■ AUTOMOBILES
Proton eyes 'Islamic cars'
Malaysian national carmaker Proton plans to team up with companies in Iran and Turkey to produce "Islamic cars" for the global market, a news report said yesterday. Proposed by Iran, the collaboration would include installing features in automobiles such as a compass to determine the direction of Mecca for prayers, and compartments for storing the Quran and headscarves, Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin told Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.
■ BANKING
Landsbanki enters Asia
An Icelandic bank is aiming to become the first in its nation's history to open a branch in Asia, the latest step in the country's economic expansion. Landsbanki, the country's second-largest bank by market capitalization, has opened a regional office in Hong Kong which it hopes to convert to a branch early next year. "If the 20th century was the century of America and Europe, I am sure the 21st century will the century of Asia," chief executive officer Sigurjon Arnason said. The bank's Hong Kong operation will focus on providing finance to small and medium-sized companies.
■ CHINA
Promotional event turns bad
Four people were trampled to death and 31 were injured in a promotional event at a supermarket owned by Carrefour SA in the Shapingba district of Chongqing. Carrefour confirmed the deaths and said it was reinforcing security in all of its stores in China. The accident took place at the entrance of the shopping mall, the company said. The trampling began when some shoppers slipped, a statement said. Authorities have shut the supermarket and ordered an investigation, it said. The government has set up a crisis management team and will "severely punish the companies or people found responsible for the incident."
■ TRADE
Farmers protest FTA
Tens of thousands of South Korean farmers and workers rallied in Seoul yesterday, demanding that a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US be scrapped. "We will thwart [the passage] of the FTA as it would deepen the polarization of our society," said Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of organizers of the rally. Trade chiefs from the two countries signed the accord in June. The proposed agreement must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before it goes into effect. Both sides said the accord will boost growth, but certain constituencies, such as farmers in South Korea and labor groups in the US, have opposed it.
■ TELECOMS
Disney makes phone deal
US media and entertainment giant Disney will launch cellphone carrier services in Japan early next year by leasing local tele-communications networks, a press report said yesterday. The Japanese unit of Walt Disney Co has reached a basic agreement with Japanese Internet and telecom conglomerate Softbank Corp to tie up in cellphone operations, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Under the deal, the US firm will lease telecom networks from a Softbank unit, Softbank Mobile Corp and start providing nationwide service. Disney will also join forces with Softbank to develop handsets and consign their output to other companies, the report said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
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