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BUSINESS DAY
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NATIONAL NEWS
FT Theresa May to send ministers across...
Farc members take seats in Colombia’s congress for first time
Continued from page 41 of agreement, we’re going to have to start again,” Mr Davis said in an interview with the Sunday Express. He said that the government should start working up an alternative plan based on the “best bits” of trade deals the EU has already struck with Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Switzerland and New Zealand. “Today, I wouldn’t expect the government to be particularly welcoming of Canada plus, plus, plus,” he said. “But I think, come the autumn, we’ll be in a different position.” Mrs May’s Chequers plan goes well beyond a traditional free trade agreement, proposing that the UK stay close to the customs union and aligned with EU rules on goods. She has argued that a Canada-style deal would necessitate a hard border in Ireland. But Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, last week challenged the Chequers plan in a series of “major” questions, asking if it would lead to more bureaucracy and breach the indivisibility of the EU’s “four freedoms” of movement for goods, capital, services and people. Mrs May hopes the 27 remaining EU member states will take a less doctrinaire approach, and is sending senior ministers to European capitals “to step up the pace” of negotiations. David Lidington, her de facto deputy, will travel to France, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt will go to Germany, home secretary Sajid Javid will visit Spain and business secretary Greg Clark will head to Italy. Mrs May will meet the leaders of Austria, the Czech Republic and Estonia, while chancellor Philip Hammond will sit down with other EU finance ministers at a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires. But at home, Dominic Raab, the new Brexit secretary, admitted on Sunday that he was still working to convince some cabinet ministers that the Chequers plan was right for the country, while Eurosceptic Tory MPs have vowed to oppose it. Mr Raab told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme that the Bank of England had produced analysis showing that in “material ways” a no deal exit would be worse for the EU than it would be for Britain, but the BoE said that this referred only narrowly to questions of financial stability. Meanwhile, John Major, the former Conservative prime minister, said it was possible that 30 to 40 “irreconcilable” pro-Brexit Tory MPs would block any deal in the autumn, pushing the country towards a “catastrophic” exit from the EU without a withdrawal deal. “The people who have the least will be hurt most,” he told the BBC, adding: “The majority of the House of Commons should not let the irreconcilable minority in the Conservative party determine what happens in these negotiations.” Sir John also said that in the event of a parliamentary impasse, it would be “morally justifiable” to hold a second EU referendum on the terms secured by Mrs May in Brussels.
Monday 23 July 2018
Senior figures from once-feared guerrilla group sworn in as part of peace deal Gideon Long
H The unusual circumstances of Wang Jian’s death has given rise to a flurry of conspiracy theories © Reuters
Lobbyist quashes speculation over death of HNA co-founder Pharma go-between Daniel Vial says Wang planned holiday in Provence Harriet Agnew & Lucy Hornby
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hinese aviation executive Wang Jian was planning a week of luxury tourism when he died unexpectedly in the south of France, according to a lobbyist with deep business and political connections in China who has rejected the speculation surrounding the death that has gripped China. Wang, co-chairman of sprawling Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, spent his final evening dining with pharmaceutical insider Daniel Vial at a boutique hotel in southern France. The following day, he slipped while trying to take pictures on a wall by an ancient church, and plunged to his death. The unusual accident has given rise to a flurry of speculation and conspiracy theories in China, where HNA is under financial pressure following a global acquisition spree. Chinese reporters have rushed to Bonnieux, the pictur-
esque village where he died, and surprised the local gendarmerie with the volume of their queries. Chinese authorities appear to be eager to rule out any alternative explanation. Diplomats arrived immediately on the scene in Provence. An autopsy was conducted, as is routine when a foreigner dies accidentally in France. The French inquest is due to be closed once the results of a DNA test are received. “I am certain it was neither a murder nor a suicide,” Mr Vial said in an interview at his spacious Paris apartment overlooking Les Invalides. “At dinner the night before he died we were talking about all of his plans for the week ahead to enjoy the region’s culture.” Wang travelled to the Luberon region of Provence with four colleagues after attending an annual golf tournament in Paris sponsored by HNA. Mr Vial joined the group for champagne and dinner at the Bastide de Capelongue, a luxury hotel a short walk away from his restored 11th-century
priory. A year earlier, Wang had been outbid on a nearby chateau. Wang had already purchased tickets to see the Richard Strauss opera Ariane À Naxos, and The Magic Flute, Mozart’s final masterpiece, at the international music festival in nearby Aix-enProvence, Mr Vial said. He also told his friend he was looking forward to attending the annual summer photography festival in Arles and walking in the region’s lavender fields. But on Tuesday July 3, Wang fell 10 metres after attempting to climb a wall at the Haute Eglise in Bonnieux, which he was touring with four companions and a FrancoChinese guide. He was conscious for a few minutes, but died before paramedics could arrive. “We are certain it was accidental,” said Hubert Mériaux, a lieutenant-colonel in the gendarmerie of the southern Vaucluse region. A person who had no connection to Wang had also witnessed his fall. “That’s why I have no doubt.”
