■ Forex
Wen pledges no surprises
China plans no "surprise adjustment" in its currency's exchange rate, Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) said, defending Beijing's policy of gradually adjusting its controls on the yuan. Wen's comments, posted on the Foreign Ministry's Web site yesterday, come amid speculation that Beijing will relax those controls in the face of mounting pressure from the US and other trading partners for the value of the yuan to rise. "The floating of the renminbi exchange rate will be mainly determined by market supply and demand and its flexibility will be increased gradually," Wen said. "So there will be no `surprise' adjustment in the renminbi exchange rate."
■ Semiconductors
Chip measures sunlight
South Korea's Samsung Electronics yesterday announced an "intelligent" light-sensitive microchip, allowing displays on devices like mobile phones to be clearly seen even in bright sunlight. Samsung said the new display chips will maintain image quality on liquid crystal display screens by automatically measuring sunlight and adjusting the backlight. Because of their sunlight-detecting abilities, the new chips will be able to save power when mobile phones are used indoors. Mass production of the chips will start this year.
■ Entertainment
PlayStation 3 delayed again
Sony said yesterday that it was again delaying the launch of the PlayStation 3 games console in Europe, pushing back the rollout of one of its most pivotal new products until March. The launch of the next-generation video game console will also be delayed in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia due to a shortage of laser parts, Sony said. It said that it still planned to launch the PlayStation 3 in Japan and North America in November as planned and it still plans to ship 6 million PlayStation 3 consoles globally in the 2007 fiscal year.
■ Travel
Korean Air limits laptops
Korean Air, South Korea's largest airline, has banned the in-flight use of all Dell and some Apple laptop computer models while operating on battery power after the two US firms announced massive recalls over a battery problem, a company official said yesterday. The ban has been in place since Aug. 30, but passengers can still operate the laptops if they use electricity from the in-seat power supply system after separating the batteries from the computers, an airline spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.
■ Internet
MySpace to sell music
The Web site MySpace announced on Tuesday that it will enable members to sell their music. MySpace said it made a deal with San Francisco digital music technology firm SNOCAP to provide musicians and studios tools to sell tunes in a virtual storefront on the Web site. A beta version of the service began testing with offerings from a few bands on Tuesday and MySpace expected to have the polished service rolled out in the US by year's end.
■ Media
BMG Music sold to Vivendi
Bertelsmann AG said yesterday that it had agreed to sell its BMG Music Publishing Group to France's Vivendi for 1.63 billion euros (US$2 billion). The move means Vivendi and its Universal Music Publishing arm will become the world's biggest music publisher.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
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