■ Trade
US turns down appeal
The US has turned down a Bangladeshi appeal to waive a US$50 million penalty for exporting garments beyond its quota, officials said yesterday. A commerce ministry official said the US decision would be a "big blow for the country's garment sector," which is cash-strapped Bangladesh's key earner of foreign exchange. The US imposed the US$50 million penalty after Bangladesh last year shipped 175,000 items of cotton trousers beyond its quota allowance. In a letter to Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury released here, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said Washington "cannot waive the penalty that was imposed."
■ Petroleum
Manila to subsidize oil
President Gloria Arroyo's government is considering a limited oil subsidy to help consumers of diesel, the fuel of choice for the Philippines' mass transport system, her office said yesterday. The government is concerned over the possible inflationary effect of rising prices of refined oil products. "I have ordered the Department of Transportation and Communication and the Department of Energy to conduct a thorough study on the capability of the government to subsidize petroleum prices so that the price of diesel can be kept low," Arroyo said in a statement. The government is observing austerity measures to keep the national budget deficit within the target ceiling of 202 billion pesos (US$3.69 billion) this year.
■ Real estate
Japan to raise airport rents
Japan will raise rents for companies operating Narita, Haneda and 24 regional state-owned airports because current charges, which are indexed to land prices, have fallen, inflating operator margins, the Nikkei English News reported. Fees will be levied on parking and store sales in order to collect an additional several billion yen from the closely held operators of the airports, the report said, citing people in the Japanese government that it did not identify. Rents at the Tokyo International Airport at Haneda declined by 60 percent between 1994 and last year, while sales at the airport rose, the report said. Operators' pretax profit margins stand at 7.9 percent compared with 5 percent for publicly traded retail and real estate companies, the report said, citing the government.
■ Software
MS settles with Be Inc
Microsoft Corp has agreed to pay US$23.25 million in an out-of-court settlement to resolve an antitrust lawsuit that had been brought against the company by defunct software maker Be Inc. Microsoft announced the settlement with California-based Be Inc late Friday. The two groups did not divulge further details of their settlement, which is related to a lawsuit Be Inc filed against the world's largest software maker in February last year. In a short statement Microsoft simply confirmed that, in light of the payment, Be Inc had agreed to end its federal lawsuit against Microsoft. The settlement comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft had tried to pressure computer makers to boycott a program being marketed by Be Inc. In May, Microsoft agreed to pay US$750 million to AOL Time Warner for AOL to abandon an antitrust suit concerning Internet browsers that enable computer users to surf the Web.
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
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
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