■ Semiconductors
Sales rose 37% in April
Global semiconductor sales rose 37 percent in April from a year earlier to the highest level since July 2000, helped by higher demand for chips used in mobile phones and personal computers, the Semiconductor Industry Association said. Sales were US$16.94 billion in the month, the industry group said in a statement released on Business Wire. Worldwide chip sales rose 4.1 percent from US$16.28 billion in March, San Jose, California-based SIA said. "The fundamentals are in place for strong growth through the remainder of the year, and it is likely that growth for 2004 will significantly surpass last fall's forecast of 19 percent growth," SIA president George Scalise said in the statement.
■ Television
TVB cuts jobs
Television Broadcast Ltd, Hong Kong's dominant TV network, said yesterday it had slashed between 25 and 30 jobs as part of a restructuring. The latest job cuts occurred in the art, construction, production and security departments, said Winnie Ho, a TVB spokeswoman. TVB cut 30 jobs in February. TVB employs more than 3,000 staff and is trying to merge different departments, she said. "We are constantly reviewing our operations," Ho said, adding that the company may hire production staff later this year. She dismissed as a "rumor" a local newspaper report Tuesday that said the broadcaster plans to slash another 100 jobs after the Olympics in Athens, Greece in August. The report cited an unidentified TVB employee.
■ Airlines
Ryanair profits fall
Budget airline Ryanair posted a 5 percent drop in net profits yesterday, blaming increased price competition and the weakness of the British pound for the fall. Net profit before goodwill and exceptional items fell to 226.6 euros (US$280 million) for the year ended March 31. The airline has been slashing ticket prices to meet the competition and said it carried more than 23 million passengers over the year, up 47 percent from the previous year. "This year was characterized by adverse market conditions including sterling weakness, the war in Iraq, the threat of terrorist attacks, significantly higher oil prices, and intense price competition all over Europe from chronically loss making flag and new entrant carriers," said Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary.
■ Airlines
Hong Kong agrees charges
Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair and nine other airlines have been given permission to levy surcharges on passengers traveling on flights into and out of Hong Kong to cover surging fuel prices, a government spokeswoman said yesterday. Civil Aviation Department spokeswoman Sandra Lai said the government has permitted Cathay to charge passengers US$5 each way for flights within Asia and US$14 for flights to other destinations. Dragonair and three Chinese airlines -- China Eastern, China Southern and Air China -- can collect US$5.40 per flight from each passenger, regardless of its length. The six other airlines that won approval Monday were Australian Airlines, Qantas Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Emirates Airlines, Air India and Gulf Air. Their surcharges will range from US$4 to US$10.70.
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
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the