■ COMPUTERS
Dell plans new 3Par offer
Dell Inc is planning a second offer to try to keep data storage maker 3Par Inc out of Hewlett-Packard Co’s (HP) hands, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The exact timing and amount of Dell’s offer are not known. The person said Dell’s bid would likely top HP’s offer on Monday of US$1.5 billion, although according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Dell only needs to match HP’s offer to stay in the running. Dell had previously offered US$1.13 billion for 3Par.
■ ECONOMY
Irish agency slams S&P
Ireland’s debt agency has criticized Standard Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services for cutting the country’s credit rating, saying the downgrade was based on a flawed analysis. The ratings agency cut the government’s long-term sovereign credit rating to “AA-” from “AA.” The outlook is negative. John Corrigan, chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, says that S&P’s debt calculations did not accord with the approach of the IMF or the EU’s statistics agency.
■ PHILIPPINES
Growth strongest in 20 years
The government said yesterday it recorded its best half-year economic growth for more than 20 years as confidence returned following smooth national elections. The economy expanded 7.9 percent in the first six months of this year, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board, helped by better-than-expected data in the second quarter. “It is likely that full-year GDP growth in 2010 will be leaning towards the upper-end of the 5 to 6 percent GDP target, perhaps even higher,” National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Cayetano Paderanga told reporters.
■ AVIATION
Boeing expands China plant
US aircraft maker Boeing plans to double the number of employees at its parts factory in northern China to keep up with renewed demand for planes, state media reported yesterday. Boeing Tianjin Composites Co Ltd will increase its workforce to 1,200 in the next three to four years, Boeing China president David Wang (王建民) was quoted by the China Daily newspaper as saying. “We have to enlarge the place because the needs of commercial airlines is growing fast,” Wang said. The factory makes composite secondary structures and interior parts for the B737, B747, B767, B777 and the B787 Dreamliner aircraft, the report said.
■ COSMETICS
L’Oreal forecasts growth
The head of L’Oreal SA says the French cosmetics company will continue to grow faster than the global market for beauty care products this year after a strong performance in the first half. Jean-Paul Agon said yesterday the world cosmetics market grew about 4 percent in the first half and will continue at that pace the rest of the year. “L’Oreal is clearly out of the crisis,” he said. In the first half, L’Oreal’s sales rose 10.2 percent to 9.7 billion euros (US$12.3 billion).
■ BEVERAGES
Diageo profit rises slightly
Diageo, the world’s biggest maker of alcoholic drinks, said yesterday that annual net profits rose slightly on a strong second half driven by growth in emerging markets which offset weakness in the West. The maker of Guinness, Baileys liqueur and Smirnoff vodka said profits after tax increased by 1.5 percent to £1.629 billion (US$2.536 billion) in the 12 months to June compared with the period of 2008 to last year.
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
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
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