■ Semiconductors
NEC boasts smaller circuits
NEC Electronics Corp has developed a technology to make semiconductors with circuit widths smaller than those made by companies such Intel Corp, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said, without citing where it got the information. NEC Electronics plans to start production of semicon-ductors with a circuit width of 55 nanometers in 2007, the paper said. Intel and Matsushita Electric Indus-trial Co have already started production of semicon-ductors with circuit widths of 65 nanometers, the report said.
■ Aviation
Cathay's salaries rise 3.5%
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd will raise the salaries of its almost 8,000 employees by an average 3.5 percent next year, the Oriental Daily reported, citing an unidentified company spokesman. The increase will apply to the airline's 6,000-strong cabin crew and 2,000-member ground crew, the Hong Kong-based newspaper said. The airline will announce the salary adjustment plan for management staff before Christmas, the Daily said. Increased demand in leisure travel has made up for lower profit margins resulting from high oil prices, the paper said, citing the spokesman.
■ Economics
Managers trust in recovery
Nearly three quarters of Japan's top managers think the country's economy will continue on a path of recovery, according to a poll published yesterday. The showing from management at 73 of the country's 100 top companies was significantly more optimistic than a similar survey conducted earlier in the year. Seventy companies said they expec-ted individual consumption to improve moderately over the next 12 months, it said. The government cites consumption as one of main factors reining in a recovery. Eighty-seven companies said they regarded the status of the Japanese economy as growing, up sharply from 49 companies in the previous poll. The poll was conducted between Nov. 7 and Nov. 26.
■ Aviation
Qantas mulls global Jetstar
Australian flag carrier Qantas is considering expanding its budget offshoot Jetstar's international presence, chief executive Geoff Dixon said yesterday. Dixon said the Qantas board would take a vote this week on expanding Jetstar's routes to include destinations no more than eight to 10 hours from Australia -- which could include Asian and Pacific island flights. Dixon said Jetstar, which this month launched a service to New Zealand, would not compete on profitable routes flown by Qantas, instead flying to new destinations or ones that the main airline had scrapped. He named Seoul and Taipei as destinations no longer serviced by Qantas that Jetstar could potentially pick up.
■ Software
Belarusian OS in the works
Scientists in Belarus are working on their own computer software to serve as an alternative to the market-leading Windows operating system from Microsoft. The inexpensive Belarusian operating system will work with open-source code like Linux, reports computer scientist Michail Machanek from the Academy of Science in Minsk. Both the EU and NATO have expressed interest in his project, he says. "Ordinary citizens cannot afford to buy an operating system for US$300," Machanek says. The Belarusian Windows will cost only 12 euros (US$14).
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
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
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