■ Electronics
Panel production boosted
Samsung Electronics Co and Sony Corp will spend about 3 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) to boost their joint production of liquid-crystal-display panels, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported yesterday. If confirmed, the amount would be more than the about US$2 billion the companies said in April they aimed to invest. The companies said at the time they expected to manufacture 50,000 panels a month at the new production line that would start operation late next year. "Up to this point, nothing's been confirmed," Lee Eun-hee, a Samsung spokeswoman, said yesterday.
■ Energy
LUKOIL eyes UK refinery
Russia's top oil firm, LUKOIL, is looking at the possibility of buying a British refinery from BP Plc, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted LUKOIL CEO Vagit Alekperov as saying yesterday. "We will consider this possibility," Interfax quoted Alekperov as saying. BP said on Tuesday it had decided to sell its Coryton refinery near London, which processes 172,000 barrels of crude oil per day. LUKOIL, which is 17 percent owned by U.S. major Conoco-Phillips, is also bidding for an 80,000 barrel-per-day plant in Rotterdam which Kuwait Petroleum International has put up for sale.
■ Telecoms
Nokia starts legal action
Nokia Oyj started a civil litigation in China against companies for manufacturing and selling cellular handsets that copy Nokia's design. In its complaint, Nokia requested the court to order the defendants to stop making and selling the phones and pay monetary damages and other related costs, Nokia said yesterday in a statement. The model that's being copied is the Nokia 7260, a GSM/GPRS triple band phone with camera. The defendants are Shenzhen Telsda Mobile Communication Industry Developing Co (深圳天時達移動通訊) and Song Xun Da Zhong Electronic Co (松迅達中科電子), both based in Shenzhen, southern China, and two distributors, Nokia said.
■ South Korea
Court approves Chung's bail
The Seoul District Court has approved a request by lawyers for jailed Hyundai Motor Co chairman Chung Mong-koo to be released on bail, the court and company said yesterday. The court approved the bail request out of consideration for Chung's health and concerns over negative effects on South Korea's economy from leaving Hyundai without his leadership for a prolonged time, said a court official, who refused to be named as she is not to talk to the press. Chung, 68, can be released as soon as bail of 1 billion won (US$1.04 million) is paid, said Jake Jang, a Hyundai spokesman, adding that he expects Chung will be released "soon."
■ Telecoms
Nortel to trim 1,100 jobs
As part of a continuing struggle to restore its financial health, Nortel Networks said on Tuesday that it would cut a net 1,100 jobs across the company while creating 800 jobs, mainly at new, lower-cost operations in Mexico and Turkey. Nortel, the Canadian telecommunications equipment and software company, faces a market in which its main competitors are merging to create larger and potentially more efficient operations.
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