■ Aviation
China opens up sector
China will open its aviation sector further to private investors, allowing them to set up new firms or take stakes in existing entities, state press said yesterday. The Civil Aviation Administration of China will soon issue rules governing investment in the industry to provide an adequate legal framework, CAAC director Yang Yuanyuan was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. China has already taken steps to allow more competition and investment in the sector. New regulations in August last year allow overseas investors to hold up to a 49 percent stake in local carriers, with the maximum stake by a single overseas investor capped at 25 percent. Combined stakes by overseas firms in domestic airports can exceed 51 percent as long as the Chinese side remains the largest shareholder.
■ Cars
Renault plans US comeback
French auto giant Renault aims to re-enter the US market in 2010 or later by capitalizing on its alliance with Japan's Nissan Motor Co, Renault chief executive officer Louis Schweitzer said in an interview published yesterday. "Fuel-efficient cars will be in greater demand in the US market, giving a chance for not only [Renault's] mainstay small trucks but also compact cars," Schweitzer was quoted as saying by the leading Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun. He added, however, that re-entry into the world's biggest car market before 2010 would be difficult because it requires a massive amount of "human and financial resources." Renault is considering using the network of Nissan dealerships in the US, the report said.
■ Steel
Arcelor in China venture
European steel giant Arcelor yesterday signed a US$800 million agreement with Japan's Nippon Steel and the Chinese group Baoshan Iron & Steel, also known as Baosteel, to launch a joint venture in the Chinese city of Shanghai. The factory will have the capacity to produce 1.7 million tonnes of carbon flat steel a year, largely for the automobile sector, the European group said. Arcelor, a French-Spanish-Luxembourg consortium, will have a 12-percent stake in the venture, while 38 percent will be held by Nippon Steel and 50 percent by Baosteel. "The new facilities will begin to supply customers from the second quarter of 2005," the statement said. Arcelor group chairman Guy Dolle said in the statement that the joint venture represented a "strategic advance" alongside large automakers.
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