■ Automobiles
Honda plans mini-hybrid
Honda Motor Co plans to introduce the world's first hybrid subcompact car as early as the next fiscal year, being April 1, 2007, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese automaker, which already sells three hybrid models, plans to market the subcompact for about ¥1.4 million (US$11,803) while most of the hybrids on the market go for at least ¥2 million, the business daily said. Honda's rival Toyota now offers five hybrid models since it introduced its Prius in 1997 and announced sales of 235,000 units last year, which made up 3.2 percent of its total car sales.
■ Electronics
Chinese GPS introduced
Pioneer Corp will next month begin sales in China of a car-navigation system that also plays music and movies, the Japanese electronics company said yesterday. The GPS system, which comes with a touch-sensitive display and voice-activated feature, will offer maps of 20 provinces and two autonomous regions for 19,800 yuan (US$2,460). The DVD-based navigator will also play CDs up to 480 minutes long and DVDs, which allows back-seat passengers to watch movies with a separately sold monitor. Pioneer said it expected sales of its GPS system to rise as automobile sales in China also grow by more than a projected 10 million units by 2014. The company first introduced its navigation systems in Japan in 1990, followed by Europe and North America in 1999.
■ Finance
Interest rates to get wilder
Federal Reserve policy-makers last month indicated that interest-rate decisions could become less predictable, relying more heavily on short-term economic prospects than on more sweeping monetary strategy. Minutes of the Fed's closed-door meeting on Jan. 31 -- Chairman Alan Greenspan's last -- were released on Tuesday and offered insight into policy-makers' thinking as they contemplated what might be the appropriate end point in the Fed's nearly two-year credit tightening campaign and as they prepared for the new chief, Ben Bernanke. "Although the stance of policy seemed close to where it needed to be given the current outlook, some future policy firming might be needed" to keep inflation and the economy on an even keel, according to the minutes.
■ Banking
Small banks look attractive
China's city commercial banks are becoming increasingly attractive to overseas investors as stepping stones into the country's huge financial sector, Moody's Investors Service said yesterday. "The banks are becoming hot targets for overseas investment because they are relatively small and provide an entry point for foreign banks to participate in China's growing banking sector," May Yan, senior analyst with Moody's, said in a teleconference. For China's smaller banks the benefits of foreign capital injections amounted to more than just a shot in the arm of liquidity, Yan said. "Foreign banks are also required to provide technical assistance in many areas, including risk management, product knowledge and maybe management personnel," Yan said. "Overall, in the intermediate term, we expect to see some positive effects by foreign investment. For example, transparency and information quality to improve under the influence of foreign partners," Yan said.
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