In Brief

Mainland gang may have targeted gems fair

A probe has begun into whether a mainland gang of thieves was recruited to exploit robbery opportunities at the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show. Undercover officers at the Convention and Exhibition Centre at Wan Chai have arrested four mainland travellers, and recovered gemstones and pearls from three theft cases in the past two days at the show. Police are investigating how the men, who came from Hunan province, obtained permits to enter the show despite tight security.

Commerce chief on 7-day visit to New Zealand

Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang Chun-wah will leave for New Zealand on Saturday for a seven-day visit. Mr Tsang will visit Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to meet several political and business leaders, his ministerial counterpart and media representatives. He will also attend the 4th Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation ministers' meeting on regional science and technology co-operation in Christchurch from next week.

Authority buys US dollars to protect HK currency

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought US dollars from banks on 31 days to prevent the Hong Kong dollar from gaining in strength, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said yesterday. Buying occurred from January 1, 2002, to February 20 this year. Most of the buying took place from September 22 last year, when a substantial amount of money started flowing into Hong Kong to buy the local currency.