■ Energy
CNOOC ups exploration
China's offshore oil giant CNOOC Ltd plans to invest 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion) in oil and gas exploration and production through 2010, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday, citing a CNOOC official. The spending is expected to help raise CNOOC's production in 2010 to 50 million tonnes of oil equivalent, including 38 million tonnes of crude oil and 12.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, it quoted Tan Dongling, a manager with CNOOC's development and planning department, as saying. CNOOC is China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer. The company expects to bring more than 50 new oil and gas fields into production by 2010, Tan said. Most of those fields are located in eastern China's Bohai Sea, the Pearl River estuary, near Hong Kong, and the Beibu Gulf, in the South China Sea, he said.
■ Management
Hyundai apologizes
Hyundai Motor Co said yesterday that its chairman and his son will donate 1 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) worth of personal assets to society amid a slush fund scandal engulfing South Korea's largest automaker. Hyundai made the announcement in a statement, saying it "apologizes" for causing concerns to the public. Hyundai Motor is headed by Chung Mong-koo. Kia Motors Corp, its affiliate, is led by his son Chung Eui-sun. In the statement, Hyundai said it would "actively cooperate" with the ongoing investigation and plans to set up an ethics committee composed of outside directors and experts. The investigation has centered on suspicions Hyundai embezzled money from affiliates to create a slush fund and used it via at least two lobbyists to seek favors from the government.
■ Management
Uncertainty rife
Companies seeing uncertainty ahead plan to spend more on risk management over the next three years, an Ernst & Young survey said yesterday. The poll of 441 decision makers in large organizations in 16 countries showed that 67 percent of respondents maintain overall levels of risk have increased over the past two to three years. Sixty-six percent plan to spend more on risk management, said the survey findings. Many, however, are not properly aligning risk management with their business strategy, the Ernst & Young summary said on a Web site.
■ Internet
Skype defends partner
Internet phone company Skype said its Chinese partner was filtering text messages, but defended the step as necessary to comply with Chinese law, the Financial Times newspaper reported. Skype chief executive Niklas Zennstrom, speaking in an interview, was responding to accusations that its Chinese partner, Tom Online, censored messages containing references to the Dalai Lama, the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and other sensitive topics, the FT said. "Tom had implemented a text filter, which is what everyone else in that market is doing," Zennstrom was quoted as saying. "Those are the regulations." Skype is owned by US-based eBay Inc. Zennstrom insisted that the actions of the Skype-Tom partnership had not put users at risk, the FT said. Other firms including Yahoo Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp have been criticized for cooperating with the Chinese government's effort to censor Internet content.
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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