■ Semiconductors
Equipment orders up
Global orders for Japanese semiconductor-making equipment rose 56 percent last month from a year earlier, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said in a release. Orders rose to ?154.3 billion (US$1.43 billion), according to figures released by the industry group, whose 96 members include Advantest Corp and Tokyo Electron Ltd, Japan's two biggest chip-making equipment makers. Sales of the equipment, which lag orders by about three to six months, more than doubled last month to ?124.7 billion, from ?47.8 billion a year earlier. The book-to-bill ratio, which is a three-month average of the ratio of orders to actual sales, rose for the second straight month to 1.00 compared with 0.91 in April.
■ Scandals
SK Group head sentenced
The chairman of SK Group, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison for violating political fund laws and evading taxes, a report said. Son Kil-Seung was arrested in January. Prosecutors accused him of dodging taxes and embezzling company funds, as well as giving 10 billion won (US$8.7 million) in illicit campaign funds to the main opposition Grand National Party and US$956,000 to an aide of President Roh Moo-hyun ahead of the 2002 presidential poll. Son was found guilty of channeling illegal funds ahead of the election and of evading more than 38 billion won (US$33 million) in corporate taxes, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. The Seoul Central District Court postponed a ruling on whether to issue a 40 billion won (US$34.8 million) fine against Son, as requested by prosecutors, Yonhap said.
■ Automobiles
Fuso to hold inspections
Scandal-hit Japanese truck maker Mitsubishi Fuso said yesterday it will conduct emergency inspections of its vehicles as a stop-gap measure ahead of full-scale recalls after a number of accidents. The company was responding to an order from the transport ministry, which said Mitsubishi's slow pace of filing promised recall notices has left too many hazardous vehicles on the road. The truckmaker, an affiliate of Japan's fourth-largest carmaker Mitsubishi Motors, said earlier this month it would recall some 450,000 vehicles in Japan in connection with 47 defects by October. Mitsubishi Fuso will replace defective parts with new ones at no charge domestically starting July 1, even before design flaws are fixed. It will have to recall the affected vehicles again once the faulty parts are redesigned.
■ Technology
Microsoft signs China deal
Microsoft has signed an agreement with China's leading television and home appliance products maker to develop digital multimedia products, state media said yesterday. The official Shanghai Securities News said Sichuan Changhong Electric was aiming to gain a stronger foothold in China's growing digital multimedia market through Microsoft's technological expertise. Changhong would receive advanced IT technology and software from Microsoft to develop digital TV sets and other high-technology products in return for helping Microsoft develop its business in China. No financial terms were given. Microsoft has had a hard time penetrating the Chinese market because pirated copies of its software products are widely available for just over one US dollar a CD-ROM.
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
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,
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
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2