■ Petroleum
OPEC asks for outside help
OPEC is to invite producers from outside the cartel to talks next month on how to stabilize sky-rocketing oil prices, the organization's President Purnomo Yusgi-antoro said here yesterday. The unusual move to throw open the September 14 OPEC meeting in Vienna to non-members comes just days after crude prices hit record highs, reaching US$44.77 dollars a barrel in New York on Friday. "OPEC will discuss steps to stabi-lize world oil prices with non-OPEC countries and large oil producers, among them Russia and Angola," Purnomo told journalists here. "We will discuss world oil price conditions," he said. Supply uncertainties caused by the financial woes of Russian oil giant Yukos and terrorist attacks on Iraqi oil pipelines have sent prices soaring in recent weeks.
■ Aviation
Soros may bag a carrier
China's Hainan Airlines Co, partly owned by Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, said yesterday it was in negotiations to buy troubled Malev Hungarian Airlines. "Both sides are sitting down to discussions about cooperating together but it has not gone any further than that and it is not clear about how many shares or cash would be involved," a Hainan Airlines press official said. Malev executives will be in China for further discussions today, the official said. If a deal is hammered out it would give China's fourth-largest carrier a gateway to the European continent. Other interested buyers reportedly include Air France-KLM and Austrian Airlines. Malev, almost wholly controlled by the Hungarian state, has never managed to rise above recurrent crises since the collapse of communism.
■ Shipping
Cruise ship too big for HK
One of the world's biggest cruise liners is being forced to berth outside Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor because the water is too shallow, a news report said yesterday. The 113,000-ton Diamond Princess, managed by P&O, will have to berth at the city's container terminal when it makes three stops in Hong Kong next year, the South China Morning Post reported. The indignity forced on the Diamond Princess, which carries 2,600 passengers, brought a warning from P&O man-aging director Richard Willis that Hong Kong needs better facilities. Hong Kong is currently working on a second, deeper cruise ship terminal but it will not be ready before 2009, accor-ding to the city's Tourism Board. Willis told the news-paper he did not understand why it would take so long. He pointed out that Chinese cities Shanghai and Qingtao were already working hard to develop themselves as important port cities in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
■ Computing
HP to buy Synstar
Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, said it will pay about ?163 million (US$300 million) to buy Synstar Plc, a UK information technology services company. Hewlett-Packard, based in Palo Alto, California, will pay ?1 for each Synstar share, the companies said in a Regu-latory News Service state-ment. The price is 28 percent more than Friday's closing price for the Brack-nell, England-based com-pany. Synstar's shares have climbed 19 percent this year. The offer, which is recommended by Synstar's board, will be made by Merrill Lynch & Co on behalf of Hewlett Packard.
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
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
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
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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