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CNA
11 minutes ago
- CNA
Pre-trial conference for Ong Beng Seng case rescheduled
SINGAPORE: A pre-trial conference set for the case of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng has been rescheduled to next week, after a request was made to push it back. The 79-year-old Malaysian, known for bringing Formula 1 to Singapore in 2008, was first charged with two offences in October 2024. These correspond to two charges admitted to by former transport minister S Iswaran. Ong was set to have the hearing on Wednesday morning (Jul 23) but that has been shifted to Jul 28. According to court records, a request was made to reschedule the court event and it was approved. It was not indicated who made the request. CNA has contacted Ong's PR firm and the Attorney-General's Chambers for more information. The latest development comes after a pre-trial conference on Jul 8 resulted in another adjournment for "parties to file revised papers", following a statement from the judiciary that both sides wished to file further submissions on sentencing. A pre-trial conference is a hearing before a judge away from the public and media, where both sides discuss administrative matters. This can be any issue that needs to be ironed out before going to open court, and does not always mean a trial is going to take place despite the name. It is not uncommon for a case to go through many rounds of pre-trial conferences before going to open court for a guilty plea or trial. Ong faces two charges, first for abetting Iswaran in obstructing the course of justice by helping the latter pay S$5,700 (US$4,480) to Singapore GP for a business class flight ticket from Doha to Singapore. This was a delayed payment allegedly made months after the flight itself and only after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) discovered Iswaran's name on the flight manifest when investigating a separate case. The second charge is for instigating Iswaran to obtain flights and a hotel stay from Ong. This was when Iswaran knew Ong had business dealings linked with his official functions. Ong was previously set to plead guilty on Jul 3. Ong was the managing director of Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), which previously stated in a Singapore Exchange (SGX) announcement that Ong would plead guilty to the charge of obstructing justice, while admitting to have the other charge taken into consideration for sentencing. He stepped down on Apr 29 for medical reasons, the company said. If convicted of the charge under Section 165 of the Penal Code for abetting Iswaran in obtaining valuables, Ong could face a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both. If convicted of obstructing justice, the charge under Section 204A, Ong could face a jail term of up to seven years, a fine, or both.


CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Trump, Xi might meet ahead of or during October APEC summit in South Korea: Report
US President Donald Trump might visit China before going to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit between Oct 30 and Nov 1, or he could meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC event in South Korea, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday (Jul 20) citing multiple sources. The two countries have been trying to negotiate an end to an escalating tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains. The two sides have discussed a potential meeting between the leaders in the region this year, but they have not confirmed a date or location yet, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump has sought to impose tariffs on US importers for virtually all foreign goods, which he says will stimulate domestic manufacturing and which critics say will make many consumer goods more expensive for Americans. He has called for a universal base tariff rate of 10 percent on goods imported from all countries, with higher rates for imports from the most "problematic" ones, including China: imports from there now have the highest tariff rate of 55 percent. Trump has set a deadline of Aug 12 for the US and China to reach a durable tariffs agreement. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment about the reported plans for a meeting with Xi in the autumn. The two countries' most recent high-level meeting was on Jul 11, when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had what both described as a productive and positive meeting in Malaysia about how trade negotiations should proceed. Rubio said then that Trump had been invited to China to meet with Xi, and said that both leaders "want it to happen."

Straits Times
8 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump, Xi might meet ahead of or during October APEC summit in South Korea, SCMP reports
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping pose for a photo ahead of their bilateral meeting during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo U.S. President Donald Trump might visit China before going to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit between October 30 and November 1, or he could meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC event in South Korea, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday citing multiple sources. The two countries have been trying to negotiate an end to an escalating tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global trade and supply chains. Trump has sought to impose tariffs on U.S. importers for virtually all foreign goods, which he says will stimulate domestic manufacturing and which critics say will instead make many consumer goods more expensive for Americans. He has called for a universal base tariff rate of 10% on goods imported from all countries, with higher rates for imports from the most "problematic" ones, including China: imports from there now have the highest tariff rate of 55%. Trump has set a deadline of August 12 for the U.S. and China to reach a durable tariffs agreement. A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment about the reported plans for a meeting with Xi in the fall. REUTERS