■ 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.
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
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