■ELECTRONICS
Amazon, Penguin sign pact
Online retailer Amazon said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with publisher Penguin on pricing of electronic books for the Kindle e-reader. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “We have an agreement with Penguin and will soon be offering their complete selection of digital books to Kindle customers,” an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement. With the arrival last month of Apple’s iPad, a number of publishers have been seeking to renegotiate their deals with Amazon, which set prices for new releases for the Kindle at US$9.99.
■AUTOMOBILES
Strikes shut Honda China
Japan’s Honda Motor said yesterday that production at all four of its vehicle manufacturing plants in China had halted after workers at an auto parts factory went on strike. The shutdown was not expected to last long, but it was not known when production would resume, Honda’s Beijing-based spokesman Zhu Linjie (朱林杰) said. “The company is negotiating with workers in coordination with the local government,” he said. The assembly lines shut down due to a lack of parts caused by a strike at the company’s auto parts facility in Foshan city in Guangdong Province, he said.
■MUSIC
US probes Apple behavior
The US Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music in a preliminary antitrust inquiry, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing “several people briefed on the conversations,” said department staff members had talked to music labels and Internet music companies as part of the inquiry, which it said was “in its early stages.” The Times said the conversations had revolved broadly around the dynamics of selling music online.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
French firm eyes Japan ties
French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis said yesterday it was considering a tie-up with a Japanese partner in an effort to position itself in a fast-growing generic drug market. “We are interested in the Japanese market for generic drugs and we are currently in discussions with potential partners,” CEO Christopher Viehbacher said at a press conference in Tokyo.
■BANKING
Treasury sells Citi shares
The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday it raised US$6.2 billion from the sale of 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup stock it received as part of the government’s rescue of the bank. The government sold the shares at a profit as it seeks to recoup the costs of the US$700 billion financial bailout. The sales took place over the past month and represented 19.5 percent of the government’s holdings of Citigroup common stock. Treasury said it had started a second round of stock sales through its agent, Morgan Stanley. That will involve an additional 1.5 billion shares.
■ECONOMY
Manila posts 7.3% growth
The Philippine economy grew 7.3 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, its fastest growth in three years, boosted by increased consumer and government spending, improved exports and remittances from overseas Filipino workers. The growth, which was a big improvement on an expansion of 0.5 percent a year earlier, was the fastest since the second quarter of 2007, the National Statistical Coordination Board said yesterday.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from