■ Automobiles
China sales may rise 12%
China's vehicle sales may rise by 12 percent to 5.75 million units in 2005 from a year ago, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report posted on its Web site. Total production of Volkswagen AG, General Motors Corp and other automakers in China may rise by about 15 percent this year to 5.83 million units, according to the report by the nation's trade regulator. Vehicle demand in China, the world's third largest automobile market, started to recover from March as customers concluded prices had bottomed out. First-half vehicle sales rose 9.4 percent to 2.79 million units and output increased 5.2 percent to 2.82 million units during the period, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
■ Scandal
Chinese executives arrested
The chief executive of China's largest refrigerator maker Kelon and two fellow executives have been arrested as securities regulators investigate the firm, Hong Kong and Chinese media reported yesterday. The company, Guangdong Kelon Electrical Holdings Co (科龍集團), is also being run by local government authorities and its board has been dissolved, according to reports. Kelon Chairman Gu Chujun (顧雛軍), Deputy Chief Executive Yan Yousong (嚴友松) and Assistant to the Chief Executive Jiang Yuan (姜源) are being held, Chinese news Web site Sina.com reported. Gu is suspected of misusing Kelon's funds in the acquisition of other companies, Wen Wei Po said. The paper also reported local authorities have taken custody of Kelon, based in the southern Chinese city of Shunde.
■ Computers
Intel opens R&D centers
Intel Corp, whose microprocessors run more than 80 percent of personal computers, is opening research centers in Brazil, China, Egypt and India to identify products that will increase sales in the fastest-growing markets. Intel designers, ethnographers and engineers will work at the centers, said Willy Agatstein, general manager of the Channel Definition and Development Group. Their job will be to find new ways that Intel products can be used in local markets and to provide input for the design of future products. The move is part of Chief Executive Paul Otellini's plan to create and exploit new markets for personal computers as sales in the US and Western Europe slow and the company fights to maintain double-digit revenue growth. Computers that can withstand the heat, dust and power outages of rural India represent one such opportunity, Agatstein said.
■ Telecoms
Nokia maintains lead
Nokia maintained its robust lead in the world mobile phone market in the second quarter as sales of entry-level units boosted overall shipment numbers, a technology research house said yesterday. IDC said global shipments of mobile phones totalled 188.7 million units in the three months to June, up 16.3 percent from a year ago and 7.3 percent from the previous quarter. Nokia, based in Finland, accounted for 60.8 million units or 32.2 percent of all shipments in the second quarter, nearly double the market share of its American rival Motorola, with 33.9 million units or 18 percent. Next came South Korean manufacturers Samsung, with 24.4 million units or 12.9 percent, and LG electronics, with 12.1 million or 6.4 percent. Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson, was fifth with 11.8 million units or 6.3 percent.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
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