■ TRADE
Leaders battle protectionism
Leaders of Asia-Pacific economies will issue a call against protectionism and backing free trade at an upcoming weekend summit, despite the global financial crisis, an official from host Peru said on Monday. “The main theme we followed in this ... meeting is that we should avoid at any cost protectionism,” Peruvian Deputy Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutierrez told a news conference. Gutierrez said that the 21-nation group should stick to its goal to achieve a free trade system in the region, echoing a call from world leaders at a G20 summit last weekend in Washington on the financial crisis. The G20 leaders agreed to refrain from imposing any new trade and investment barriers for the next 12 months.
■INDIA
Finance minister optimistic
Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram asked industry yesterday to cut prices and maintain production levels and said he was confident that the economy would bounce back in a year, news reports said. “We will take steps to stimulate the domestic economy to compensate for the downside caused by the downturn in the world economy,” Chidambaram said at the Davos-based World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit in New Delhi. “The classic response to demand slowdown is to cut prices for the short term,” he told a gathering of top business leaders, officials and economists.
■TAKEOVERS
Firm wants Triumph-Adler
Japan’s Kyocera Mita Corporation announced takeover plans yesterday for the German office services company Triumph-Adler AG. The Osaka-based company said it would submit an offer of 1.90 euros (US$2.40) per share in order to secure around 60 percent to 75 percent of the German firm’s share capital. Kyocera Mita already has a 29.9 percent stake in Triumph-Adler AG, the announcement said, adding that Triumph-Adler would remain a listed company. Triumph-Adler said the move unlocks considerable opportunities for expansion for both sides in terms of operating activities in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
■ELECTRONICS
Spansion sues Samsung
Spansion Inc wants to block US sales of iPods, BlackBerry gadgets and other devices because memory chips made by Samsung Electronics Co and used in those products allegedly violate Spansion patents. Sunnyvale, California-based Spansion, the world’s No. 3 maker of flash memory chips by revenue, sued Samsung on Monday. Spansion claims more than “100 million MP3 players, cellphones, digital cameras and other consumer electronic devices” are made with Samsung flash memory chips that violate Spansion patents. Spansion claims Samsung, the world’s biggest memory-chip maker, has sold US$30 billion in products over the past five years that contain patented Spansion technologies.
■MANAGEMENT
Carrefour to replace CEO
Carrefour SA said it would replace its chief executive with a former top manager at Switzerland’s Nestle SA, the culmination of long-simmering tensions over the French retail giant’s performance and strategy. Carrefour’s board named Swede Lars Oloffson to replace outgoing CEO Jose Luis Duran, effective on Jan. 1. Speculation over Duran’s future has mounted since last year when the company’s long-standing top shareholder ceded its position to a consortium controlled by French billionaire Bernard Arnault and US private-equity firm Colony Capital.
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