■ Communications
DoCoMo may lower rates
NTT DoCoMo Inc, the world's second-largest provider of mobile phone services, should consider lower fixed rates for users who send and receive smaller volumes of data, DoCoMo's Chief Executive Masao Nakamura said. KDDI Corp, Japan's second-biggest mobile phone company, offers a two-tier pricing system. In August, the company started charging low-volume data customers 2,100 yen (US$19) a month. Users who send and download larger amounts are charged twice as much. DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone KK are competing for subscribers to services that let users quickly send e-mail, download video and send pictures over high-speed Internet connections.
■ Aviation
Pilots to mull pay cut
Leaders of the pilots' union at bankrupt US Airways are taking their time to decide whether to forward a proposed contract to their members that would cut average pay by 18 percent. A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) valued the concessions at US$1.8 billion through five years -- the third concession that pilots have made to the company since 2002. Union negotiators met Friday and Saturday with the union's master executive council and up to 80 pilots at a hotel in Charlotte, where US Airways has its largest hub. ALPA represents the airline's 3,000 pilots. The meeting was adjourned Saturday afternoon with the conferees still undecided on whether to recommend that union members approve the tentative contract. The group will resume meeting tomorrow in Pittsburgh, union spokesman Jack Stephan said.
■ Luxury goods
Hobby rocket developed
A Japanese university has developed a small rocket targeting hobbyists that will sell for ?2.1 million (US$19,000) when it soars onto the market this month. The Camui-50P rocket was developed by a team from Hokkaido University and can fly as high as 1km within three seconds after take off, according to the Hokkaido Aerospace Science and Technology Incubation Center. Measuring 1.6m long and weighing 10.5kg, the rocket has a cavity that can carry a small payload, such as a camera, weighing up to 0.5kg, it said. "[The rocket's] commercialization will have the effect of familiarizing people with space research," said HASTIC, which is selling the product.
■ Emerging markets
Capital inflows seen rising
Net private capital flows to emerging markets are projected to reach US$226 billion this year, bringing them to levels not seen since the Asian crisis in 1997/1998, an international finance group said Saturday. It will rise to US$229 billion in 2005, the Institute of International Finance said in Washington. Net private capital flow amounted to US$213 billion last year. "The upward trend in flows is being supported by a rebound in direct investment and continued net bank lending at a time when emerging market economies are experiencing their highest growth in 20 years," the group said in a report released on the sidelines of the annual International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting in Washington this week-end. The group, which has more than 340 member institutions in over 60 countries, said emerging market bonds regained the attention of investors last year.
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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