■ Semiconductors
Hynix appeals to WTO
Hynix Semiconductor has filed a petition with the WTO to protest steep duties imposed on its memory chips by the EU, officials said yesterday. As a first step in taking the case to the global trade governing body, South Korea asked for bilateral negotiations with the EU, a foreign ministry official said. Under WTO regulations, there must be 60 days of bilateral negotia-tions from the day the peti-tion is filed. The EU slapped anti-dumping tariffs of 34.8 percent on Hynix memory chips on Aug. 12. South Korea has already appealed to the WTO against a deci-sion in June by the US Department of Commerce to hit Hynix with a 44.71 percent countervailing tariff on its chips. Hynix was rescued in December by a multi-billion-dollar bailout arranged by South Korean creditor banks, some controlled by the govern-ment, which the EU and the US said amounted to illegal state subsidies.
■ Semiconductors
Singapore looks to STMicro
Singapore could benefit from a European giant's move to shut its older semiconductor plants in Europe and the US and shift additional capacity and jobs, a STMicroelectronics' spokesman said in a pub-lished report yesterday. The company said it will close its chip-making facility in France later this year, eliminating about 500 jobs. STMicro's Singapore arm told < ■ Banking Lone Star buying in S Korea Lone Star Funds, a Texas-based fund, is close to agreeing to buy 51 percent of Korea Exchange Bank, sealing its first purchase of a South Korean lender after failing to buy SeoulBank last year, people familiar with the sale said. The fund will this week agree to buy new Korea Exchange shares and part of the stakes held by Commerzbank AG and Export-Import Bank of Korea for about 1.35 trillion won (US$1.2 billion), they said. Commerzbank and Export-Import Bank of Korea will each reduce their stakes to about 14 percent from one third, they said. For Lone Star, the purchase adds the nation's fifth-largest lender to its US$6 billion of investments in South Korea, where it seeks to profit from buying distressed assets. ■ Banking Thailand may buy NPLs Thailand may buy assets seized by local lenders from bankrupt companies and individuals under a plan to speed reorganization of bad debts, central bank Gover-nor Pridiyathorn Devakula said. State-owned asset management companies will buy non-performing assets, such as buildings and land, from private banks including units of overseas lenders, Pridiya-thorn said. "This will ensure that those assets that are stuck in the banks and cannot be sold are taken out so their ratings can im-prove," Pridiyathorn told reporters in Bangkok. Lenders may be asked to sell to Asset Management Corp and other asset management units set up by state banks.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source