■ Airlines
War may spur changes
War in Iraq would see consolidation in the international aviation industry as some marginal airlines collapsed due to a fall in passenger numbers, the head of Australian flag carrier Qantas said yesterday. "If there was a war in Iraq, I believe we will have failures of airlines," Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon told Network Nine television's Sunday business program. "The inevitable consolidation that must be necessary in an industry that has such high people and capital costs will happen." Describing the state of the global aviation industry as "chaos," Dixon said that Qantas would be "well placed" to take advantage of an industry consolidation in the event of war in Iraq. "Perhaps we will be in the position to be able to look at whether there is potential opportunities out there," he said. Qantas has been one of the few international carriers to prosper following a global downturn in travel after the Sept. 11 attacks in the US.
■ Economic crime
SK executive arrested
SK Group Vice Chairman Chey Tae-won was arrested by South Korean prosecutors for misuse of funds at companies in the country's third largest business group. Chey was arrested last night under a special economic crime law and remains in custody, said Lim Su Kil, an SK Group spokesman. Kim Chang-keun, an official at SK Group's restructuring office, which operates as the group headquarters, was also held. Calls to the office of Lee In-kyu, head of the Seoul District Prosecutor investigation department, which questioned Chey, were not answered. Chey was investigated on suspicion of illegal stock trading alleged to have taken place between him and SK units. Prosecutors Friday summoned the 42-year-old nephew of the SK Group's founder as part of a probe into alleged purchases by SK units of Chey's stock in a hotel company for more than market value.
■ Memory chips
Elpida out to raise funds
Elpida Memory Inc, the memory-chip venture between NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd, intends to raise ¥80 billion (US$676 million) to boost its production capacity of silicon wafers, President Yukio Sakamoto said. The ¥80 billion will be invested to increase monthly capacity of 300mm silicon wafers to around 15,000 from the current 3,000, Sakamoto said in a telephone interview. He didn't identify investors. Silicon wafers are the material from which semiconductors are cut and packaged. Elpida, whose liabilities have exceeded assets since its inception in December 1999, in November said it aims to be the world's third-largest memory-chip maker within the next three years.
■ Erectile helpers
Chinese product marketed
A Viagra-style capsule based on traditional Chinese medicine has gone on sale at drug stores in China's largest city Shanghai, state media said yesterday. The Jianyang Capsule is the first medicine for erectile dysfunction using traditional ingredients to be given the green light for over-the-counter sale, Xinhua news agency reported. Interest is expected to be huge, and about 500 drug stores in the city are likely to eventually offer the product, according to the agency. Erectile dysfuntion is up to three times more frequent in Shanghai than in inland areas.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘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
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
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
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