■ Automobiles
New car paint fixes itself
Nissan Motor Co's new car paint repairs its own scratches and scrapes. Minor scruffs disappear like magic in about a week if your car has Scratch Guard Coat, a clear paint that the automaker developed with Nippon Paint Co, Nissan spokesman Kiyoshi Ariga said yesterday. The coating, which Nissan says is the first of its kind in the world, contains elastic resin, similar to a rubbery surface, and can repair itself of slight scratches caused by car-washing, off-road driving and fingernails. The coat lasts about three years, Nissan said. The scratch-proof paint job will be offered only in some Japan models of the X-Trail sport-utility vehicle, planned for sale soon, and overseas plans are still undecided, Ariga said. No decision has been made about offering it in other models, he said.
■ Entertainment
Taiwan gets Xboxes in March
Microsoft Corp said it will begin selling its line of Xbox 360 machines in some Asian countries from February. The consoles, which go on sale in Japan later this month, will be available in South Korea from Feb. 24, Microsoft said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The game machines will start selling in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore from March 2, according to the statement. Microsoft is betting it will win market share by starting to sell its latest lineup of game hardware before Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co's successor to its GameCube are introduced. The Xbox 360 sold out within hours of its release in the US on Nov. 22.
■ Telecoms
Verizon mulls unit sale
Verizon Communications Inc, which is buying MCI Inc for US$8.44 billion, may sell the domestic operations of its directory publishing unit as it tries to exit that business to focus on selling telephone service and high-speed Internet connections. The sale of the US operations of Verizon Information Services, which has 7,300 employees, could be complete next year, New York-based Verizon, the No. 2 US telephone company, said in a statement sent by PR Newswire. Bear, Stearns & Co and JPMorgan Securities are advising Verizon. The Texas-based directory unit contributed 5 percent, or 3.6 billion, to last year's revenue. Verizon over the last two years sold its Canadian and European directory units. A sale could fetch US$17 billion, about 10 times the unit's profit last year before taxes and other charges of $1.7 billion, the New York Times reported. Spokesman Peter Thonis wouldn't comment on what price Verizon was seeking. A sale would "almost completely divest" Verizon from the directory segment because "a vast majority"of the unit's business is in the US.
■ Internet
Rhapsody goes online
RealNetworks Inc is launching a Web-based version of its Rhapsody subscription music service, becoming the latest firm hoping to capitalize on growing consumer interest in software and services that can be accessed anywhere via the Internet. The Web-based service will allow users to listen to Rhapsody's catalog of songs without downloading the desktop application that is currently required. That will open RealNetworks' service up to people using Apple Computer or Linux-based systems. The system, which was launched yesterday in test form, also makes it easier for people who already have the service to use it even when they aren't at their own computers.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
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