■ SOLAR ENERGY
Polysilicon glut expected
Solarworld AG CEO Frank Asbeck expects a polysilicon "glut" in 2010 that will cut costs for Germany's second-largest solar company. The price of polysilicon used in solar panels will probably drop to less than US$40 per kilogram, from as high as US$200 this year, Asbeck said yesterday in an interview. Prices may reach US$20 in the next several years as global production climbs to 100,000 tonnes in 2010, from 35,000 tonnes now, he said. "Silicon was never scarce, just the refining capacity, and that will be solved in 2010," Asbeck said. "We expect to see a silicon glut in 2010, and then the prices will fall."
■ MEDIA
Probe not an issue: Reuters
Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer said yesterday he did not expect a probe by EU antitrust regulators to scuttle a takeover of the British news and data provider by Canadian group Thomson Corp. "We expected it would take us into the first quarter next year" for Thomson to complete the takeover, he told reporters during a visit to Tokyo. After an initial review of the deal, the European Commission said on Monday it was launching an in-depth probe running until the end of February to determine if the planned merger represented a threat to competition in Europe.
■ JAPAN
Firms broke overtime rules
A record number of Japanese firms have been ordered to compensate workers for unpaid overtime despite a recovery in the world's second-largest economy, officials said yesterday. The number of companies that paid overtime after being faulted by labor inspectors on unannounced visits rose 10 percent in the last fiscal year to the highest since the statistics were first compiled in 2001. The labor ministry said it ordered 1,679 firms to pay a total of ¥22.7 billion (US$194 million) to 182,561 workers in the year ended in March. The average payout per person came to ?120,000, a ministry survey said.
■ MINERALS
EU punishes dumping
The EU has imposed five-year tariffs as high as 71.8 percent on industrial salts from the US, China and Taiwan, targeting exporters including DuPont Co to protect German firms. The duties punish US, Chinese and Taiwanese exporters of peroxosulfates, used to treat water and metals, for selling in Europe below domestic prices or production costs, a practice known as dumping. The levies, which are 10.6 percent against DuPont and 39 percent against FMC Corp and any other US exporters, follow provisional duties imposed six months ago. The duties are 22.6 percent against Taiwan and as much as 71.8 percent against China.
■ SOFTWARE
Google buys startup Jaiku
Internet search leader Google Inc said on Tuesday that it has bought Finnish startup Jaiku, which makes a mobile phone application people can use to send short messages about where they are and what they are doing. Google believes Jaiku's technology can help develop new ways to use mobile devices, according to a note posted on Tuesday on Google's blog by product manager Tony Hsieh. Founded last year in Helsinki, Jaiku specializes in software that makes it easier to share updates about one's whereabouts and thoughts via mobile phones. The concept is known as "microblogging."
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from