■AVIATION
Airlines admit fixed prices
Japan Airlines International Co Ltd has become the fourth foreign airline to admit to price-fixing and agree to pay a multimillion-dollar fine to the US government. The Tokyo-based carrier agreed on Wednesday to pay a US$110 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix rates for international cargo shipments, the US Department of Justice said. Japan Airlines also has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, which already has yielded guilty pleas from and fines against British Airways PLC, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd and Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. British Airways and Korean Air each agreed to pay US$300 million fines; Qantas agreed to pay US$61 million.
■ AGRICULTURE
Syngenta to open new center
Swiss-based international seed and pesticide firm Syngenta said yesterday it would open a multimillion-dollar research and technology center for the development of genetically modified (GM) crops in Beijing. The company said it would invest about US$65 million in the first five years of the project. The new facility would complement its US centers, it said. It would concentrate on early-stage evaluation of GM for key crops such as corn and soy to improve yield, drought resistance, disease control and biomass conversion for biofuels, the company said in a statement.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Hino shuts truck production
Japan’s Hino Motors, an affiliate of Toyota Motor Corp, said yesterday it would halt truck production at its California plant as the US economic slowdown hits demand for commercial vehicles. Truck production at the plant will end in July and be transferred to Hino’s second US factory in West Virginia that opened last year, company spokesman Hidenobu Tezuka said. The move will roughly halve Hino’s North American truck output capacity from 9,500 units a year to 4,500, Tezuka said. But the plant will not be shut as it will continue to make car parts for Toyota, Japan’s largest automaker.
■ MERGERS
NOL eyes Hapag-Lloyd
Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) is considering a possible merger with German line Hapag-Lloyd, NOL president was quoted as saying yesterday. A deal could not be ruled out, although nothing has been finalized, the Straits Times quoted NOL’s president and chief executive Thomas Held as saying. Last month, the German leisure and shipping group TUI said it was reviewing strategy and would likely separate its shipping unit Hapag-Lloyd. TUI said it would examine all options for Hapag-Lloyd, including a spin-off, a merger with a peer or a sale to an investor.
■ ECONOMY
US Fed sees further decline
The US economy has further weakened on several fronts and businesses struggled to pass on their own rising costs to customers, the US Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in its Beige Book survey. “Economic conditions have weakened since the last report” early last month, the central bank said in its survey of 12 Fed regional bank districts. The report, to be used at the upcoming central bank policy meeting April 29 to April 30, said that nine regional banks reported a slowdown in economic activity, while three described activity as “mixed or steady.” The Fed’s Beige Book has reported a slowing economic pace since November. Consumer spending, which drives two-thirds of US economic output, was “softening across most of the country,” the report said.
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
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
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