■ Semiconductors
EU tariffs sought on Hynix
The European Commission plans to bring punitive tariffs against South Korean semiconductor maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc for selling chips below production cost, German business daily Handelsblatt said, citing unidentified people from Trade Commis-sioner Pascal Lamy's office. Hynix has received "bil-lions" worth of subsidies from the South Korean government, allowing the world's third-largest chip maker to sell direct random access memory, or DRAM, semiconductors below production cost, the paper said. A spokesman for Lamy declined to comment, the report said. Industry experts expect a tariff of as much as 30 percent on Hynix's chips, the paper said.
■ Asia
Domestic focus urged
Asia will have to rethink its export-oriented growth formula and look more at domestic consumption if it wants to continue climbing up the economic ladder, a regional economist said yesterday. Against the backdrop of a volatile global economy, Asia will have to rely less on exports which have been the mainstay of the region's economic growth over the past decade, said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong. "The way forward I think is we have to ignite our own consumption revolution in the region," said Hedrick-Wong, an economic advisor to credit card giant MasterCard International. "We must create a much more balanced structure platform for growth in the Asia-Pacific," he said at a briefing in Singapore outlining the challenges facing the region. Citing South Korea, he said the surge in domestic demand had generated positive spin-offs for the economy, particularly in developing the services sector.
■ Telecoms
FCC to let states decide
The US Federal Communi-cations Commission approved new rules to give states more authority over the US$125 billion US local-telephone market, dealing a setback to the Baby Bells and FCC chairman Michael Powell. The FCC voted 3 to 2 for guidelines giving state regulators final say over what parts of local carriers' phone networks must be leased to rivals at discounts. The Bells, whose shares fell, won't have to share new fiber-optic lines for Internet access. The vote undercuts Powell's attempt to enact the biggest changes in phone regulations since the 1996 Telecommunications Act. He wanted the FCC to relax rules forcing the big local carriers to lease equip-ment at discounts, saying they discourage investment. But state regulators argued the low rates spur compe-tition and help companies such as AT&T Corp enter the local market.
■ China
Anti-gum lotion sought
China is developing a chemical weapon, under a project dubbed the "863 Program" by the Ministry of Science and Technology, for deployment in the war on a scourge that blights its public squares -- chewing gum. Eight research insti-tutions have applied for the 1 million yuan (US$120,000) project to come up with a lotion over the next 18 months that will dissolve discarded chewing gum stuck to the ground, the China Daily reported yesterday. The Chinese chew some 2 billion pieces of gum per year, the paper quoted experts as saying, noting that nearly 600,000 globules of gum were discarded in Tiananmen Square during the seven-day National Day holiday last October.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
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
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
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
RSS