■Computers
Intel shares may fall
Intel Corp shares may be poised to fall as demand for computer processors might be weakening, potentially crimping second-quarter sales at the world's biggest semiconductor maker, Barron's reported. Demand for so-called motherboards, which holds chips in place for desktop computers, has fallen in Taiwan, Barron's said. About 80 percent of motherboards are made in Taiwan and China. A big drop in sales suggests that demand for central processing units may be weak. Intel gets more than 80 percent of its revenue from processors and related semiconductors, Barron's said. Gurinder Kalra, chief of global semiconductor research at Bear Stearns Asia, said Taiwanese second-quarter mother-board sales will fall 15 percent this quarter from this year's first three months, the paper reported.
■ Electronics
Fujitsu to raise output
Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's biggest maker of business computers, will more than double production of camera sensor modules for cellular phones to meet growing demand, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The company will raise monthly output of the sensors to between 1 million and 1.5 million units in September from 500,000 now, the report said, without citing anyone. Fujitsu, which started mass producing so-called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor sensors in April, expects sales of the product to reach Japanese Yen 25 billion (US$210 million) in the business year started April 1, the newspaper said. Fujitsu won't invest in any new production facilities, focusing instead on improving productivity at its current facilities to raise output, the report said. It will also farm out more prod-uction to outside affiliates.
■ Fiscal policy
Britons want to keep pound
Sixty percent of British voters would reject the euro in a referendum, even if Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown said the conditions for entry were right. Brown is due to announce on June 9 whether to recommend euro entry, and while his judgment is expected to be negative, it is thought possible he will leave the door open for a referendum. A large majority of those surveyed, 71 percent, said a referendum should be held within the next two years, rather than put off until after the next general election. But 60 percent of the polled said they would vote to keep the pound, against 33 percent who wanted to switch to the euro. Some 31 percent said Britain should leave the EU, against 60 percent who thought it should stay in.
■ Petroleum
US oil firms move into Syria
Two leading US oil firms, Devon Energy and Gulfsands Petroleum Ltd, signed a multi-million-dollar contract yesterday with Syria to explore for oil and natural gas. Oklahoma-based Devon, which will act as the operator, has an 80 percent interest in the contract, while Texas-based Gulfsands has a 20 percent interest, according to a statement from Devon. In the first four years, the firms are to undertake prosp-ecting works and drill four exploration wells in an 11,000km2 area of north-eastern Syria known as Block 26, it said. The total period of exploitation is 25 years, with a possible 10 year extension, a Devon official said, with the state getting between 65 and 85 percent of the oil produced. The companies' are required in the first four years to invest around US$17 million.
Agencies
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
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