■ Railways
Hong Kong MTR targets EU
Hong Kong's urban rail operator, the MTR Corp, is seeking to use its expertise to help develop rail lines in European and Scandinavian counties such as the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden, a media report said yesterday, citing Jeremy Long, MTRC chief executive of European business. The firm, which carries more than 2.3 million passengers a day on its six-line network in Hong Kong, is bidding for a rail franchise in Kent in southern England. It is also shortlisted to bid for a contract with the Thameslink and Great Northern lines in the UK, the South China Morning Post said.
■ Patents
Toshiba, Microsoft sign pact
Toshiba Corp and Microsoft Corp have signed a patent cross-licensing pact that will enable the two companies to use each other's patents freely in the computer and audiovisual equipment sectors. The patents include those related to software technology in the two areas, according to a Toshiba spokeswoman. Japan's second-largest electronics maker signed the pact with the US software maker in late April, said Midori Suzuki, the Toshiba spokeswoman. The arrangement comes as patent infringement suits involving Japanese makers of flat panel displays and memory chips are growing in the rapidly-expanding digital consumer electronics industry.
■ Airlines
Virgin abandons Macau deal
Australian carrier Virgin Blue has withdrawn from talks about setting up a low-cost airline in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, a company involved in the proposal said yesterday. Shun Tak Holdings Ltd, the flagship company of gaming mogul Stanley Ho, said Virgin Blue had pulled out of the plan, but that the plan was still being "actively" discussed with Air Macau Co, currently the only airline based on the island. The two companies have been exploring the possibility of operating low-cost air services from Macau to serve the booming China market since late last year.
■ Semiconductors
Infineon opens in Singapore
Semiconductor giant Infineon Technologies has opened its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore and pledged to invest US$30.3 million a year for the next few years. The headquarters, opened on Thursday, will oversee a region stretching from South Korea to Australia covering more than 10,000 employees. Infineon, the world's fourth-largest chip company, said it was also investing in chip testing and packaging equipment to capitalize on fast-growing markets in the region.
■ Bankruptcy
China to reduce bailouts
Beijing will stop bailing out many failing state-owned firms, instead requiring them to apply for bankruptcy, state media reported yesterday. Government support will be confined mainly to larger industries, especially in China's northeastern rust belt and backward inland areas, the Xinhua reported. Small or medium-sized companies and non-industrial enterprises must file for bankruptcy if they are insolvent, Shao Ning, vice minister of the government agency that oversees state-owned assets, said on Thursday. "Only some large badly performing state-owned industrial enterprises will get support from the government in the next four years, while other state-owned enterprises will have to apply for bankruptcy according to law," it said.
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