■ Travel Industry
Star Cruises, Valuair in deal
The world's third largest cruise operator, Malaysia's Star Cruises, said yesterday it had formed an alliance with Valuair, a low-cost airline based in Singapore. Under the deal, joint travel packages originating in Singapore will be on offer. Star Cruises Ltd will also become Valuair Ltd's largest shareholder, the companies said. Valuair currently operates flights to Bangkok, Hong Kong, the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, and Perth in Western Australia. It was the first of three budget carriers to begin operations from Singapore this year. The others are Singapore Airlines Ltd-backed Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia, majority-owned by Aus-tralia's Qantas Airways Ltd.
■ Energy
China targets power plants
China is launching a crack-down on new power plants that are being built without official approval as it tries to enforce measures to restrain breakneck economic growth, a newspaper reported yesterday. China is suffering widespread power short-ages but the government worries that so many new, unauthorized power plants are being built that it will face a glut in capacity, the China Daily said. "The government will eradicate unapproved power plant construction projects by stopping bank loans to unapproved plants and by controlling land property usage and rail transport-ation," the newspaper said. Unauthorized power plants under construction had a total generating capacity equal to one-third of China's power supply at the end of last year, the daily said.
■ Auto Market
Honda expects higher sales
Honda is forecasting an 8 percent surge in global auto sales next year as demand for its cars grows in all key markets, the Japanese automaker's chief executive said yesterday. Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co expects its global sales to grow to a record 3.4 million vehicles next year. It sold 3.16 million vehicles this year, up 9 percent from the previous year. Honda plans to sell 5 percent more vehicles in North America next year at 1.45 million vehicles, with a new light truck model and the remodeled Civic com-pact, Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told reporters. It sold nearly 1.38 million vehicles there this year, up 2 percent from last year. Honda also is predicting sales to edge up 4 percent in Japan to 770,000 vehicles next year, after inching up 1 percent this year, Fukui said.
■ Japan
Slower growth forecast
Japan's economy will likely expand 1.6 percent in the fiscal year starting in April, slower than the expected pace for the current fiscal year because of dwindling capital expenditures and housing investment, the government said yesterday. But the Cabinet Office also said consumer prices will rise for the first time in seven years, signaling a possible end to deflation. Growth for Japan's real gross domestic product will be 2.1 percent this fiscal year, which ends March 31 next year, the Cabinet Office said. Concerns, however, have been rising that the recovery may be losing steam as an export boom fizzles. Earlier this month, the government revised its growth figures for the July-September quarter downward in annualized terms to 0.2 percent. The Cabinet Office said private housing investment will likely drop 0.6 percent next fiscal year. Capital expenditure growth is also likely to slow to 3.3 percent from the current 5.6 percent.
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
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft