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Samsung Electronics, union extend talks to avert strike

Uganda enacts foreign influence law KAMPALA: Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a contentious measure that he says aims to curb foreign influence in the country despite heavy criticism from quarters such as the central bank, warning it could trigger “economic disaster”. The 81-year-old Museveni, in power since 1986, has over the years regularly decried outside influence in Uganda, accusing domestic political rivals of receiving funding from abroad. Museveni signed the legislation, effectively making it law, his office said in a statement issued late on Sunday. The“Protection of Sovereignty”Bill, passed this month, criminalises promotion of the “interests of a foreigner against the interests of Uganda” and requires foreign agents to register. It also bans anyone working on behalf of foreign interests from developing or implementing policy without government approval. Penalties for violations include up to 10 years in prison and steep cash fines. Central Bank governor Michael Atingi-Ego warned the law could diminish financial flows into Uganda and risked running down foreign exchange reserves, in a situation he called an “economic disaster for our country”. The World Bank also criticised the legislation, saying it could expose to criminal liability a broad range of “routine development activities”. – Reuters BERLIN: German police said yesterday they had shot dead a tiger that escaped a privately-run enclosure in the eastern city of Leipzig after attacking one of its keepers. A police spokesman said the animal had seriously injured one person. The incident happened on Sunday and involved an “escaped tiger which was killed by police using firearms,” the spokesman said, adding that an emergency services helicopter was used during the search. According to local media the animal escaped from the property of tiger trainer Carmen Zander, known as the“Tiger Queen”. Animal rights organisation PETA charged that local veterinary authorities “share responsibility for this tragic incident” by failing to act against Zander sooner. It demanded that the remaining animals at the enclosure be confiscated. – AFP SOLOMONS NAMES CHINA CRITIC TO GOVT SYDNEY: A former leader who supported ties with Taiwan and a China critic have won key roles in the new Solomon Islands government. Prime Minister Matthew Wale, who was elected on Friday by lawmakers, has appointed former premier Rick Hou as foreign minister, and Peter Kenilorea as the minister for National Planning and Development Coordination, dealing closely with donor countries. Kenilorea is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a global group of lawmakers critical of Beijing. Hou was prime minister from 2017 to 2019, just before the Solomons switched ties from Taiwan to China in 2019, a move he criticised. A former reserve bank governor, Hou “is experienced in international relations and won’t be intimidated,” said James Batley, a former Australian High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands. Envoys from China and Australia met with Wale on Saturday. Wale told China’s ambassador Cai Weiming the Solomons was committed to the One China principle. – AFP ESCAPED TIGER SHOT DEAD BY GERMAN POLICE

BR I E F S

o Court orders maintain normal production

walkout. A court spokesperson said the two main unions could face fines of 100 million won (RM286,228) per day each if they failed to comply, while union leaders could be fined 10 million won per day. The union said in a statement the court ruling would not dissuade it from pursuing a strike if talks did not achieve a deal, but pledged to engage seriously in negotiations. Samsung Electronics declined to comment. South Korean government officials have increasingly voiced worries about a strike, warning it could pose significant risk to economic growth, exports and financial markets. President Lee Jae Myung, who is a former rights lawyer and is seen as leading a union friendly government, said in a post on X yesterday that management rights should be respected as much as labour rights. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Sunday the government would pursue all options, including emergency arbitration, to prevent a strike. – Reuters

continue today, adding that it had been “engaging in negotiations in good faith”. Park Su-keun, chairman of the National Labour Relations Commission, also said that talks would resume today after noting that the two sides remained far apart yesterday. The union has demanded Samsung abolish a bonus cap of 50% on annual salaries and allocate 15% of annual operating profit to a bonus pool shared by workers and formalise this in contracts. Samsung proposed assigning 9%-10% of its annual operating profit to a bonus should that exceed 200 trillion won (RM529 billion) this year, while sticking to the 50% bonus pay cap, the union said. Adding to pressure on the union, a South Korean court partially granted Samsung’s request for an injunction to prevent illegal labour actions during the strike. The ruling means thousands of workers may be required to show up at work in the event of a strike to prevent some production materials and facilities from being damaged. About 47,000 workers said they would join the

SEJONG: Samsung Electronics and its labour union plan to hold more talks today in a bid to avert the biggest strike in the tech giant’s history, amid concern that a walkout by more than 45,000 workers could hit South Korea’s economy and disrupt global supply chains. The threatened 18-day strike starting on Thursday comes amid an acute shortage in memory chips, which are essential components in AI data centres, smartphones and laptops. The shortage has fuelled soaring profits at Samsung and its peers in recent months. Yesterday’s talks followed the collapse last week of a first round of government-mediated negotiations over pay and bonuses at the world’s largest memory chipmaker, which accounts for nearly a quarter of South Korea’s exports. A union representative said that talks would

Samsung union members chanting slogans in front of the plant in Pyeongtaek on April 23. – REUTERSFILEPIC

China denounces Taiwan minister’s Geneva visit BEIJING: China said yesterday it opposed countries providing platforms for “Taiwan independence separatist” activities, after Taiwan’s foreign minister arrived in Switzerland for events on the sidelines of a World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.“It will only bring humiliation on themselves and is doomed to fail.”

However, since becoming foreign minister in 2024, Lin has made several trips to other European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands and Italy, drawing anger in Beijing. Taiwan attended the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016 under the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou, who signed landmark trade and tourism pacts with China. But Beijing began blocking Taiwan’s participation in 2017, after then-president Tsai Ing-wen won office, for her refusal to agree to its position that both China and Taiwan were part of “one China”. President Lai Ching-te has continued Tsai’s policy. “International organisations, including the WHO, must handle Taiwan-related issues in accordance with the one-China principle,” Guo said. – Reuters

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says China has no right to represent or speak for the island internationally. Lin announced his arrival in Geneva on Facebook on Sunday. “The original purpose of establishing the WHO was to make health a basic human right that everyone should enjoy. If Taiwan is excluded, it also creates a major gap in global health security,” he wrote. Lin is not known to have previously visited non-EU member Switzerland, which like most countries maintains formal diplomatic ties with Beijing rather than Taipei and has a free trade agreement with China.

China said last week it would once again not allow Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, to take part in the WHO’s annual World Health Assembly (WHA), which takes place this week. But as in previous years, Taiwan has sent a delegation to hold its own meetings and this year Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has also gone, joining Health Minister Shih Chung-liang. “The Taiwan authorities’ practice of sending people around the world to wedge into conferences to grab attention is nothing more than the behaviour of petty clowns,” Chinese