■ Movies
Filmmakers cry foul
Chinese moviemakers are accusing local TV stations of joining the thriving movie piracy industry. The Chinese Movie Copyright Association says TV stations air up to 1,500 pirated Chinese movies a year, costing studios up to 75 million yuan (US$9.4 million) in lost revenues, the Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. "The number of movies illegally aired is startling -- more than 100 in the first six months of the year, and most of them are very recent," Meng Yu, the association's legal director, was quoted as saying. Beijing is under pressure from its trading partners to stamp out the piracy. But China's own studios say the damage to them is even greater than to their foreign competitors as pirates rob them of their important domestic market.
■ Energy
Skilling told to pay up
Federal prosecutors want former Enron Corp CEO Jeffrey Skilling to turn over nearly US$183 million for helping perpetuate one of the biggest business frauds in US history -- his alleged share and that of his late co-defendant, company founder Kenneth Lay. Lay died on July 5 of heart disease. Prosecutors said that with his conspiracy conviction, Skilling is "liable for all the proceeds attributable to all co-conspirators, indicted or unindicted, including Lay," because they participated in the same scheme.
■ Vehicles
Honda to set up bike plant
Japan's Honda Motor Co will build a new motorcycle plant in India through a joint venture in an attempt to expand its already dominant share of the fast-growing subcontinental market, a report said yesterday. A total of US$420 million will be invested by 2010 in the factory, which will have an annual production capacity of 1.5 million motorbikes, Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. With the investment, Honda plans to boost its annual output in India by about 50 percent to 7 million units, including those produced by wholly owned subsidiary Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India, the report said.
■ Economy
Japan confident on outlook
More than 90 percent of major Japanese firms expect the domestic economy to keep expanding through next spring, but rising oil prices and a potential US slowdown are looming concerns, a survey showed yesterday. The poll of 100 top Japanese firms also indicated that 60 percent expect the Bank of Japan to increase interest rates again before next March, after raising rates last month for the first time in six years, Kyodo News agency said. The survey, conducted late last month to early this month, found that 94 of the 100 companies expect the economy to recover either moderately or strongly, while 86 companies cited high oil prices as a potential problem, Kyodo said.
■ Equities
Indonesia may outperform
Indonesia is likely to continue outperforming other Asian stock markets over the next 12 months because of its declining interest rates, a trend that will boost consumption and economic growth, said Manulife Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd senior portfolio manager Manish Bhatia. "Our expectation is that Indonesia will continue reducing interest rates and as interest rates come down, consumption can pick up and that will become a solid leg for the economy to stand on," said Bhatia, who helps manage around US$450 million in assets in Asia-Pacific funds.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STILL ON THE TABLE: The government is not precluding advanced nuclear power generation if it is proven safer and the nuclear waste issue is solved, the premier said Taiwan is willing to be in step with the world by considering new methods of nuclear energy generation and to discuss alternative approaches to provide more stable power generation and help support industries, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. The government would continue to develop diverse and green energy solutions, which include considering advances in nuclear energy generation, he added. Cho’s remarks echoed President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments in an interview last month, saying the government is not precluding “advanced and newer nuclear power generation” if it is proven to be safer and the issue of nuclear waste is resolved. Lai’s comment had
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