■ Wireless
China touts standard
China has revived its effort to promote its own encryption standard for wireless communications, unveiling a 22-member alliance of leading Chinese computer and telecommunications firms to encourage its use, a media report said yesterday. Beijing caused an uproar last year when it tried to compel computer and telecom companies to use its standard, known as WAPI (wireless authentication and privacy infrastructure). It dropped that in a deal with Washington last April after foreign companies complained it would hurt their access to China's markets.
■ Aviation
Malaysia Air to sell planes
Loss-making national carrier Malaysia Airlines plans to sell about 30 aircraft, including a dozen jumbo jets, as part of a business turnaround plan, the Star daily reported yesterday. The final list of aircraft will be drawn up when Malaysian Airline System Bhd, or MAS, finalizes its network rationalization and fleet requirement plan, possibly by midyear, the Star said, quoting unidentified sources. The list may include 12 to 13 Boeing 747-400 planes, as well as some Boeing 737-400s, Fokkers and Twin-Otters, the Star said.
■ Environment
Clean tech seen as bonanza
Venture capitalists are seeing green in clean technologies. The amount of North American venture capital invested in environmentally friendly technologies jumped 35 percent last year to more than US$1.6 billion, according to a report to be released yesterday by the Cleantech Venture Network. "Cleantech" investments by venture capital firms rose to a record US$502 million during the fourth quarter of last year -- 18 percent more than the previous quarter and 60 percent more than the same period a year earlier.
■ Computers
Microsoft launches search
In its latest bid to catch up with rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc, Microsoft Corp is launching a revamped Internet search engine it says will help computer users find information faster, view it more easily and organize it better. Debuting in test form yesterday, Windows Live Search is Microsoft's latest move in a major strategy shift that has the world's largest software company focusing more heavily on Internet-based software and services. Windows Live Search was to begin powering queries on live.com, Microsoft's Windows Live Web site, yesterday. Once the technology has been fully tested, Windows Live Search will replace the existing search engine that powers MSN.com. MSN spokesman Adam Sohn said the company has not determined how long it will run Windows Live Search as a test.
■ Energy
Shell to expand in China
Royal Dutch Shell Group plans to spend US$500 million in China this year as it expands its gas station network and develops clean energy projects, a Shell executive said yesterday. The company is still in negotiations over adding to its network of own-brand gas stations in the southern province of Guangdong, in Beijing and in the nearby northern city of Tianjin, said Nick Wood, Shell's external affairs director in China. The Anglo-Dutch company is one of the largest foreign investors in China and also has 200 joint venture gas stations with local partner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, Asia's biggest oil refiner.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
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