■ Wireless
China touts standard
China has revived its effort to promote its own encryption standard for wireless communications, unveiling a 22-member alliance of leading Chinese computer and telecommunications firms to encourage its use, a media report said yesterday. Beijing caused an uproar last year when it tried to compel computer and telecom companies to use its standard, known as WAPI (wireless authentication and privacy infrastructure). It dropped that in a deal with Washington last April after foreign companies complained it would hurt their access to China's markets.
■ Aviation
Malaysia Air to sell planes
Loss-making national carrier Malaysia Airlines plans to sell about 30 aircraft, including a dozen jumbo jets, as part of a business turnaround plan, the Star daily reported yesterday. The final list of aircraft will be drawn up when Malaysian Airline System Bhd, or MAS, finalizes its network rationalization and fleet requirement plan, possibly by midyear, the Star said, quoting unidentified sources. The list may include 12 to 13 Boeing 747-400 planes, as well as some Boeing 737-400s, Fokkers and Twin-Otters, the Star said.
■ Environment
Clean tech seen as bonanza
Venture capitalists are seeing green in clean technologies. The amount of North American venture capital invested in environmentally friendly technologies jumped 35 percent last year to more than US$1.6 billion, according to a report to be released yesterday by the Cleantech Venture Network. "Cleantech" investments by venture capital firms rose to a record US$502 million during the fourth quarter of last year -- 18 percent more than the previous quarter and 60 percent more than the same period a year earlier.
■ Computers
Microsoft launches search
In its latest bid to catch up with rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, Microsoft Corp is launching a revamped Internet search engine it says will help computer users find information faster, view it more easily and organize it better. Debuting in test form yesterday, Windows Live Search is Microsoft's latest move in a major strategy shift that has the world's largest software company focusing more heavily on Internet-based software and services. Windows Live Search was to begin powering queries on live.com, Microsoft's Windows Live Web site, yesterday. Once the technology has been fully tested, Windows Live Search will replace the existing search engine that powers MSN.com. MSN spokesman Adam Sohn said the company has not determined how long it will run Windows Live Search as a test.
■ Energy
Shell to expand in China
Royal Dutch Shell Group plans to spend US$500 million in China this year as it expands its gas station network and develops clean energy projects, a Shell executive said yesterday. The company is still in negotiations over adding to its network of own-brand gas stations in the southern province of Guangdong, in Beijing and in the nearby northern city of Tianjin, said Nick Wood, Shell's external affairs director in China. The Anglo-Dutch company is one of the largest foreign investors in China and also has 200 joint venture gas stations with local partner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, Asia's biggest oil refiner.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)