■ Aviation
Australia bars route access
The Australian government yesterday denied Singapore Airlines access to the lucrative route between Sydney and Los Angeles. Federal Transport Minister Warren Truss said the benefits of Singapore Airlines flying the trans-Pacific route would only bring minor benefits to the Australian tourism industry and could have a negative impact on the economy. Currently, the route is flown only by Qantas and United Airlines.
■ Telecoms
AT&T adds photo service
AT&T Inc will let wireless phone users get e-mailed photos over their handsets as the largest US telephone company adds services to retain customers. Yahoo Inc created the Yahoo Go Mobile software that comes on one Nokia Oyj phone being sold by San Antonio-based AT&T's mobile-phone joint venture, Cingular Wireless LLC. The phone costs US$250 before a US$50 rebate from Cingular for a two-year service agreement. The new service expands AT&T's Internet access offerings with Yahoo and helps keep customers from switching carriers.
■ Energy
Ex-CAO official sentenced
Peter Lim (林中山), the former finance chief at China Aviation Oil (CAO, 中國航油), was sentenced yesterday to two years in jail for his part in a trading scandal that led to the near collapse of the jet fuel trader. He pleaded guilty last week to cheating and making false declarations to conceal losses of nearly half a billion US dollars. Judge Liew Thiam Leng fined Lim, a Singaporean, S$150,000 (US$92,999) at the Subordinate Court. The three other executives facing charges are Jia Changbin (莢長斌), Gu Yanfei (顧炎飛) and Li Yongji (李永吉).
■ Energy
Hitachi unit wins order
A consortium led by Hitachi's European engineering unit, Babcock-Hitachi Europa (BHE), has won an order to supply a key part of what will be the world's biggest lignite-burning power plant. The order, for the steam-generating section of the plant, is worth 660 million euros (US$786 million), with about half to be fulfilled by BHE and associated companies. BHE has been a 100 percent subsidiary of Hitachi since 2003. The customer, RWE Power, says it aims to complete the 2.2 billion euro plant within four years. Other major contractors include Alstom, supplying turbines, and Strabag of Germany for the building work.
■ Electronics
Toshiba to ax CRT TVs
Toshiba Corp is ending production of cathode-ray tube televisions in April to focus on making flat-screen sets using liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) and a new technology being developed with Canon Inc. The Tokyo-based company is targeting more than 15 percent share of Japan's LCD TV market next fiscal year, according to a release yesterday. Toshiba is developing the surface-conduction electron-emitter display, or SED, technology with Canon Inc that offers clearer pictures and lower energy consumption than LCD and plasma display TVs. The company has said that flat-panel sets would help triple sales of DVD recorders, music players and other audio-visual products to ¥1.5 trillion (US$13 billion) in five years.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from