■ Health
Panel lifts cow-testing rule
An advisory panel agreed yesterday that Japan could stop testing cows under 20 months old for mad cow disease without posing a risk to public health, a news report said. The finding could lead to Japan lifting its demand that the US test its entire herd for the disease before Tokyo will lift its nine-month-old ban on US beef imports. Japan banned imports of US beef in December after the discovery of that country's first case of the disease, and the two governments have been negotiating a lifting of the ban. Japan was the most lucrative overseas market for US beef. At present, Japan requires the testing of all cows for the disease, and has been urging the US to impose a similar system.
■ Oil
OPEC head: prices to fall
Crude oil prices are expected to fall over the coming two months as supply uncertainties fade and markets settle on the expectation of a smooth US presidential election, OPEC's president said yesterday. "Future trading for September-October indicates a trend toward a drop in prices and this is good news," Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also Indonesia's energy minister told reporters. He said prices would begin to slide ahead of the US presidential vote in November, which is expected to proceed without a hitch, and the resolution of problems with Russian oil giant Yukos. In London, the price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in October fell US$0.34 to US$41.23 a barrel on Friday.
■ Pharmaceuticals
China defends Viagra case
China yesterday defended its decision to overturn US-based Pfizer's patent for Viagra in a ruling that was widely seen as a setback to protection of intellectual property rights in the country. Deputy head of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) Zhang Qin said the patent license originally granted in 2001 was invalidated after experts reviewed the case in response from complaints by more than 10 Chinese pharmaceutical companies. "The major reason for the patent office to do so was because the technological disclosure made in the patent's explanation document was insufficient," Zhang said at a press conference. The patent for the top selling erectile dysfunction drug was revoked by SIPO in July.
■ Investment
Japanese firms spend more
Capital expenditure by non-financial Japanese companies in the April to June quarter rose 10.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight quarterly increase, the Japanese government said yesterday. Manufacturers' combined investment in machinery and equipment gained 5.6 percent while non-manufacturers' investment rose 13.0 percent in the quarter, the finance ministry said. "Among manufacturers, investment rose in the sectors involving electric machinery, telecommunications machinery and general machinery while it fell in the transportation machinery sector," the ministry said. Among non-manufacturers, investment rose in the service and retail sectors, though it fell in the real estate and electricity sectors, it said. The ministry surveyed 26,271 companies with capital exceeding ¥10 million (US$90,500) and received effective replies from 20,599.
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