■ Trade
Saudi Arabia joins WTO
Saudi Arabia formally joined the WTO yesterday, bringing the global body's membership to 149 just two days before a key summit in Hong Kong. The Middle East kingdom was admitted to the WTO by its then-148 member governments on Nov. 11, capping more than a decade of negotiations, and the move came into force one month later. WTO head Pascal Lamy has hailed the acceptance of another heavyweight of world trade into the organization, which sets the rules for global commerce. Saudi Arabia is the world's top oil producer and the main force in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). After missing its target of joining the WTO last year, Saudi Arabia set its sights on membership in time for the WTO ministerial conference, which is due to begin in Hong Kong tomorrow.
■ Energy
OPEC won't pump more oil
Oil heavyweight Saudi Arabia set the tone yesterday on the eve of an OPEC meeting on prices and output, saying there was no need to change present output at least for the first quarter of next year. OPEC is currently pumping some 30 million barrels a day of crude, a third of world demand. Most of the organization's 11 countries are producing flat out to meet strong and growing demand from the US, China, India and other nations. The Saudis account for nearly a third of OPEC output. Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said on arrival for today's conference in Kuwait City that his country's production this month was at 9.5 million barrels a day.
■ Exploitation
China gets McDrive-thru
McDonald's Corp, the world's largest restaurant chain, opened its first drive-through restaurant in China on Saturday, where more than 2 million passenger cars were sold last year. The restaurant in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, also has more than 50 parking spaces, McDonald's said in a statement. Dongguan is in southeast China, near Hong Kong. The city has a high per-capita income and many car owners, McDonald's said. Passenger-car sales in China may rise more than 12 percent this year to 2.6 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said this month. McDonald's plans to build more drive-throughs to accommodate the millions of new auto-owners.
■ Entertainment
DreamWorks may be sold
DreamWorks SKG's founders may soon announce plans to sell the movie studio to a group led by Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures for as much as US$1 billion, according to people briefed on the discussions. Buying DreamWorks almost doubles Paramount's slate of films for next year and will bring a library of 60 movies including Gladiator. Los Angeles-based Paramount will also take on as much as US$600 million in debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. The purchase is a coup for Paramount chief executive officer Brad Grey, hired this year by Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone to revive the studio. DreamWorks' Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen are handing over a business they formed 10 years to pool their talents in film, animation and music. While they found success with Oscar winners including American Beauty, films this year such as The Island disappointed.
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
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned