■ Mobile phones
Nokia's UK share drops
Nokia Oyj had its UK market share for mobile phones fall to less than 40 percent from 60 percent last year because it failed to offer new designs, the Sunday Times reported, citing market researcher Gfk. The newspaper didn't give specific times for the market shares provided by Gfk. Nokia, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, said last Tuesday that first-quarter sales unexpectedly fell 2 percent as competitors such as Siemens AG and Samsung Electronics Co increased sales by developing more popular handsets. The stock dropped 17 percent after the announcement, the biggest decline in almost three years. Customers have been frustrated by Nokia's refusal to tailor handsets to their desires, Ben Wood, an analyst at researcher Gartner Inc said last week.
■ Singapore
Job situation still rocky
Singapore, which expects growth of as much as 5.5 percent this year, will see a pickup in employment only after the economy improves because of a lag between a recovery and job creation, Channel NewsAsia reported, citing Lim Boon Heng (林文興), a minister in Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's (吳作棟) office. Lim, who is also head of the government-backed Nation-al Trades Union Con-gress, said public agencies will cut fewer jobs this year com-pared with last year, the report said. Government agencies such as the Inland Revenue Authority and the Sports Council may cut jobs as a higher dependence on information technology reduces the need for workers, the report said. Singapore expects unem-ployment to fall to as low as 4 percent at the end of the year after rising to a record 5.5 percent in the third quarter.
■ India
Inflation likely to rise
India's inflation rate may reach 5 percent in the next few months, the Financial Express reported, citing economists including B.B. Bhattacharya, director at the Institute of Economic Growth. Increasing money supply fueled by a buildup in the country's foreign-exchange reserves and a forecast increase in petro-leum prices after national elections this month and next will stoke inflation, the paper said. India's foreign-exchange reserves, inclu-ding foreign currency, gold, and reserves and special drawing rights in its IMF account, grew by US$1.07 billion to a record US$112.7 billion in the week ended April 2, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Saturday. India's inflation rate climbed to 4.47 percent in the week ended March 27, from 4.3 percent the previous week, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Friday.
■ Automobiles
Two-stage revival plan
DaimlerChrysler AG's ¥500 billion (US$4.7 billion) plan to revive Mitsubishi Motors Corp will be implemented in two stages and involve funding from Mitsubishi group companies, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported, citing unnamed people at the company. Daimler-Chrysler, the biggest share-holder of Mitsubishi Motors, will inject as much as ¥370 billion capital into the auto-maker this year, the paper said. The German manu-facturer will provide the rest of the funds after a few years and an assessment of Mitsubishi Motors' finances, the paper said. It may raise its stake in Mitsubishi Motors to more than 51 percent, after the Japanese firm cut its ¥1.14 trillion debt, Mitsubishi officials said.
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,