■ Semiconductors
Chip sales up 39 percent
Global sales of chipmaking equipment rose 39 percent in December to US$2.59 billion, marking a fifth consecutive month of year-on-year increases, two industry groups said. Chipmaking equipment sales in Korea more than doubled to US$402.6 million in the month, marking the largest gain worldwide, according to a release from the Semiconductor Equipment and Material International organization and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan. Sales in Taiwan had the largest share with US$542.5 million in December, or a 71 percent rise from a year ago, while sales in Japan totaled US$531.4 million, a 47 percent gain. North American sales fell 29 percent in December to US$450.8 million.
■ Labor
Strikes cost S Korea billions
South Korean manufact-urers had to forgo production worth 2.5 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) last year because of labor strikes, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said in Seoul. The strikes also reduced exports by US$1.1 billion, 85 percent of which stemmed from production stoppages at Hyundai Motor Co, the country's largest automaker, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp, the ministry said. Production slumped in the second and third quarters of last year as unionized workers downed tools to help win better pay. That helped cause South Korea's economic growth to halve to about 3 percent last year. Labor strikes at six large companies including Hyundai Motor accounted for 86 percent of production losses and 95 percent of export losses, the government said.
■ Automobiles
Hyundai signs China deal
South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai has inked a US$200 million contract for its China joint venture to export 19,000 Sonata sedans to Russia -- China's biggest ever car export deal, state press reported yesterday. Shipments of the cars manufactured by Beijing Hyundai will begin in April, the Oriental Morning Post quoted Hyundai Beijing chairman Xu Heyi as saying. "The Ministry of Commerce said the export deal equals all the sedan cars exported overseas since the founding of China [in 1949]," Xu said. Other financial details were not provided. Beijing Hyundai Motor, a 50-50 joint venture set up in late 2001 with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, sold 55,000 Sonata's last year. The company was the first automobile joint venture approved by China after its entry to the WTO in December 2001.
■ Security
More ATMs monitored
More than 80 percent of bank cash machines in Hong Kong have had closed circuit TV monitoring installed after audacious theft attempts, a survey found yesterday. Security was stepped up at banks around the territory after sophisticated spy cameras installed by thieves to film people tapping in their secret ID numbers were found next to machines. Some of the spy cameras were installed inside the frame of the cash machines, and positioned to transmit video of the keyboard being used to a remote location. The thieves intended to record the numbers then pickpocket customers to empty their accounts, police believed, although the spy cameras were found before many people were targeted. A Consumer Council survey found that since the discovery, 82 percent of banks had installed closed-circuit TV.
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
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
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
A clandestine US Navy special missions unit colloquially known as SEAL Team 6 has been training for missions to assist Taiwan’s defense against an attack by China, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The navy commando team famous for killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has been conducting training to take part in a Taiwan conflict at its Dam Neck headquarters in Virginia Beach for more than one year, it said, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event,”
RSS