■ Telecoms
S Korea's top firms face ban
South Korea's communica-tions watchdog yesterday banned top mobile carriers from seeking new clients for up to 40 days for engaging in unfair business practices. SK Telecom Co, the largest mobile-phone service operator in the country, was barred from accepting new clients for 40 days, accord-ing to the Korea Commun-ications Commission. KTF Co and LG Telecom Ltd, the second and the third-largest mobile carriers, were each banned for 30 days from recruiting new customers while KT received a 20-day ban, the commission said. The firms were found to have engaged in illegally subsidizing subscriber purchases of mobile hand-sets despite repeated state warnings to stop the unfair business practice, it said. The Information and Communications Ministry will fix a date for initiating the suspension, it said.
■ Energy
Security focus of meeting
Energy ministers from Asia and the Pacific due to meet this week will discuss ways to secure vital industries from security threats and the spiralling oil prices that have been wreaking havoc on their economies, an official said yesterday. The ministers from ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea and the APEC forum, begin meetings tomorrow in Manila. "Energy security will be the main focus," Philippine Energy Secretary Vicente Perez told a news conference. "The delegates would also talk about how we can respond swiftly in the event of emergencies in oil supply." Perez said he expects China, Japan and South Korea to push for oil stockpiling as a buffer to supply disruptions. The region imports about two-thirds of the oil it consumes, and demand was expected to rise to 23 million barrels per day this year from 21.99 million barrels per day last year, according to the Inter-national Energy Agency.
■ Trade
US pact to cost more
Australia's proposed free-trade agreement with the US would cost its economy almost A$50 billion (US$35 million) and up to 200,000 jobs, a new study warned yesterday. Compiled by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the study claimed the pact would require Australia to effectively surrender its chances to expand into knowledge-based industries. It also warned that long-term competitiveness would be hit. The study followed the release in April of a govern-ment report concluding the pact would add more than the A$6 billion a year to the economy and around A$52 billion within 20 years. That report has been widely criticized as overly opti-mistic and based on un-realistic assumptions. The government is hoping the pact will be approved by both parliament and the US Congress before year-end elections in both countries.
■ Aviation
EasyJet plans fare cuts
EasyJet Plc plans to cut fares in a bid to maintain its market position, even as rising fuel prices threaten to crimp profit by ?4 million (US$7.38 million). The airline said its passenger count last month rose 19 percent to 2.09 million people from 1.76 million in May last year as the carrier added routes across Europe. The load factor fell 2 percentage points to 81 percent. EasyJet's pledge to "vigorously defend" its market share follows Ryanair Holdings last week posting its first loss since the carrier sold shares to the public in May 1997.
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