The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) could refuse to authorise Qantas and China Eastern Airlines to continue an ongoing codeshare agreement over fears it could impact fares. The two airlines are seeking to extend their joint coordination agreement to coordinate cargo and passenger transport operations between Australia and China until the end of March 2024. “We are concerned that the authorisation would provide Qantas and China Eastern with the opportunity and incentive to increase prices, compared to what they would charge absent the alliance, by limiting or delaying the introduction of additional capacity on the Sydney-Shanghai route as passenger demand continues to grow,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said on Sept. 15....Read more https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/competition-watchdog-could-sever-qantas-china-eastern-airlines-partnership-5492044
Arm, the British chip designer, which is owned by Japan’s SoftBank, raised nearly $5 billion for its initial public offering (IPO) this week, the largest since 2021. The firm’s Sept. 14 opening, after filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month was the largest IPO of 2023, easily eclipsing Johnson & Johnson’s spin-off Kenvue. This marks the return of Arm to the market after a $40 billion attempt by Nvidia to buy the chipmaker from Softbank in 2020 fell through last year over antitrust concerns. SoftBank acquired the United Kingdom-based semiconductor firm in 2016 for $32 billion and took it off as a public listing.... 
China’s real estate woes deepened on Friday as state-backed developer Sino-Ocean Group Holding suspended debt payments for all offshore debt until a restructuring was finalized. It also said it has halted trading its U.S. dollar securities in Hong Kong. According to the Beijing-based property developer, “holistic restructuring” of its offshore debt is the only way forward as it confronts rising liquidity challenges due to a sales slowdown throughout the wider sector since 2021. “Starting from the second half of 2021, the real estate sector in China has experienced significant changes and real estate developers have been confronted with unprecedented challenges with regard to liquidity and funding,” the company said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing (pdf)....
The United States is considering gaining access to more military bases in the Philippines under the countries’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a U.S. commander said on Thursday. Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said that he and Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner have “made recommendations” to their senior leaders about expanding EDCA sites. “We are in discussions, but everyone has a boss, and we both have bosses. We’ll have those conversations I think in private and give our bosses some decision space on how they’d like to go forward,” he said, according to the Philippine News Agency....