■Electronics
AAFES to buy Chinese TVs
The US military will buy 45,000 high-definition televisions from Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronics Co, one of China's biggest appliance makers, China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Xiamen Daily newspaper. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service, a purchasing agency, will take delivery now of 5,000 of the sets, capable of delivering sharper pictures than conventional TVs, Xinhua said. Xiamen Overseas will deliver the balance within a year. The report didn't give a value for the contract. Chinese appliance makers including Xiamen Overseas, Sichuan Changhong Electric Co and Konka Group Co may be assessed anti-dumping tariffs by the US after the US International Trade Commission ruled on Tuesday that cheap Chinese and Malaysian sets are hurting American producers.
■ Policy
Mercosur pledges effort
South American leaders agreed Wednesday to keep working toward greater regional integration by strengthening their countries' political and economic ties through the Mercosur trade bloc. The presidents of the Mercosur trading nations issued a communique at the end of a two-day summit here and expressed support for the group, whose members have been battered by economic crises over the last year. The leaders voiced their commitment to "the strengthening of Mercosur, with the aim of sustainable development of its member countries and their competitive insertion into the global economy." Mercosur members Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay held their biannual meeting at a riverside resort in the Paraguayan capital. Chile and Bolivia are associate members and Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez attended as a guest.
■ Computers
Microsoft defends actions
Microsoft Corp and the Bush administration defended their antitrust settlement, and the world's largest software maker urged a US appeals court to reject Massachusetts's call for tighter restrictions on its business practices. Micro-soft, which negotiated the settlement after the appeals court ruled the company illegally protected its Windows monopoly, said the agreement was approved by a trial judge who "considered but rejected" more restrictions. "The relief that Massachusetts seeks is so extreme that its own economist would not support several key aspects of it," Microsoft said in a brief filed with the appeals court in Washington. The settlement requires Microsoft to give computer makers freedom to promote rival software on personal computers powered by the Windows operating system. Windows runs 95 percent of the world's PCs.
■ Airlines
NZ warns air carriers
New Zealand's consumer watchdog, the Commerce Commission, has warned airlines to stop hiding extra charges that can add up to 44 percent to the price of cheap advertised fares, a news-paper reported yesterday. It said burying extra charges such as levies, taxes and insurance in the small print of advertise-ments misrepresented the price of fares, The New Zealand Herald said. Director of fair trading Deborah Battell said the commission was concerned about inadequate disclosure in advertisements. "When businesses are advertising, they should be advertising the price people have to pay," she said.
Agencies
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
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