■ 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 Last month, United rescinded a US$10-per-round-trip fuel surcharge applied to most North American fares after only a day when only American Airlines went along.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 HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government