■ Airlines
Boeing losing business
Boeing Co said it delivered 71 commercial airplanes in the fourth quarter of last year, bringing its total for the year to 281 -- a significant drop from 381 last year and 527 in 2001. The Chicago-based company is expected to be displaced by Europe's Airbus as the world's largest commercial jet manufacturer when Airbus reports its full-year figures. Airbus had delivered 263 planes through the third quarter. Boeing's deliveries for October through December included 47 of its top-selling jet, the single-aisle 737; 12 jumbo 777s; three 767s; five 747s; one 757; and three 717s. A year ago, Boeing delivered 86 commercial jets in the fourth quarter.
■ Digital Camera
Canon becomes No. 1
Canon Inc overtook Fuji Photo Film Co and Sony Corp to become the biggest seller of digital cameras in Japan last year, according to a market researcher. Canon had 19 percent of all digital camera sales by units in its home market this year, according to Tokyo-based GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd, which surveyed 3,500 retailers of consumer electronics throughout the country. Canon took the No. 1 position for the first time on the strength of new products such as its IXY DIGITAL series and PowerShot cameras. "With growing demands for high resolution and powerful zoom lenses, the position of traditional camera makers with brand power such as Canon is solidifying," said Koji Namiki, an analyst at Mizuho Securities Co.
■ Airlines
Lee wants to protect SIA
Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew says the city-state must protect its status as an air hub even if it means that the government loses money as the biggest shareholder of Singapore Airlines, local media reported yesterday. "My job is to see that Singapore's position as an air hub is not lost," Lee, the country's senior minister, was quoted as saying in the Straits Times newspaper. "And if budget airlines were to eat up SIA's profits but retain Singapore as a hub, I say, `So be it,' even though we're going to lose money as shareholders of SIA," Lee said, according to the report. Singapore's transport minister said last month that the city-state's aviation authority may build a new airport terminal at Changi Airport specifically for budget airlines in a bid to remain an aviation hub.
■ Internet
Time Warner abandons deal
Time Warner Inc, the world's largest media company, withdrew from a US$50 million Internet venture with Legend Group Ltd (聯想), China's leading computer maker, Legend chief financial officer Mary Ma said. Legend last month took over the 49 percent of FM365 held by Time Warner, formerly AOL Time Warner Inc, at the stake's net asset value, Ma told reporters in Beijing yesterday. She didn't give a price. Legend, which now owns all the venture, doesn't need to take a one-time charge for the purchase, she said. Time Warner, which invested in media and Internet assets in China in 2000 and 2001, has been pulling out of these investments after demand didn't meet expectations. In July, Time Warner sold its controlling stake in an unprofitable television station in China to Tom.com Ltd, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's (李嘉誠) media and advertising company.
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
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
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
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,