Empire could face arrest over a major corruption scandal. And brexit means brexit, the pound surges after uk Prime Minister theresa may vows to quit the European Union. Good morning, welcome to Asia Business report, live from singapore, with me, mariko oi. The head of samsung, jy lee, has arrived at a south korean court and the judge will be deciding today whether he should be arrested over his alleged involvement in a major corruption scandal. For the latest, lets go live to kevin kim in seoul. Thank you forjoining us this morning. This is a huge deal, isnt it . But when are we expecting the outcome, and are there any hints what the judge might decide . Well, we will probably be hearing the results later tonight, or possibly even tomorrow. Jy lee, the head of samsung, was tomorrow. Jy lee, the head of samsung , was seen tomorrow. Jy lee, the head of samsung, was seen arriving in court with a grim faced, and thejudge will soon be hearing the arguments. Prosecutors believe samsung has committed bribery and has asked jy lee, the head of south koreas largest company, to be jailed. The allegation is that samsung gave millions of dollars in return for the votes of the National Pension fund, ina the votes of the National Pension fund, in a bid and contested restructuring of the company. Last weekjy lee was summoned as a suspect and was questioned for almost 2a hours. After filing an Arrest Warrant on monday, investigators said in a News Conference that, despite some concerns that jy lees arrest may have a negative effect on the economy, establishing justice was more important. I mean, we have seen some of the Business Leaders of big conglomerates in south korea being in trouble with the authorities before, but is it fair to say that this is the first time that he could actually be jailed . Well, if this is the first time that he could actually be jailed . Well, iij this is the first time that he could actually be jailed . Well, if jy lee does get detained, it will be a big blow to the image of the company. So far no member of the samsung family has ever spent time behind bars. His arrest may not affect short term production or the running of the firm but there does seem to be a growing anxiety of the long term implications. Samsung is one of the biggest Electronic Companies in the world, and for the head of the Company Involved in a corruption scandal, would be seen as a huge embarrassment. Thank you so much for updating us, kevin kim in seoul, and im sure you will be across the story as we find out more. You know you are in strange times when the head of communist china speaks passionately about free trade around the world, while americas president in waiting speaks equally passionately about the damage it does. Xijinpings address passionately about the damage it does. Xi jinpings address to the World Economic forum, in davos, focused on economic growth. Here is what we had to say. Translation we must remain committed to developing free trade and investment, promote trade and Investment Liberalisation and facilitation, through opening up, and say no to protectionism. No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war. President xi jinping speaking at the World Economic forum in davos. It is actually the first timea in davos. It is actually the first time a chinese leader has attended the gathering, and fought china, finally finding its voice on the Global Economic stage. So in the wa ke Global Economic stage. So in the wake of the chinese president s speech in davos, a little bit of irony has come into play. Is it not normally the United States, the leader of the free world, which is championing globalisation and the opening of borders . No, it appears that the United States is more in a mood to put up some walls and create barriers. Meanwhile, china, of course, historically much more closed in terms of trade, but it benefited enormously from globalisation, is now saying globalisation, is now saying globalisation is a good thing. Describes it as pandoras box, once opened, many things may come out, some good and some bad but it is really a question of managing those bad things. Xijinping described the Global Economy as an ocean in which china had struggled at times to get and to survive, but now had learnt to swim and it was absolutely not time to retreat to the creeks and small rivers of the globe. Another big topic in da boss is the uks decision to leave the European Union. Davos. And british Prime Minister theresa may has revealed her long awaited plan for brexit. She has made clear that the uk will quit the single European Market as pa rt quit the single European Market as part of moves to control immigration but she insisted that the British Government would not turn its back on europe. The Prime Minister says she wants a trade deal with the other 27 members of the European Union, under what is called a customs agreement. But she is warning that the uk could walk away if it is a bad deal. Here is what she had to say. Not partial ownership of the European Union, associate them to ship of the European Union, or anything that leaves us half in, half out. I want to be clear. What i am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market. Business leaders are still divided on the implications of brexit, but most of them seemed to welcome at least some clarity from the Prime Minister membership. Our Business Editor has been talking to some of them in davos. There is nothing like a bit of mountain air to give you clarity. Business leaders gathered in switzerland were watching the Prime Ministerfor exactly that. Did they get it . Clarity, first of all. Really codify in what many of us are expecting around the result, particularly around the result, particularly around the result, particularly around the single market. We are also seeing the governments willingness to put a bit of edge into the negotiating dynamic. That makes a lot of sense. Trade negotiations are negotiations and you have to be pretty tough to get what you want. For some, the uncertainty is still too great. In london, the Insurance Market has already decided to move some business to europe. We still have to pursue a subsidiary in the eu for post brexit world, meaning that we can still serve our customers and policyholders in those European Union countries. So no ifs, no buts, no single market. Clarity, yes. Desired outcome, not for everyone. And with the continued argument over whether we are a partial member of the customs union, Many Companies will say it takes a continent to build a carand will say it takes a continent to build a car and if there are hold ups at the border that could be bad news. And the car industry gave mps its version of clarity. The cars that we import, and remember we import about 80 of the vehicles we sell in the uk, that would add about £2. 