■ PUBLISHING
No higher bid: Murdoch
News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch says he won't raise last week's US$5 billion bid for Dow Jones and Co. But the executive editor of BusinessWeek magazine on Thursday predicted Murdoch will up the offer and acquire the owner of the Wall Street Journal by year's end. Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, sitting on stage with BusinessWeek's John Byrne, refused to comment other than to acknowledge: "We're more accustomed to publishing the headlines than being in them."
■ AUTOMAKERS
Magna denies Chrysler bid
The co-chief executive of Canadian auto group Magna International said on Thursday that his company was not interested in fully taking over DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit. "We're only interested in a minority stake," co-chief executive Siegfried Wolf was quoted as saying by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview posted on its Web site. Wolf added Magna and DaimlerChrysler are in advanced talks on a possible deal. "Our offer has been sent to DaimlerChrysler, who are reviewing the bid," he said.
■ INTERNET
Joost announces funding
Joost, an Internet-based TV service being launched by the creators of Skype and Kazaa, said it has raised US$45 million from five investors including CBS Corp and Viacom Inc and an influential Hong Kong telecommunications executive. Index Ventures, a European venture capital firm, and Sequoia Capital were the lead contributors to the investment. The fifth participant is Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠), chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (黃浦和記) and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd (長江實業), who invested in Joost through his charitable foundation, the Li Ka-shing Foundation. Joost declined to say on Thursday whether this is its first round of venture capital funding.
■ TRADE
China's surplus increases
China's monthly trade surplus more than doubled in April to nearly US$17 billion, the government said yesterday, adding to pressure on Beijing ahead of closely watched talks with Washington on its swollen trade gap. The April trade gap of US$16.88 billion was below February's US$23.7 billion -- the second-highest level on record -- but in line with steady increases in monthly trade surpluses over the past year. The government reported a monthly trade surplus of just US$6.9 billion in March. The April figure raised the country's accumulated trade surplus so far this year to US$63 billion, the customs agency said. China reported a global trade surplus last year of US$177.5 billion.
■ BANKING
Greens pan Chinese banks
Green groups have slammed Chinese banks for increasing investments in environmentally hazardous and controversial projects both in developing nations around the world and at home. Friends of the Earth and BankTrack, a network that monitors the financial sector, cite logging activities in Suriname and Indonesia, a controversial iron ore mine in Gabon and a potentially polluting nickel mine in Papua New Guinea as examples of projects funded by Chinese banks. A dam in Sudan that will displace 50,000 people when it straddles the Nile river is also being built with money from Chinese banks, the organizations said in a report. China's Three Gorges Dam project was also noted.
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
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
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