bus hits bomb, killing 25

10 bodies, five injured shifted to hospital

ISLAMABAD: An airliner carrying 157 passengers and crew members crashed in Margalla hills after losing contact with the control tower of Islamabad airport.

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10 bodies, five injured shifted to hospital

China currency undervalued but policy sound: IMF

BEIJING: The International Monetary Fund said China’s yuan is undervalued in an assessment Wednesday of its controversial currency controls and praised Beijing’s response to the global crisis.

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China currency undervalued but policy sound: IMF

Pak woos FODP support for poverty, uplift projects

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday highlighting the importance of international help and cooperation said Pakistan needs budgetary support for poverty alleviation and to complete development projects to fight against the menace of terrorism and extremism.

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Pak woos FODP support for poverty, uplift projects

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