China’s transport association will file a lawsuit against the EU over a law to charge airlines for carbon emissions on flights to and from Europe, despite dim prospects of winning the legal action, Chinese media reported.
The European Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday against a group of US airlines that challenged a European law requiring that all airlines flying to and from EU airports buy permits under its emission trading scheme from Jan. 1.
The scheme is aimed at helping offset the carbon emissions of European flights.
Photo: AFP
“We deeply regretted that the United States lost the lawsuit. China will continue to steadfastly pursue a lawsuit,” Chai Haibo (柴海波), deputy secretary of China Air Transport Association (CATA), was quoted by the Economic Observer as saying for its edition tomorrow.
China Daily on Friday also quoted Chai as saying that China’s four major state-run airlines have reached an agreement with CATA to jointly sue the EU in Germany at the end of this month.
“We know that the prospect of victory is dim, but we want to show our firm opposition by launching a lawsuit,” Chai was quoted by China Daily as saying.
CATA was told by the industry watchdog, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), to act with a unified voice on behalf of the main airlines, the Economic Observer said, citing an industry executive.
CATA says the scheme will cost Chinese airlines 800 million yuan (US$126 million) next year and more than triple that by 2020.
On Friday, Xinhua news agency warned of a trade war over the inclusion of airlines in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), although the foreign ministry stated its opposition less stridently and called on the EU to talk to other governments.
However, the case before the Wednesday ruling by the EU’s highest court has triggered hostile reactions from airlines around the world, as well as blocking legislation in the US Congress and a threat from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The US government said it was dismayed by the ruling and wanted the issue to be addressed by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization.
“We continue to have strong legal and policy objections to the inclusion of flights by non-EU air carriers in the EU ETS,” said Krishna Urs, deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs at the US Department of State.
In the latest of a flurry of statements from airlines and their associations, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) called on the EU to abandon its plans.
“This dispute needs to be resolved through constructive political dialogue, rather than embarking on a bruising trade war,” the AAPA said on Friday. “We urge the EU to scrap plans to include foreign airlines within the EU ETS.”
EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard welcomed the court decision, while adding she wanted to engage with partners.
“We reaffirm our wish to engage constructively with everyone during the implementation of our legislation,” she said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
RSS