■ Airlines
Qantas alliance blocked
Australian and New Zealand regulators rejected a plan by Qantas Airways Ltd to pay NZ$550 million (US$300 million) for a stake in Air New Zealand, calling it "highly anti-competitive." The decision undermines plans by the biggest airlines in the two nations to cut costs by uniting to control 90 percent of air traffic. "Passengers will be denied choice and increased air fares will be inevitable," said Allan Fels, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Qantas needs to cut costs to fend off a challenge from Richard Branson's Virgin Blue Airlines Pty in Australia and to cope with a plunge in air travel, aggravated by the outbreak of a deadly virus in Asia. Air New Zealand, rescued from bankruptcy in 2001 by a government bailout, says it may find it difficult to compete with a challenge from Qantas in its home market.
■ Tourism
Thailand urges local travel
Thailand urged citizens to travel locally this month during the nation's biggest festival season to compensate for a loss of earnings as a deadly virus outbreak prompts overseas travelers to stay home. Thailand this week cut its tourist revenue forecast for this year to 340 billion baht (US$7.9 billion) from 360 billion baht as visitors cancel trips because of the spread of the respiratory illness. "Thais should go out and travel," Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters. "They should not panic about the disease. The government has taken steps to control it." The disease has taken more than a hundred lives worldwide, mostly in Asia. Thailand said this month it would "discourage" tours from affected areas, and asked visitors from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam to wear masks and to isolate themselves for two weeks. To attract locals, Thai tour operators plan to cut rates for package tours by as much as 40 percent starting next month, Tourism Minister Sontaya Kunplome.
■ Concord
BA plans to retire fleet
British Airways Plc, Europe's biggest airline, plans to retire its Concorde supersonic jetliner fleet in October as slowing economies and conflict in Iraq hurt demand for its premium trans-Atlantic flights. Air France also said it will end Concorde flights on Oct. 31. "Bringing forward Concorde's retirement is a prudent business decision," said British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington in a Regulatory News Service statement. "While the threat of war and resulting military conflict have had a further impact on premium travel demand, the decision to retire Concorde has been based on a long-term revenue and cost trend rather than recent events."
■ Unemployment
Jobs in Australia vanish
Australia's unemployment rate jumped to 6.2 percent in March and economists say it may go higher as a deadly respiratory disease reduces tourism, forcing companies such as Qantas Airways Ltd to fire workers. The economy unexpectedly shed 42,800 jobs, all of them full-time, and the unemployment rate rose from 6 percent in February, as consumer confidence fell to a two-year low because of the war in Iraq and a drought across more than two-thirds of the country. The Australian Tourism Commission said this week international arrivals had fallen as much as 20 percent in the past three weeks because of the disease and war in Iraq.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
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