■ OIL
Prices rise on falling stocks
Oil prices rose in Asian trading yesterday following a US government report that showed an unexpected fall in gasoline stocks amid peak summer driving season demand. Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained US$0.39 to US$69.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract climbed more than a dollar to end at US$68.97 on Wednesday. Brent crude contract for August delivery rose US$0.18 to US$70.73 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. In its weekly inventory report, the US Energy Department said gasoline inventories dropped by 700,000 barrels in the week ended June 22.
■ INTERNET
Users to record real IDs
South Korea started enforcing a new law aimed at curbing the nation's notorious cyber bullying yesterday by preventing Internet users from hiding behind false IDs, company officials said. Under the "Internet real-name system," the nation's major portals and news media Web sites will be compelled to record the real IDs of users when they post entries. Portal operators will be obliged to reveal personal information such as names and addresses of cyber attackers when their victims want to sue them for libel or invasion of privacy. Cyber bullying has become a social issue in South Korea as many celebrities often fall victim to malicious attacks.
■ AUTOMOBILES
BMW to boost capacity
BMW, the German maker of luxury cars, is planning to boost production capacity in China and the US, board member Frank-Peter Arndt told the business daily Handelsblatt in an interview published yesterday. Boosting production in the US would help cushion BMW's earnings against the strong euro, he said. "Production must follow the market," Arndt said. In China, BMW was "in talks with our partner Brilliance to boost capacity," he said. Its current output of 30,000 cars in China could be doubled in the long term, while that in the US can be boosted from 140,000 units at present to 200,000 units in 2010, he said.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Russia mulling bullet trains
Japanese bullet trains may one day whiz across Russia, with talks expected next month on a possible sale of the technology as Moscow seeks to modernize its railways, Toshikazu Masuyama, director for Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Africa at the Japanese trade and economy ministry, said yesterday. Japanese officials plan to travel to Russia to meet railway chief Vladimir Yakunin and other officials next month for exploratory talks on a possible sale of Japan's shinkansen bullet train technology, he said. Russia is expected to draw up a plan in September to modernize its Trans-Siberian Railway and other networks with high-speed trains.
■ AVIATION
PRC to assemble A320 jets
Airbus and its Chinese partners inked an agreement yesterday to open a final assembly line in China to produce the European aircraft manufacturer's A320 jets. The Tianjin plant is expected to deliver its first aircraft in early 2009, Airbus said. It will be able to produce four A320s a month by 2011 and a total of about 300 A320 planes by 2016, the firm said. Airbus also announced yesterday it had signed a contract to sell 86 A320s to Chinese airlines, including mid-size carriers Shenzhen Airlines and Hainan Airlines Co.
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