■ INTERNET
PRC okays Google license
Google Inc says it has received preliminary approval from Chinese regulators for its own Internet license, possibly boosting the search engine's campaign to expand its market share in China. Google announced the decision on Tuesday without saying how it might affect its operations in China or when it might receive final approval. Google already operates in China using the Internet license of its local partner, Ganji.com. Google is China's second-most-popular search engine, with 19 percent of search engine revenues. Industry leader Baidu.com Inc has 57 percent of revenues.
■ ELECTRONICS
Matsushita aims high
Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co expects to double its production capacity for plasma display panels when a new plant begins production in western Japan in May 2009, a company spokesman said. The Osaka-based maker of Panasonic-branded electronics plans to manufacture 300,000 42-inch plasma display panels a month at a new plant to be built in the western Japan city of Amagasaki, spokesman Akira Kadota said. Combined with a planned output increase at another Amagasaki plant that began operating this month, Matsushita will be able to turn out 1.26 million panels a month by May 2009, up from the current 640,000 panels, Kadota said. The company currently has four plasma display panel plants in Japan and another one in Shanghai, he said.
■ BANKING
German bank mulls buyout
Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank, is planning on an acquisition in central Europe to complement its global transaction business, the group's global banking business head said yesterday. "We are looking geographically within Europe," Michael Cohrs said on the sidelines of a conference in Frankfurt, Germany. "I don't want to give details because the deal that we are working on will be announced relatively quickly." Cohrs said the deal would be relatively small, less than US$670 million.
■ ENERGY
PetroChina to sell A shares
PetroChina Co (中國石油天然氣), a listed unit of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp, said yesterday that it is planning to sell up to 4 billion yuan-denominated A shares in a public offering in Shanghai in order to raise money for further exploration and development, construction of a refinery and overseas acquisitions. PetroChina, which is listed in Hong Kong and has American Depositary Receipts that trade in New York, did not disclose a target price for its share sale in Shanghai. Last month, PetroChina announced the discovery of proved crude oil and natural gas reserves amounting to 3.72 billion barrels of oil equivalent, in China's Bohai Bay.
■ TECHNOLOGY
S Korea helps small firms
South Korea's government offered yesterday to set up a US$1.08 billion fund to help small and medium-sized firms with high technology. Finance Minister Kwon O-kyu did not say when the fund would be set up but promised to create a better business environment for small firms. Kwon said the government would take ease restrictions and financial burdens on small firms. Business groups have urged the government to improve market conditions.
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
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
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,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the