■ TRADE
WTO meetings to begin
Major players from the WTO at meetings in Paris and Brussels this week will try to narrow differences, notably on trade in agricultural products, that have blocked progress in the Doha Development Round, which was launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital in 2001. Trade or finance ministers from 30 leading industrialized nations will convene in Paris on Wednesday for trade talks during the annual gathering of the OECD. On Thursday the action moves to Brussels where the four principal parties to the talks, the EU, the US, India and Brazil, will hold a two-day session.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Ferrari workers strike
Workers staged a strike for a fifth Saturday at a Ferrari plant near the northern Italian town of Maranello to protest against management demands to make them work extra weekends. Workers downed tools and complained of "unacceptable" relations with the management, who had asked employers to work seven extra Saturdays a year to cope with booming demand for the Italian sports cars. Company officials on Saturday said the strike was "incomprehensible," adding that the extra time meant extra money for employees.
■ AVIATION
AirAsia opens new flights
Asia's top budget carrier AirAsia will fly direct flights to Vientiane, Laos, from Kuala Lumpur starting in July, the airline's chief said yesterday. "Our aim is to become an Asian airline. Without a doubt, the resumption of a direct air link after nearly a 10-year hiatus will spur economic benefits," chief executive Tony Fernandes said. Bilateral trade doubled last year to US$58 million compared to the previous year, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. Fernandes said that AirAsia was also hoping to secure a direct link from Kuala Lumpur to Yangon, Myanmar, in the next few months.
■ ELECTRONICS
Color e-paper unveiled
South Korea's LG Philips LCD said yesterday it had developed the world's first A4-sized color electronic paper -- a paper-thin and bendable viewing panel. The e-paper -- which measures 35.9cm across its diagonal and is just 0.3mm thin -- can display up to 4,096 colors, the liquid-crystal-display maker said in a statement. It is designed to be energy-efficient, only using power when the image changes on the display, it said. LG Philips said it developed the world's first 25.6cm flexible black-and-white e-paper in October 2005 and a 35.9cm follow-up -- which matches the most common copy size -- last May.
■ TRADE
PRC-Africa trade soars
China boosted its trade with Africa 40 percent last year, as it strengthened ties with the continent to secure natural resources. Trade between the two amounted to US$55.5 billion last year, making China Africa's third-largest trading partner, Chinese Deputy Commerce Minister Wei Jianguo (魏建國) said in a speech at the annual meeting of the Africa Development Bank Group in Shanghai yesterday. China had invested US$11.7 billion in Africa at the end of last year and boosted aid as it seeks out energy supplies, Wei said. It is targeting projects in nations including Angola, Libya and Nigeria. Chinese investments in Africa have been focused on agricultural development, manufacturing, transportations, power and electricity and other infrastructure projects.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft