■ Macroeconomics
No hard landing for China
US Treasury Secretary John Snow predicted Friday that China would avoid a "hard landing" as it tried to bring soaring growth back to Earth. But, in an interview with CNBC television, he also renewed a call for Beijing to loosen the yuan-dollar peg. "There has been overheating in the Chinese economy," the chief US economic policymaker said. The Chinese authorities were trying to dampen inflationary pressures without slowing growth so far that the economy no longer produced a lot of jobs, Snow said. "It is a difficult thing to do. I think they will be successful in avoiding the so-called hard landing," the treasury secretary said. "But, again, the procedures and processes being used to slow the economy down don't include something that we think should be there, and that is reliance on greater flexibility in the yuan."
■ Scandals
UN corruption probe widens
Exxon Mobil Corp and ChevronTexaco Corp confirmed Friday that they have been subpoenaed for records related to a United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq. The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York is investigating alleged improprieties in the program. A spokeswoman for Exxon Mobil said the subpoena covered only documents related to the program and did not accuse the Irving-based oil giant of wrongdoing. "We are in receipt of the subpoena, and we are responding accordingly," said the spokeswoman, Prem Nair. "We follow all laws and regulations." Exxon Mobil declined to comment further on the subpoena or say exactly when it received the subpoena.
■ Automobiles
Carmaker orders recall
A Chinese joint venture with Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co has ordered the recall of more than 70,000 cars because of potential fuel tank problems, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The recall covers 70,240 Honda Accord sedans produced by Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co Ltd in southern China between Jan. 15, 2003, and Oct. 29, 2003, Xinhua said. They will be inspected beginning Monday for welding cracks in fuel tanks, it said. So far, no accidents have occurred because of the defect, which road tests have found was aggravated when the car travels at high speeds on rough roads, Xinhua said Friday.
■ Internet
Transfer speed record set
US telecom group Sprint and a Swedish partner said Friday they set a new world speed record of data transport over the Internet of 4.23 gigabits per second. "This result is almost three times better than the current record listed in the 2004 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records," Sprint said in a statement. "For Internet users whose need for speed is a priority, this feat would be equal to streaming 600 full-length movies simultaneously out to movie theaters," said Chase Cotton, director of data systems engineering for Sprint. Sprint said its engineers and a team from the Swedish National Research and Education Network (SUNET) in April sent nearly 840 gigabytes of data from a computer in San Jose, California, roughly halfway around the globe to associates at another PC at the University of Lulea in northern Sweden in under 27 minutes. The data traveled across Sprint's Internet backbone and the SUNET network at 4.23 gigabits per second "using commercial networks and commonly available computer networking hardware."
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS