■ AVIATION
Mitsubishi eyes Americas
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said yesterday it would launch a sales drive for Japan’s first passenger jet in the Americas next month, hoping for a share of a large but crowded market for regional airliners. Mitsubishi is expected to face tough competition from established makers of similar jets in the region, including Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer. Mitsubishi’s aircraft division said it would put US$700,000 in the Texas-based sales subsidiary.
■ FINANCE
PRC fund pulls investment
China’s sovereign wealth investment company said it redeemed its investments from a US money market fund hit by soured debt before the fund suspended withdrawals last month. China Investment Corp’s (CIC, 中國投資公司) investment, through an affiliate called Stable Investment Corp, is not subject to the potential 3 percent losses the Reserve Primary Fund incurred through its investments in Lehman Brothers, CIC said in a statement yesterday on its Web site. “The fund has confirmed through written documents that it will pay back both principal and interest of our investment,” the CIC statement said.
■ ENERGY
Shoes generate electricity
Telecoms giant NTT is developing shoes that generate electricity as you walk. The shoes have a small generator attached to water-filled soles. Each step puts pressure on the soles, causing the water to spin a small turbine and generate power, NTT said. The futuristic shoes generate 1.2 watts of electricity, “a level sufficient to run an iPod mobile music player forever, as long as the wearer keeps walking,” spokesman Hideomi Tenma said. “The company is trying to improve the power-generating capacity to 3 watts, which is the amount of electricity to power a mobile phone,” he said.
■ TELECOMS
Singapore addicted to SMS
Phone users in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are Asia’s most enthusiastic senders of text messages, a survey released yesterday showed. More than 97 percent of cellphone users in Singapore sent text messages in the past month, followed by 96 percent of people in Kuala Lumpur and 94 percent of people in Seoul, the survey found. The region’s lowest rates of text messaging were found in Hong Kong, at 85 percent, and Bangkok, at 69 percent, it said. The survey was conducted by market research firm Synovate.
■ INTERNET
Google gets royal visit
Google added a picture of Queen Elizabeth to the logo on its British homepage yesterday to mark her visit to its London offices. The image, known as a Google Doodle, showed the queen in profile and a crown above the letter E of Google. The queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were to tour Googel’s British headquarters, a short walk from Buckingham Palace in central London.
■ BEVERAGES
Coca-Cola profits leap
US soft-drink giant Coca-Cola reported better than expected third-quarter profits on Wednesday, which it attributed to international sales that gained an extra lift from the Beijing Olympics and a weak US dollar. Third-quarter net profit leapt 14 percent to US$1.89 billion. Earnings per share of US$0.83 were 17 percent higher year-on-year. Most analysts had forecast earnings per share of US$0.77.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2