18/04/2014 Asia Business Report

incidents have delayed several hours of those travelling to France. Time

for Asia Business Report. The head of China resources, one of

the largest companies, is under investigation for corruption.

Cambodia strayed Unions call for thousands of government workers to

go on strike for higher wages `` Cambodia 's trade unions. `` Garment

workers. The head of one of China's largest companies is under

investigation by the Communist Party's corruption watchdog. The

chairman of the state`owned China resources company, which has 400,000

employees and revenues of more than $50 billion. I spoke to our Hong

Kong correspondent who said he has faced allegations before. This is

one of the world 's biggest companies, founded here in Hong

Kong. Enormous diversity in its business interests, from property to

energy to retail. Also, pharmaceuticals. The company has

made headlines before. We reported on this programme in August, when a

group of minority shareholders in China resources power, one of the

list `` listed companies initiated a court case including the CEO of

misconduct and of grossly overpaying for a binding deal back in 2010, a

deal worth one point billion dollars. Investors said the assets

they purchased were not worth so much money. They said the taxpayer

money was wasted in the transaction. The case is still working its way

through Hong Kong's court system. That case came to light after two

different journalists in China, including one working for the

Chinois newsagency, blew the whistle on the company, accusing it of

corruption. What do we know about the CEO. Is this a sign that no one

is immune? Especially, state`owned companies, from corruption

investigations? It doesn't get bigger than this. He is aged 51 and

has spent his entire career with China Resources. He holds a range

that is equivalent to vice minister. According to the South China Morning

Post, he has been detained already in the city of Shenzhen and has

denied all wrongdoing. This case is being seen, certainly, as an

extension of the new administration 's anticorruption crackdown. Trade

unions in Cambodia are hoping as many as half the country 's 600,000

Garment workers won't be showing up to work starting from today. They

have called for a nationwide strike and demand higher wages and the

release of 21 protesters who were imprisoned in the last round of

strikes in January. The picture has become muddled because the

organisation representing factory owners claims that many have had

extra time off due to the New Year. The majority of workers stay at home

and enjoy don't strike, that will show us we need to negotiate because

of the will of the majority. The situation we have predicted is that

the majority of workers are willing at happy to come to work and the

minority that continues to make demands, we will then respect the

wishes of the majority. Earlier, I spoke to: Main, asking whether the

strike was having success `` Colin Maine. It is difficult to say

whether workers are following the strike or whether they are enjoying

a few days of holidays. It is difficult to say how successful the

strikes have been. Higher wages, releasing more than 20 protesters,

how willing I workers to press their case moving forward? During the last

round of strikes in December and January, they were stopped by

government forces, military police shot dead five protesters who were

throwing Molotov cocktails. That has had a chilling effect on workers.

They are less likely to come out than they were a few months ago. How

strong are the trade unions? How organised are they in Cambodia? It

is a fractured labour movement. Eight unions are leading this

strike, but there are hundreds in the country. These eight unions

claim to represent half the workforce. Bad, the garment

manufacturing association claimed they represent a small minority. ``

but. This is supposed to be a litmus test as to how strong the

independent labour movement is. In other news, Weibo saw its shares

surging by 20% in its trading debut in the US. There were worries the

performance would be affected a recent rout in tech stocks. The

company is being closely watched as a gauge of investor sentiment ahead

of the e`commerce giant Alibab's share offering in America. Travel

city also jumping in its trading debut, gaining 7% on the NASDAQ,

after they raised $600 million during its IPO period. One of

America's biggest high`speed trading companies has postponed its plans to

go public according to the Wall Street journal, which comes after

scrutiny was heightened on high scrutiny trading practices. They

were looking to raise $250 million from the initial public offering. In

US earnings, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have posted better

than expected earnings. Both saw profits lifted high investment

management, merger and stock divisions. Shares both gained on the

news. With 100 million Facebook users and over 30 million Twitter

accounts, this is India's first digital election. Something that

political parties have taken note of, with almost all the major

players putting a chunk of their campaign budget toward social media

spending and other technologies. Of the traditional campaign rallies on

the wane? Just over 15% of India's 1.2 billion

people are online, but that is a considerable number of voters. Young

voters especially, who influence their families decisions. With an

election as big and diverse as India's election, the margins are

very small and many believe this time social media could possibly

deliver the winning margin. Getting the message across means of setting

up operations like this, the digital war room of the opposition party.

They are using an army of volunteers, mainly young

professionals who have taken time off from their jobs. They blog,

monitor social media and perhaps, most importantly, decide the

strategy for what message the party needs to send. In the online space,

we believe we have a good campaign. An example of this, when Mahendra

Modi speaks on the ground, the same message is amplified on social

media. The same rally is web cast of live. White a smaller campaign is

run by the recently formed armada party while spending a lot less

money. They have managed to make most of the messages vinyl over

social media. They use `` messages over social media. They have their

work cut out for them. Information changes in seconds. When it comes to

spreading misinformation, other parties are good. We have to keep

our eyes and ears open every milli second to know what is coming in,

what is going out and, what we expect other parties to say and how

to counter that. How effective is this? The BBC decided to find out.

Looking at the data for a month, we analysed how various parties

performed online. BJP and Narendra Modi were leading with over 1

million mentions on Twitter. The anticorruption party, AAT and their

leader got over 600,000 tweets. The ruling Congress Party and Rahul

Ghandi registered just under half a million tweets. You tube insures

every word continues... It is accepted the reach of social media

remains limited and that the views expressed their only reflect a

section of largely urban voters. That means no Indian politician is

downgrading the value of mass rallies just yet. Increasing the

digital presence is something we will see more of.

You can get more of that story by watching India business report this

coming weekend. Be sure to log onto our [email protected] and click on the

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