CSR: Huawei calls for entry for “seeds for the future” program for Nigerian university students
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uawei Nigeria, recently announced the call for entry from Nigerian university students to participate in this year’s ‘seeds for the future’ programme, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative that was initiated in 2008, and seeks to develop local ICT talent, enhance knowledge transfer, promote a greater understanding of and interest in the ICT sector, improve and encourage regional building and participation in the digital community. The Seeds for the Future Program was created by Huawei Technologies to proactively support the development of future leaders and innovators across the world. Huawei is committed to promoting ICT industry development in the countries it operates, and aims to drive long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Li Frank, managing director in a statement said, talent is crucial for the growth and development of any industry, the rapidly growing ICT industry has greatly changed business models.
“As a result, across the ICT ecosystem there is an urgent need for large numbers of technical staff who can address the challenges posed by this transformation. For true and lasting development in Nigeria, we must look in the area of human capital development with a huge focus on youths. “Over the years, Huawei has been investing in ICT skills and knowledge in Nigeria in an effort to boost employment, foster the development of knowledge-intensive products and services, and enhance the ICT skills of the future generations. Huawei has done this successfully by implementing and supporting a number of schemes such as the Growing Girls and Women in Nigeria (G-Win), 1000 Girls in Training, scholarships for The African University of Science and Technology (AUST), engineers training programs,” said Frank. This marks the third consecutive year, where smart lucky Nigerian students are picked through a detailed and objective selection process to partake in Huawei’s global CSR program. The ten (10)
successful candidates from this year’s Seeds for the Future program will proceed to Beijing and Shenzhen, China for the all-expense paid training in September. Victoria Aduwo, one of the successful participants from last year’s trip to China, in her testimonial said, “We learnt so much about ICT and got first-hand experience in a global ICT firm from leading ICT facilitators. I got hands-on with state of the art technologies. I learnt about Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, and Telemedicine”. This year, the entry process will be open to all legitimate Nigerian students currently studying a technological, computing or engineering based course in a legally registered university or higher institution of learning. Students are thereby encourage to look forward for more details as Huawei Nigeria will be advertising the qualification process and terms through newspaper adverts, online news blogs and social media channels, with steps and links on how to apply.
alf a century after their Marxist comrades took up arms in the Colombian mountains and vowed to overthrow the state, members of the country’s once-feared guerrilla group, the Farc, have taken seats in the democratically elected congress for the first time. A handful of senior figures from the Farc, now a political party, walked into the parliament building in central Bogotá on Friday to be sworn into office in a ceremony rich in symbolism. Among them was Pablo Catatumbo, a 65-year-old veteran who fought with the Farc for more than 40 years before helping negotiate their 2016 peace deal with the government. He and his colleagues, who carried red roses — the Farc’s symbol — into parliament, took their seats opposite staunch conservatives who have spent their lives trying to destroy the guerrilla group. “Today we are witnesses of a true milestone in our history,” President Juan Manuel Santos said in his last speech to congress before stepping down after eight years in power. The Farc members did not win their 10 seats — five in the senate and five in the lower house; they were given to them under the terms of the peace deal. They will hold them for eight years but after that they will have to win seats on merit. The decision to give them a platform in congress was one of the most controversial parts of the peace deal, with some conservatives saying it was tantamount to rewarding terrorists. Mr Santos’s successor, president-elect Iván Duque, has described the decision as “a joke” but has stopped short of saying he will try to strip the guerrillasturned-politicians of their seats. For all the controversy, the Farc will have little clout. In March’s congressional elections it took just 0.3 per cent of the national vote. Instead, the new congress will be dominated by parties from the right and centre-right, spearheaded by Alvaro Uribe, who waged a fierce war against the Farc as president from 20022010, led opposition to the peace deal, and threw his weight behind Mr Duque’s presidential bid. As Mr Duque prepares to take office on August 7, the peace deal he inherits is under severe strain. The Farc says the government has broken its promises and one of its senior leaders, Iván Márquez, refused to take up his seat in the Senate, arguing in a recent letter that “Colombia’s peace is trapped in nets of treason”. Another Farc leader, Jesús Santrich, could not enter Congress because he is in jail, awaiting extradition to the US on drug-trafficking charges.