7 billion, or about £1500 per car sold. Financial markets were watching closely as well. Suddenly the pound rocketed against the dollar, at the very moment the Prime Minister offered mps a chance to vote on any final deal, markets making one last bet that brexit could still be derailed. But even some of the business worlds staunchest remainers werent fooled, and a knuckling down to the political reality. Most businesses are trying to move forward positively, trying to ensure that the complexity of this is well understood and we take the steps both in government and business to deal with this and minimise the impact of this very complex process. Government shed some light on its priorities, but his listeners we are still in the foothills of a massive undertaking. Business knows we are still in the foothills. In other business news, shares in toshiba are rising by as much as 5 in tokyo after the company said it is considering a spin off of its Semiconductor Business to raise money. According to the nikkei newspaper, it may also sell a 20 sta ke newspaper, it may also sell a 20 stake in the unit to Western Digital for 2. 7 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has denied a suggestion that its toll Virtual Reality technology from a rival firm. He faced hours of tough questioning on tuesday. Earlier our north American Technology reporter provided more details about the case. Mark zuckerberg was on the stand wearing not his typical grey t shirt but a full suit and tie and while he was there his company, facebook, was accused of essentially stealing technology from another firm, which worked very closely with 0culus, the Virtual Reality firm, in its early days and the company says its early days and the company says it was their input which made the company a success and presumably why facebook wanted did buy the company for 2 billion in 2014 and shortly after that deal, a lawsuit. Mark zuckerberg, on the stand, said it is typical when a big deal is made for companies to come out the woodwork and claim some kind of credit for that work. He said all the innovation in that headset was done by the oculus team, and the 0culus team alone. The trial will last for about three weeks. Lets show you markets before we go. This is how asian markets have started trading this morning, taking the cue from wall street and opening lower. Thats it for this edition of Asia Business report. Thank you for watching. Im kasia madera. The top stories this hour speaking at the World Economic forum in davos, the chinese president , xijinping, says globalisation should not be blamed for all the worlds problems. President obama has commuted most of the remaining Prison Sentence of chelsea manning, who was behind one of americas biggest ever leaks of classified information. Business leaders are still divided on the implications of brexit, but most of them today seemed to welcome some new clarity from the Prime Minister on the governments goals. Theresa may promised that changes to immigration, customs and regulation would be phased in, to avoid disruption. Some of britains most prominent Business Leaders are at World Economic forum in davos, in switzerland. Our Business Correspondent simonjack has been talking to some of them. There is nothing like a bit of mountain air to give you clarity. Business leaders gathered here in switzerland were watching the Prime Minister today for exactly that. So did they get it . I think what we learned from the Prime Ministers speech today was clarity, first of all, really codified what many of us had been anticipating since the referendum result, particularly around the single market. I think what weve also seen today is the governments willingness to put a bit of edge into the negotiating dynamic, and i think that makes a lot of sense. Trade negotiations are negotiations, and you have to lay out, and you have to be pretty tough to get what you want. For some, the uncertainty is still too great. Lloyds of london, the Insurance Market, has already decided to move some business to europe. Weve still got to pursue a subsidiary in the eu for post brexit world, meaning that we can still serve our customers and policyholders in those European Union countries. So no ifs, no buts, no single market. Clarity, yes. Desired outcome, not for everyone. And with the continuing Question Mark over whether we are a partial member of the customs union, Many Companies will say, for example, it takes a continent to build a car, and if there are hold ups at the border that could be bad news. And the car industry gave mps its version of clarity on the consequences of not getting a good trade deal. The cars that we import, and remember we import about 80 of the vehicles we sell in the uk, that would add about £2. 7 billion, or about £1,500 per car sold. Financial markets were watching closely, too. Suddenly the pound rocketed against the dollar, at the very moment the Prime Minister offered mps a chance to vote on any final deal. Markets making one last bet that brexit could still be derailed. But even some of the business worlds staunchest remainers werent fooled, and are now resigned to knuckling down to the political reality. Most businesses are trying to move forward positively, and accepting the result of the referendum. Are trying to make sure the complexity of this is well understood, and we take the steps both in government and business to deal with this, and minimise the impacts of this very compact process. The government shed some light on its priorities, but business knows we are still in the foothills of a massive undertaking. Simonjack, bbc news, davos. Also much more news on our website, at bbc. Com news, including our top stories and all the best video. Dont forget you can find me on twitter. Im on bbckasiamadera. Time now for all the sports news, in sport today. Hello, im Chris Mitchell and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. Coming up on this programme not an ace start in melbourne for murray but his hunt for a first title there continues. He faces Jeremy Chardy in the second round. He is 2 0 up. And ghana get their africa cup of Nations Campaign off to a winning start. The action is under way on day three of the australian open. The world number one andy murray plays Andrey Rublev in round two on later on wednesday. The russian teenager, the son of a former professional
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