■ Semiconductors
Toshiba ups chip production
Japan's Toshiba will invest ¥200 billion (US$1.8 billion) to boost output of flash-memory chips used for mobile phones and portable music players to meet soaring global demand, a report said yesterday. The electronics giant will lift production capacity at its domestic chip plant to 150,000 units per month in 2007, sharply up from the current capacity of 10,000 units, the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Toshiba's move will likely pose a challenge to South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, the world's biggest computer-memory chip maker, which controls more than 50 percent of the global flash-memory market, the daily said. Toshiba estimates the global market value for high-density NAND flash memory chips will soar to ¥2 trillion in 2008, up 168 percent from ¥745 billion last year.
■ Telecom
Canberra mulling options
The Australian government could transfer some or all of its shares in the telecommunications giant Telstra into a proposed "future fund" rather than sell them at any price, Finance Minister Nick Minchin said yesterday. The government of Prime Minister John Howard has authorized the controversial sale of its remaining 51.8 percent share in the company for which it hopes to raise some A$30 billion (US$23 billion). Minchin, who is preparing a report for Cabinet on the sale, said it had not yet been decided whether the sale would proceed in one tranche or three. If there was a partial sell-off, the government's remaining stake could be transferred to a proposed "future fund," designed to pay for the government's future pension liabilities, and sold at the discretion of the fund's independent board. Minchin said it was possible that all of the government's Telstra shares could be placed in this fund.
■ Trade
EU official urges effort
Mariann Fischer Boel, the agriculture commissioner of the EU, said yesterday that a "huge effort" is needed if the upcoming WTO meeting in Hong Kong is to be a success. Speaking after an informal meeting with the agriculture ministers of Australia, Japan, the US and Canada in Queensland state, she urged all countries to work to end the current impasse in trade talks. "We all realize what is at stake and now all sides have to contribute to keeping this train on track, making sure there is movement in all three agricultural pillars -- export subsidies, domestic support and market access," she said in a statement. December's WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong is hoped to conclude the Doha round of talks after four years of often heated negotiations designed to reduce protectionism and promote trade to aid development in poorer countries. However, the failure to hammer out an interim agreement last month prompted speculation that the December meeting was doomed to failure.
■ Automobiles
Hybrid owners seek passes
California owners of hybrid-electric cars are rushing to get state permits that let them drive without passengers in freeway carpool lanes, with about 1,000 people applying per day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. More than 12,000 drivers have registered for the special stickers that became available Aug. 10, the paper said. California passed a law allowing solo drivers of high-mileage hybrids into carpool lanes last year.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a