■ COMPUTER
Dell, Wal-Mart team up
Dell, the world's No. 2 computer maker, said on Thursday it was teaming up with retail giant Wal-Mart stores in North America to sell PCs in a shift from its previous system of Web-only sales. Dell computers will go on sale from June 30 in 3,500 Wal-Mart big-box stores in the US and Canada, Dell spokesman Bob Pearson said. "Our customers are asking us for additional ways to purchase our products," Pearson said. "In the coming quarters there will be additional activity in support of this move into global retail," he said.
■ FRUIT
SARS rumor hits PRC sales
The price of bananas from one of China's top producing regions has tumbled amid a rumor linking the fruit to SARS in the latest food safety scare to hit China, state media reported. Hainan island, which grows one-sixth of China's bananas, is losing 20 million yuan (US$2.6 million) a day because of rumors that the fruit contained a SARS-like virus, Xinhua news agency said late on Thursday. China's health ministry on Thursday dismissed the claims as baseless. Police were investigating who was behind the misinformation, Xinhua said.
■ CURRENCY
US watching yuan
US President George W. Bush said on Thursday Washington was "watching closely" whether Beijing would allow the appreciation of the yuan to help address the burgeoning US trade deficit with the Asian giant. Bush expressed US concerns about the movement of the yuan during talks with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (吳儀) and several other Cabinet ministers at the White House. "One of the issues that I emphasized to Madame Wu Yi as well as the delegation was that we're watching carefully as to whether or not they will appreciate their currency," Bush told reporters after the talks.
■ TELEVISION
South Korea going digital
South Korea will discontinue analog television broadcasting by the end of 2012 at the latest and will allow only digital services thereafter, the finance ministry said yesterday. The transition will cost 2.35 trillion won (US$2.5 billion), of which TV stations will need to invest 2.24 trillion won, the ministry said in a statement. "High-definition digital TVs offer better viewing quality and interactive services," it said. The digital transition will also help create 980,000 jobs and add US$38.7 billion to the country's exports, the ministry said. The ministry will submit legislation outlining the transition in July.
■ BANKING
Consortium mulls Amro bid
A consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC will decide by Tuesday whether or not it will bid for the Netherlands' ABN Amro, it said in a statement yesterday. The RBS-led banks had previously said they would decide by tomorrow whether they would push ahead with a hostile bid to beat Barlcays PLC's friendly all-share offer worth around US$83.3 billion. In a short statement, the consortium banks said they were pushing back the date because Monday is a holiday in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands. They said they would "make an announcement...clarifying whether or not, and if so under what circumstances" they will bid for ABN Amro Holdings.
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