■ Communications
LG, Nortel in joint venture
South Korea's LG Electronics and Canada's Nortel Networks yesterday agreed to launch a US$295 million joint venture on telecom equipment and networking solutions in Seoul, LG Electronics said. Both firms signed the final contract to launch the venture in October with a paid-in capital of 300 billion won (US$295 million), LG Electronics said in a Stock Exchange report. LG Electronics paid US$145 million for a 50 percent stake minus one share in the joint venture while Nortel takes up the remaining stake. LG Electronics, the second largest mobile phone maker in South Korea, has teamed up with the Canadian company to develop next-generation and high-speed wireless communications services.
■ Technology
Taxes drag down HP's profit
US technology giant Hewlett-Packard said its net profit for the latest quarter fell to US$73 million, due to a hefty tax charge on repatriated profits under an incentive under US law. Although the profit was down sharply from US$586 million in the same period a year ago, the results were reduced by US$960 million in taxes as the company repatriated some US$14.5 billion from overseas. Excluding one-time items, the computer and technology services group earned US$1.1 billion, or US$0.36 a share, as revenue grew to US$20.8 billion. By that measure, the company beat the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who forecast a profit of US$0.31 cents a share, on US$20.5 billion in revenue in the third fiscal quarter to July 31.
■ Securities
Watchdog takes on Kanebo
Japan's securities watchdog yesterday filed charges against troubled cosmetics maker Kanebo and three of its former executives for allegedly falsifying financial statements to hide massive losses. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed a criminal complaint meaning a trial for the former bosses of Kanebo, which is being forced to restructure and is reportedly being courted by major global firms. Kanebo is accused of providing false statements for the past five financial years. In the fiscal year to March 2002, the three allegedly reported Kanebo's assets exceeded losses by ?900 million (US$8.3 million) even though its losses far surpassed assets by ?82 billion, the commission said. The three former executives -- former president Takashi Hoashi, 69, former vice president Takashi Miyahara, 63, and former executive Kenzaburo Shimada, 59 -- were arrested last month.
■ Telecoms
Qwest, union avert strike
Qwest Communications' largest union said it reached a contract agreement with the company, removing the threat of a strike by 25,000 telephone workers in 13 states. The late Tuesday agreement includes a 7.5 percent wage increase over three years, changes to health care to reduce overall costs for many employees and an eight-hour cap on mandatory overtime, union spokeswoman Candice Johnson said. Workers must still ratify the pact. "I think it's a good agreement for both sides," she said. "I think it reflects that Qwest recognized that the union work force is value-added and a critical party in helping the company." A spokesman for Qwest Communications International Inc, Bob Toevs, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
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
‘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
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
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