■ PIRACY
Risky batteries fakes: Sanyo
Sanyo Electric Co said the mobile phone batteries Chinese authorities say are at risk for explosion are counterfeits and were not made by it. Sanyo, the world's biggest maker of rechargeable batteries, conducted an internal investigation after Chinese authorities said three battery models used in handsets may explode. The faulty batteries were all counterfeits, it said. A Chinese man was killed in Gansu Province when the battery in his Motorola handset exploded, the Lanzhou Morning Post reported last week. Officials in Guangdong Province found four counterfeit battery models that might explode in their handsets.
■ SHIPBUILDING
Daewoo doubles target
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co, the world's third-largest shipyard, boosted its target for this year's orders to US$17 billion, a 55 percent increase from a previous projection. The shipbuilder met its earlier full-year target of US$11 billion after it recently won container-ship orders worth US$1.8 billion from two buyers in Europe, the Seoul-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. "In the second half, we expect to continue receiving orders for higher-end products including container vessels and offshore platforms," company president Nam Sang-tae said in the statement.
■ JAPAN
Abe downplays tax hike
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the economy may be healthy enough to increase government revenue without needing an increase in the sales tax. "There is a good possibility that we can do without raising it," Abe said yesterday during a debate with Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa on Fuji TV ahead of this month's election. "Before we decide whether to hike the consumption tax we must focus on thoroughly cutting government expenditures." Japan's US$6.8 trillion debt is the world's largest and 1.5 times its GDP. Abe reiterated that the government will start discussing whether to raise the tax in the autumn, after the Upper House elections on July 29.
■ SOUTH KOREA
Seoul raises export goals
The government has raised its export growth forecast for this year, prompted by a steady global economy and strong sales of mainstay products such as cars, LCDs, and semiconductors. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said yesterday that exports will grow 12.8 percent this year from the previous year to US$367.25 billion, up from a January estimate of 10.4 percent growth. Exports rose 14.4 percent last year. Seoul lowered its trade surplus target to US$15 billion from US$17 billion because it expects domestic consumption to recover and international oil prices to rise. The nation racked up a trade surplus of US$16 billion last year.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Nissan sets China target
Nissan Motor Co plans to sell 300,000 cars in China this year, after introducing its Infiniti luxury brand. It may consider adding a production plant with local partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co (東風汽車) to expand capacity, Yukihisa Kayashima, head of Nissan (China) Investment Co, said in Shanghai yesterday. Luxury car sales rose twice as quickly as the overall market last year, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
‘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
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
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