■ Internet
Firms unready for viruses
Most businesses often aren't protected against computer viruses or other electronic sabotage as insurance companies usually don't cover such claims, the New York Times reported today. Many businesses don't try to buy insurance against damage caused by viruses, worms or hacker attacks as executives often aren't aware that their general-liability policy doesn't cover them, while insurers don't know how to adequately provide coverage for possible losses, the newspaper said. American International Group Inc and Lloyd's of London are among the few insurers that do cover damage from the electronic attacks, the paper said. The insurance ranges in cost from US$5,000 to US$30,000 a year for US$1 million in coverage.
■ Engineering
Alstom reassures China
Embattled French engineering giant Alstom expects that a recent government rescue package will not impact operations in China -- its top strategic market, state press reported yesterday. The recent 3.2 billion-euro (US$3.8 billion) bailout by the French state and banks in consultation with the European Commission has raised some concerns about the company's financial future among Alstom customers. The maker of fast trains, ocean liners and power stations, which operate 11 joint ventures and two wholly-owned companies with 2,400 employees in China, is a key supplier of many of China's major power projects. Alstom is heavily involved in China's mammoth Three Gorges hydro-electric project and the Daya Bay nuclear power station in Guangdong Province.
■ Economic policy
Deficits to be reduced
French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledged Sunday to rein in their public deficits which exceed EU budget rules ahead of a meeting of the bloc's leaders later in the week. The two met Sunday for an informal dinner in Paris to coordinate positions ahead of the EU's autumn summit Thursday and Friday in Brussels, a meeting traditionally devoted to economic matters. France and, to a lesser extent, Germany have been in the firing line of the European Commission for running budget deficits that contravene the EU's Growth and Stability Pact, which was designed to keep the 12 countries which use the euro from spending too much and undermining the currency. Both countries are expected to far exceed the deficit limit of 3.0 percent of GDP both this year and next year.
■ Telecoms
Motorola wins Iraq contract
Motorola Inc will probably win the bulk of orders worth as much as US$100 million to build a wireless network in Iraq, said Craig Ehrlich, chairman of the GSM Association, an industry group representing phone companies. "Motorola will probably walk away with the lion's share of infrastructure in Iraq," Ehrlich said in an interview. Total network orders in Iraq will probably be worth between US$50 million and US$100 million over the year ahead, he said. The US will probably push for using equipment based on the global system for mobile communications standard, or GSM, because neighboring countries use it, Ehrlich said. Motorola, the world's No. 4 maker of cellular networks, will build the network in southern Iraq that Mobile Telecom Co will operate as part of a venture called Atheer Telecoms.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2