■ Copyright
Lawsuit threat over arrest
A businessman arrested for alleged copyright infringement at a shoe fair in Dusseldorf is to sue the German government over his ordeal, a news report said yesterday. Michael Ho was dragged away from his stand at the International Dusseldorf Shoe Fair earlier this month and accused of infringing the copyright of sports shoe manufacturer Puma. Ho claims he was stripped and interrogated before being released on bail. No charges have been laid against him and Ho said he was given no details of his alleged offence. After arriving back in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Ho's wife, Lo Yee-wah, said her husband would sue the German government for lost business as a result of his ordeal, according to the Hong Kong Standard.
■ Entertainment
Bagels, taxes used as bait
New York is using better bagels and tax breaks in its fight to keep motion picture production in the Big Apple. The lure worked for Mel Brooks, who announced on Tuesday that the film version of his Broadway hit musical The Producers, would become the first major project filmed at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn, a massive complex that has also benefited from subsidies. Brooks, flanked by politicians and studio executives, said, "without tax breaks, the horrible truth is this movie would have been made in Kabul or wherever the cheapest place in the world was to shoot the movie." Governor George Pataki signed a bill that would provide a tax credit of up to 15 percent to film and television companies that complete 75 percent of a production in New York.
■ Delivery service
Deutsche Post delays target
Deutsche Post, the semi-privatized German postal authority, said yesterday it was shifting the break-even target for Express Americas, the US arm of its DHL express delivery unit, to 2006 instead of 2005 after deciding to invest more in the region. "We will increase spending on improving our infra-structure, marketing and service quality in a move that will shift the break-even target for Express Americas to 2006," Deutsche Post said. "The additional expenditures underline our long-term commitment to the key US market," where Express Americas competes with market leaders Fedex and UPS. As a result of the increased spending, Express Americas was now expected to run up a loss of 500 million euros (US$615 million) this year, wider than the 300 million euros originally envisaged. "And in 2005, a loss of as much as 300 million euros can also be expected," Deutsche Post said.
■ US economy
Consumer confidence down
Job worries helped push consumer confidence down in the US in September for the second consecutive month, a New York-based private research group said on Tuesday. The Consumer Confidence Index fell 1.9 points to 96.8 from a revised reading of 98.7 last month, according to The Conference Board. "The recent declines in the index were caused primarily by a deterioration in consumers' assessment of employment conditions," said Lynn Franco, director of the organization's Consumer Research Center. "Soft labor market conditions have clearly taken a toll on consumer confidence." Those anticipating conditions to worsen in the next six months increased to 9.4 percent from 8.8 percent. But those expecting business conditions to improve increased to 21.4 percent from 20.2 percent last month.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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