■ Internet
Microsoft tops site visits
Google overtook Yahoo as the second-most popular Internet destination for Web surfers worldwide last month, while Microsoft held on to the top spot, ComScore reported on Thursday. Slightly more than 736 million people around the world traveled the Internet last month, with 475,262 going to Yahoo online properties, industry tracker ComScore reported. Microsoft Web sites were visited by 501,720 people, the rating tally said.
■ Airlines
Mesa, Shenzhen team up
US regional airline Mesa Air Group Inc and a Chinese carrier yesterday signed a deal to create the first joint-venture airline catering to the booming local travel market. The new carrier will start service ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, flying to 11 Chinese cities with 50-seat regional jets, Mesa and its partner, Shenzhen Airlines Ltd, said in a joint statement. Shenzhen Airlines will have majority control of the new carrier, the airlines said. They did not disclose financial details, adding that they have not decided on a name for the venture.
■ Metals
Deal struck on ore prices
Brazilian and Chinese firms have agreed to a 9.5 percent increase in iron ore prices for next year in a surprisingly swift deal that analysts said yesterday would set the benchmark for global contracts. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron ore producer, announced on its Web site overnight on Thursday that it had secured a 9.5 percent price hike from China's biggest steelmaker Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp. The price rise will come into effect for the fiscal year starting April 1.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2