Labor: Earnings decline in Japan
Japanese workers' earnings fell at a record pace in July as companies such as Sanyo Electric Co cut pay packets and bonuses in a bid to boost profits. Cash earnings, including salary, overtime pay and bonuses, of employees at companies with five or more workers fell 5.2 percent from a year earlier. That's the biggest drop since the survey started in January 1990. Adjusted to account for falling prices, earnings fell 4.4 percent, the fastest decline since December 1998. Japan's four-year bout of falling prices is starting to hurt consumers, who had benefited from rising purchasing power. The wage decline will probably trigger a drop in consumer spending, slowing a recovery from last year's recession, economists said. "Consumers have been benefiting from the deflationary environment," said Ayako Mitsui, an economist at UBS Warburg Japan Ltd, who expected cash earnings to fall about 3 percent.
Mobile phones: Nokia prepares Net units
Nokia Oyj will supply Vodafone Group Plc's J-Phone Co unit with handsets for its new high-speed Internet service, part of a bid by the mobile-phone maker to expand a market share that stands at about 1 percent. The handsets will be capable of working on existing and advanced networks, Heikki Tenhunen, president of Nokia's Japan unit, said in an interview. Users will also be able to make and receive calls in as many as 160 countries in Europe and Asia. While Nokia is the world's largest mobile-phone maker, the company's handsets are a rarity in Japan, which is dominated by local manufacturers such as NEC Corp. At the end of last year, seven years after establishing a unit in Tokyo, the Finland-based company had just 1 percent of Japan's 40.6 million-unit handset market, according to researcher Gartner Japan Ltd.
Airlines: Dragonair seeks routes
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd, the smaller of the city's two passenger carriers, plans to apply for permission to fly to more Asian cities as it seeks to expand its international network. "We have been expanding in other parts of Asia. This is a definite trend" said company CFO Francis Wai. "There will be more information on this in the coming one or two days." The Standard newspaper reported earlier that Dragonair will apply by the end of this month for licenses to fly to Manila, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney. The airline will seek approval for two return flights a day to Manila, Bangkok and Seoul, and may seek daily services to Tokyo and Sydney, the report said, citing unidentified airline officials.
Public listing: Fuji delays NYSE plan
Fuji Photo Film Co, the world's No. 2 photography company, will delay its plan to apply to list on the New York Stock Exchange following a series of accounting scandals in the US. "We are not going to apply to list next year because of the spate of scandals in the US," said Kenji Sukeno, senior operations manager in the accounting division. "We are postponing plans but we still intend to list on the exchange." Fuji's plan to postpone listing has nothing to do with the rule introduced recently by the SEC requiring all companies listed in the US to confirm the accuracy of their financial data under oath, Sukeno said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
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