■ Production
Plasma displays in demand
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co will start making plasma display panels for TVs two months earlier than planned to meet growing demand in north America, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. Osaka-based Matsushita plans to start the panel production at its plant in Amagasaki in the western prefecture of Hyogo in September, the newspaper said without citing source of its information. Previously it planned to start in Novem-ber. Together with Matsu-shita's existing three plasma-panel display plants, the company plans to raise annual production to 3.3 million units later this year, from 1.8 million units now, the report said.
■ Legal Issues
Deutsche Telekom to pay
Deutsche Telekom has agreed to pay US$120 million to US plaintiffs alleging the company gave misleading information surrounding its June 2000 public share offering. The company said in a statement released late Friday it was not conceding any wrongdoing in the agreement, which still has to be approved by a US District court in New York. No one was immediately available for comment at Deutsche Telekom on Saturday. "No inference of accounting errors or disclosure viola-tions may be drawn from the fact of or terms of the agreement," the statement said. Deutsche Telekom faces similar lawsuits in German courts brought about by shareholders charging the company covered up risks and sold the stock at too high a price during the same June 2000 offering. Those proceedings are to resume in June.
■ Software
Windows XP changes in EU
Microsoft Corp has agreed to find another name for the stripped-down version of the operating system it was ordered to sell in Europe and had labeled "Windows XP Reduced Media Edition." Industry analysts thought the name would discourage sales of the antitrust-driven European version. But the company says it was simply intended to distinguish clearly between the full-fledged operating system and the version the EU's antitrust ruling requires -- without Windows Media Player and related functions. The EC asked the company to change the name, Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said on Friday. The Reduced Media Edition name "was descriptive of the product and reduced potential confusion in the market-place," Drake said. "How-ever, in the spirit of com-promise, we have agreed to make the change." A new name has not yet been chosen.
■ Airlines
Virgin rejects takeover
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group yesterday rejected a A$1.99 billion (US$1.54 billion) takeover offer by ports conglomerate Patrick Corp for the no-frills Australian airline Virgin Blue. Patrick, which holds a 45.95 percent stake in the carrier esta-blished by Branson in 2000, launched a surprise take-over bid on Friday, offering A$1.90 per share in cash for the shares it does not already own. But minority stockholder Virgin Group said the offer was too low, and that its Swiss invest-ment arm, Cricket SA, bought 5.1 million more Virgin Blue shares on Friday at an average price of A$2.04 "It is Virgin Group's view that Virgin Blue Holdings has much greater value than that indicated in the price being offered by Patrick Corp," Virgin Group said in a statement. Cricket SA's purchase brought Virgin's stake in the discount carrier to 25.1 percent.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
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