■ Airlines
BA flights back on track
British Airways said it aimed to operate 95 percent of its long-haul flights at London's Heathrow airport yesterday, while short-haul flights should be back to normal following a wildcat strike last week. "The Heathrow shorthaul operation should return to normal on Monday, with plans to operate 100 percent of flights," the global air carrier said on its Web site (www.ba.com). "This return to normal for UK and European flights is a day earlier than originally envisaged. The longhaul operation is also returning to normal with plans to operate over 95 percent of flights for the next couple of days." British Airways had said on Sunday that it expected a return to normal by tomorrow at the earliest, due to the after-effects of last Thursday and Friday's strike.
■ Computers
Asia-Pacific PC sales rise
Personal computer (PC) sales in the Asia-Pacific outside of Japan increased by 18 percent to 18.8 million units in the first six months of this year from a year ago, fueled by record sales of laptops and tablet-sized computers, an industry report said yesterday. Technology research house Gartner said combined sales of laptops and tablet-sized increased 40.4 percent to a record 3.9 million units in the January-June period as falling prices and a wider variety of models enticed buyers. "Aggressive pricing strategies and the sheer range of models available have really opened up the market for mobile PCs in the Asia-Pacific region," said Lillian Tay, principal analyst in the client platforms group at Gartner. Mobile PCs, which comprise laptops and tablet-sized computers, accounted for 21 percent of overall computer sales in the six months to June, up from 18 percent last year.
■ Aviation
Airlines could lose licenses
Four Thai airlines may have their licenses revoked by aviation regulators as competition and high fuel prices threaten to put them out of business, the Nation reported, citing an industry source it didn't identify. Thailand's civil aviation authority is expected to cancel licenses issued about five years ago to Angel Airline, Thai Pacific, Thai Jet and Air Andaman, four of 10 airline permits issued under a government initiative to open the country's skies to greater competition, the paper said. Record high fuel prices and intensifying competition from low-cost carriers may have made it unfeasible for the airlines to continue operating, the report said. Angel Airline and Air Andaman are the only two of the four flying, the paper said.
■ Retail
Carrefour shares rise
Shares in Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, rose sharply in early trade in Paris yesterday on a report that it had established contacts with number one Wal-Mart of the US. The hike came despite Carrefour's denial on Sunday of a British newspaper report that it had held talks with Wal-Mart. The Mail on Sunday reported that Wal-Mart chief executive Lee Scott and Carrefour supervisory board chairman Luc Vandevelde had met in Versailles, west of Paris, within the last month. It did not name its source but added that "industry sources" had said late last week that Wal-Mart was contemplating a full takeover of Carrefour. The newspaper report said any potential deal with Carrefour would be expected to attract the immediate attention of Britain's leading supermarket chain Tesco, which is also said to be keen to build its international presence.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has lodged a protest with Pretoria after the name of the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa was changed to the “Taipei Commercial Office” on the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (DIRCO) Web site. In October last year, the South African government asked Taiwan to relocate the Taipei Liaison Office, the nation’s de facto embassy, out of Pretoria. It later agreed to continue negotiating through official channels, but in January asked that the office be relocated by the end of this month. As of the middle of last month, DIRCO’s Web
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