■ AVIATION
JAL looks to biofuel
Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) is planning to fly a biofuel-powered airliner by the end of next March to help speed up research on alternatives to kerosene-based jet fuel. JAL plans to fly a Boeing 747 for an hour using the alternative fuel, it said in a statement yesterday. One of the plane’s four engines, built by United Technologies Corp’s Pratt & Whitney unit, will run on biofuel, the company said. Japan Air follows Air New Zealand Ltd in teaming up with Boeing to plan a test flight using biofuel. JAL said a decision on what type of biofuel to use has not been made.
■ FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Daiwa to invest in China
Daiwa Securities Group Inc, Japan’s second-largest brokerage, said it will invest US$100 million in a private equity fund that plans to buy stakes in government-owned and privately held Chinese companies. Daiwa and its Daiwa Securities SMBC Co investment banking unit will seek more cross-border transactions between Japan and China through the investment in the US$2.5 billion fund, the brokerage said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. The company aims to expand abroad after tumbling commissions for arranging stock sales in Japan led to a fourth-quarter loss of ¥12.9 billion (US$120 million). Daiwa plans to invest about ¥200 billion of its own money in the coming year to restore profit, it said in February. Daiwa SMBC will lift principal investments to about ¥600 billion from ¥408 billion as of Dec. 31, president Shin Yoshidome said in a Feb. 8 interview. The Tokyo-based firm will mainly buy stakes in unlisted Chinese companies, he said.
■ HOUSING
British prices cooling
Asking prices for homes in England and Wales stood 0.1 percent higher on a year ago this month, with the rate of annual price growth cooling from 2.2 percent last month, a survey showed yesterday. Property Web site Rightmove said average asking prices fell 1.2 percent this month after a 1.2 percent gain last month. That put the average asking price at £239,564 (US$473,000). The figures, which are not adjusted to take seasonal factors in the market into account, are less gloomy than some other surveys but reinforce the view that Britain’s once-red hot housing market is feeling the impact of the credit crunch. Miles Shipside, Rightmove’s commercial director, said home sellers’ expectations had fallen. “The adjustment is belated but in some ways welcome as it makes homes affordable for buyers,” he said. “Thankfully, new sellers are now taking some proactive steps to price more realistic from the outset to attract increasingly hard-pressed buyers.”
■ COMMODITIES
Bunge buying Corn Products
Bunge Ltd, the world’s largest oilseed processor, agreed to buy Corn Products International Inc for US$56 a share in stock. The takeover offer has a value of US$4.8 billion including US$414 million of Corn Products debt, White Plains, New York-based Bunge said yesterday in a statement distributed by PR Newswire.
■ TELECOMS
DoCoMo looking to buy
Japan’s top mobile telephone operator NTT DoCoMo Inc is on the prowl for overseas acquisitions to drive growth, new president Ryuji Yamada said yesterday. The increased focus on overseas business comes amid fierce competition between the top players in Japan’s saturated mobile telephone market. “We are going to look into opportunities outside of Japan aggressively,” Yamada told a press conference.
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