■ Economies
Tankan hits 13yr high
A Japanese central bank survey showed yesterday that Japanese manufac-turers' economic sentiment has reached a high not seen in 13 years. According to the April-June "Tankan" survey by the Bank of Japan, the diffusion index of business sentiment among big manu-facturers stood at positive 22 in the last month's sur-vey, the highest figure since 1991. Confidence in the economy among major Japanese manufacturers picked up last month over March for the fifth-straight improvement. The figure was 12 in the March survey. A positive number means optimists outnumber pessi-mists. The "Tankan" survey strongly influences the bank's monetary policy. The non-manufacturers index also improved to positive nine from five in the March survey. Large manufacturers said they planned to raise capital spending in the current fiscal year to next March by 20.4 percent from the previous fiscal year.
■ Telecoms
New mobile for Motorola
Motorola Inc, the world's second-largest mobile-telephone maker, will start selling a phone with a keyboard hidden inside and a built-in camera as it tries to win sales in North America. The A630 phone, scheduled for release in September, will be Moto-rola's 36th new handset this year, vice president Jason Few said in an interview. It has a flip-top color screen that covers a keyboard for sending e-mails and text messages and playing video games. Illinois-based Motorola is adding stylish new phones with more features in a bid to steal sales from market leader Nokia Oyj.
■ Aviation
United hikes fares to US
United Airlines has raised fares by 5 percent on most flights to international destinations from the US, citing rising fuel costs as the reason. The increase announced on Wednesday is the latest of numerous attempts by US carriers this year to try to have passen-gers share the burden of soaring jet-fuel prices. Last month, United rescinded a US$10-per-round-trip fuel surcharge applied to most North American fares after only a day when only American Airlines went along. There was no word whether United's rivals were matching this move. Delta Air Lines was
"considering a similar move" but was still review-ing it, spokeswoman Peggy Estes said. Mary Stanik, a Northwest Airlines spokes-woman, said they were studying it. "Escalating fuel prices are a growing con-cern throughout the airline industry," United executive vice president John Tague said. "We must take the necessary steps to manage our exposure to this unprecedented rise in expense."
■ Automobiles
Pioneer sets purchase date
Pioneer Corp, Japan's largest maker of car-navigation systems, signed an agreement to buy NEC Corp's plasma-display panel business on Sept. 30 for ?40 billion (US$370 million). The companies made the original agreement in February and set the date yesterday. They announced the signing in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Tokyo-based Pioneer is aiming to be the biggest maker of plasma displays with annual production of 1 million units by March 2006. It has said that after it finishes a production line in Yamanashi prefecture and buys NEC's business, total capacity will grow to 1.1 million units. Pioneer shares rose 0.4 percent in Tokyo Stock Exchange trading.
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,