■INFLATION
Philippine prices soar
Soaring oil and food prices pushed May inflation in the Philippines to a nine-year high of 9.6 percent, official data showed yesterday. The government said the increase in prices from a year ago was the fastest since January 1999, when inflation hit 10.5 percent, and up from an inflation rate of 8.3 percent in April. The new data raises the average inflation rate for the January to last month period to 6.9 percent, well above the central bank’s target range of 3 percent to 5 percent for the whole year.
■INFLATION
Indonesia raises policy rate
Indonesia’s central bank raised its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 8.50 percent yesterday to counter rising inflation from surging commodities prices. The bank assured markets, which had been expecting a larger rise, that inflation would likely return to single digits next year. “At the end of 2008, the year-on-year inflation rate is estimated between 11.5 to 12.5 percent,” Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Hartadi Sarwono was quoted as saying by Detikcom online news service. Indonesian hiked fuel prices by almost 30 percent in what it said was a move to save the budget from the swelling cost of its multibillion-dollar subsidy scheme on the back of record oil prices.
■TELECOM
China Telecom seeks funds
China Telecom (中國電信), the country’s largest fixed line operator, is courting foreign investors to help fund its plan to buy China Unicom’s (中國聯通) CDMA mobile phone technology business, state media reported yesterday. Four or five companies have shown interest so far, the official Shanghai Securities Journal quoted China Telecom chairman Wang Xiaochu (王曉初) as saying. Singapore Telecom, South Korea’s SK Telecom and CDMA technology developer Qualcomm Inc are among the possible partners, the report said. China Telecom said on Monday it planned to take over the CDMA business from China Unicom for 110 billion yuan (US$16 billion).
■INTERNET
Google plans giant complex
In the latest sign of its ambitious growth plans, Google Inc has signed a 40-year lease to secure space for a huge office complex that will be built on a federal government research center near the Internet search leader’s Silicon Valley headquarters. The 110,000m² campus announced on Wednesday fulfills a vision that Google first laid out with the NASA Ames Research Center in 2005. The NASA center is within a 10-minute drive of Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. Google anticipates needing the space for the thousands of workers it expects to hire as it tries to mine more profits from the Internet’s advertising market.
■INFLATION
Trichet hawkish on rates
European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet delivered a hawkish message on inflation at the bank’s meeting yesterday, saying he did not exclude the possibility that interest rates could go up at the bank’s next meeting. Trichet said the bank was in a state of “heightened alertness” over inflation. Both the ECB and the Bank of England left their key rates untouched yesterday, the ECB at 4 percent and the Bank of England at 5 percent. Afterward, however, Trichet said that he was “not excluding” that rates could go up “a small amount” at the bank’s next meeting and that some members of the bank’s governing council were in favor of an increase at yesterday’s gathering.
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