■ Shipping
Beijing unveils ports plan
China plans a major new port project on its southeastern coast near Taiwan, a step toward what it hopes will be "free trade" with Taiwan, state media reported yesterday. The port complex near the city of Xiamen will be one of two new ocean shipping centers, with another planned for the southern coast of Guangdong Province, west of Hong Kong, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported, citing the Ministry of Communications. The plan to build up ports in and near Xiamen is part of a "Western Shore Economic Zone" planned for the Taiwan Strait, the report said. China needs to upgrade its transport networks to match its economic growth, it cited Communications Minister Li Shenglin (李盛霖) as saying. Li said the Xiamen port was in preparation for "mainland-Taiwan free trade relations," the newspaper reported.
■ Aerospace
Japan eyes jet project
Stung by repeated setbacks, Japan's space agency plans to start talks next month with NASA about jointly developing a supersonic successor to the retired Concorde, an official said yesterday. Japan is trying to leapfrog ahead in the aerospace field with a plan to build a next-generation airliner that can fly between Tokyo and Los Angeles in about three hours. But a string of glitches, including a nose cone problem during the latest test flight in March, has led the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to look for an international partner. "In the future, we think we need some kind of cooperation with NASA," JAXA spokesman Kiyotaka Yashiro said. Japanese researchers and engineers plan to meet counterparts from the US space agency next month to discuss possible cooperation, Yashiro said, calling next month's meeting a "first step."
■ Telecoms
Vodafone to slash tariffs
Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company, announced plans yesterday to slash the amount it charges EU customers for making and receiving calls when abroad. The move followed the European Commission's recent publication of proposals aimed at forcing telecommunications companies to reduce so-called "roaming" tariffs within the EU. "Vodafone announces today that average European roaming costs for Vodafone customers will be cut by at least 40 percent by April next year, when compared to last summer," the telecoms giant said. The group added that the average call charge for a European customer when travelling within the EU should fall to below .0.0055 euros (US$0.007) per minute.
■ Automotive
Kia finishes European plant
South Korea's Kia Motors said yesterday it had completed its first European car plant in Slovakia and expects mass production to be underway by year-end. Kia Motors, an affiliate of South Korea's largest auto manufacturer Hyundai Motor, began constructing the 1 billion euro (US$1.2 billion) factory in Zilina, Slovakia, in October 2004. The Kia Motors Slovakia (KMS) plant already employs 1,200 locals and plans to hire up to 3,000 by 2009 to build around 300,000 cars a year, the company said. "We are now in a position to deliver high quality cars to the European market and achieve the highest satisfaction for our customers," KMS president Bae In-kyu said in a statement issued here.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘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
The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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