■Tarriffs
Japan angers Australians
The Australian Cattle Council will substitute the Japanese flag's rising sun with a piece of beef in an advertising campaign to protest increased Japanese tariffs on Australian beef, an official said yesterday. The Japanese government confirmed to Australian Prime Minister John Howard last week that it would lift its tariff on the import of Australian beef from 38.5 percent to 50 percent on August 1. The Australian Cattle Council says the increase will cost Australian producers around A$80 million (US$53.12 million) in an industry worth A$1.5 billion dollars a year. The adver-tising campaign will feature a white sushi plate with a medallion of Australian beef in the center, in a mock-up of the Japanese flag. The advertisement reads: "Why does Japan put a 50 percent tariff on our beef? Because it's the best in the world."
■ Pakistan
Firms to generate power
Pakistan will allow private businesses to generate their own electricity without seeking permission from the government, which will help factories reduce production costs, a minister said. The lower production cost "will make our goods competitive in the international market, increasing our exports," Commerce Minister Huma-yun Akhtar told a news conference in Islamabad. Presently, businesses have to obtain government clearance to set up a power generation unit. In a trade policy announced over the weekend, Pakistan set an export target of US$12.1 billion for the fiscal year started July 1, or 9.7 percent higher than US$11.03 billion the previous year. The trade deficit may fall to US$700 million.
■ Software
Microsoft pushes TV guide
Microsoft Corp, which is trying to unseat Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc in the market for television programming-guide soft-ware, said Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc will try its software. Com-cast and AOL Time Warner Inc's Time Warner Cable, the No. 1 and 2 US cable-TV companies, both use Gem-star's software to deliver TV programming guides to cable customers, said Ed Graczyk, Microsoft TV marketing director. Micro-soft hopes the trials will lead them to purchase the software, he said. Microsoft last year decided to revamp its ailing TV-software busi-ness by entering the market for programming guides, which is dominated by Gemstar. So far, Microsoft's product has only two US customers, two small Oregon cable companies. Microsoft is determined to stay in the TV-software market, despite several years of failed products, analysts said.
■ Automobiles
Volkswagen cuts Brazil jobs
Volkswagen plans to cut 4,000 jobs in Brazil due to weak car sales in the first half of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The German carmaker will slash nearly 16 percent of 24,800 Brazilian jobs because of overcapacity at its five Brazilian factories following an 8 percent drop in car sales from January to last month. But Volkswagen, which last year held 26 percent of the Brazilian automobile market, with some 382,000 auto sales, said it plans to transfer many of the affected workers to a new firm it is creating in Brazil, called "Autovisao Brasil." Brazil has seen negative economic growth for two successive quarters, according to official figures, technically putting it in a recession.
Agencies
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from