■CHINA
‘Excessive’ inflows tackled
Beijing will “appropriately control” “excessive” capital inflows and continue with a crackdown on illegal fund inflows, a State Administration of Foreign Exchange official said. China has to strengthen capital controls in order to maintain currency and price stability, Guan Tao (管濤), head of the currency regulator’s international payments department, said during a forum in Beijing on Saturday, citing economic theories. A transcript of his remarks was posted on the Economic Observer newspaper’s Web site. More foreign capital will flow into China this year as global financial markets recover, Guan said in his speech. The nation’s international payments this year will resume growth and the pace may outstrip its economic expansion, as the world economy stabilizes, according to the transcript.
■AUTOMOBILES
Mazda moves Chinese plant
Mazda Motor Corp, 11 percent owned by Ford Motor Co, will move the Chinese production of its Mazda 3 model to Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, from Chongqing in May. The Japanese company’s venture with Ford and China’s Chongqing Changan Automobile Co (重慶長安汽車) makes vehicles in Nanjing and Chongqing, the Mazda Web site showed. “Mazda will move Mazda 3’s production base to Nanjing in response to its rising sales and to meet demand,” spokesman Ken Haruki said by telephone yesterday. The Nikkei Shimbun earlier reported the three companies agreed in principle they will spin off the Nanjing factory, which Mazda and Chongqing Changan will own.
■CARGO
HK volume up 16.2 percent
Hong Kong International Airport posted a 16.2 percent rise in cargo volume in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2008. Cargo shipments last month also rose 35.5 percent to 330,000 tonnes as trade began to recover from the effects of the global economic slowdown, a statement released by the airport yesterday said. Cargo trade for last year fell 7.7 percent to 3.35 million tonnes, the statement said. Passenger numbers declined 5 percent to 46.1 million.
■VENEZUELA
Oil industry untouched
The nation’s oil industry is untouched by electricity rationing that is causing blackouts across the OPEC country, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said, adding that most oil operations have their own power supplies. Businesses and homes are being hit by rolling blackouts aimed at sharply reducing power consumption. The hydroelectricity-dependent country is suffering a severe drought caused by the EL Nino weather anomaly. “Production has not been affected at all, neither has refining or upgrading,” Ramirez said late on Friday. Some of the country’s oil is a tar-like crude that has to upgraded to a lighter liquid before it can be exported.
■STEEL
Algeria strike intensifies
More than 7,000 workers at steel giant ArcelorMittal’s plant in Algeria will intensify a strike aimed at forcing the management to revamp the ageing El Hadjar complex, a trade union leader said on Saturday. “We will continue with the strike and this week we will step up our protest,” said Smain Kouadria, the secretary general of the plant’s union. Workers went on strike on Tuesday to protest the planned closure of the coking plant, which employs 320 people. It would cost US$40 million to renovate, experts said when the plant was closed down in October.
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