■ AVIATION
Boeing delays test flight
Boeing Co said on Wednesday it was delaying the first test flight of its 787 Dreamliner by several weeks to complete final checks, but that the first deliveries were still planned for May. The US manufacturer had initially planned to mount a first flight of the Dreamliner, seen as the future profit driver for Boeing, late this month. Boeing executives said in a conference call that more time was needed to finish the Dreamliner's assembly and get key onboard computer equipment up and running. The first test flights are now set for between mid-November and mid-December.
■ BANKING
HSBC to open banks for rich
HSBC Holdings PLC announced yesterday it plans to launch its first retail banking branches for wealthy clients in Japan early next year. The British financial conglomerate said in a statement it will start banking services in January for individuals with at least 10 million yen (US$87,000) in assets. HSBC said the number of potential clients is estimated at 6.3 million in the Tokyo region and around the western metropolis of Osaka. HSBC said it plans to open the branches once it receives Financial Services Agency approval. Earlier this month, HSBC acquired a majority stake in South Korea's Korea Exchange Bank for US$6.3 billion.
■ BANKING
Reveal losses, says chief
Investment banks should reveal the full extent of losses they incurred in the recent credit crunch in the financial markets in an effort to boost investor confidence, Deutsche Bank's chief executive said in an interview published yesterday. Speaking to the Financial Times business daily, Josef Ackermann said that the "crucial question in the next few days and weeks is, how do you mark the positions?" "I can only hope that we do not muddle through -- that we mark them to market," he said, referring to financial markets terminology for assigning a value to a financial instrument, based on its market price.
■ TELECOMS
BT invests in China
BT Group Plc, Britain's largest phone company, will invest US$70 million in its first research and customer service facilities in China to meet customer demand. The company will open a research center in Shanghai and a customer service facility in Dalian this week, Francois Barrault, who runs the global services unit, told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Dalian yesterday. Barrault said he expected China to contribute US$250 million of revenue from this year through 2009, reiterating an earlier forecast. The new customer center will provide services to clients in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, BT said.
■ ADVERTISING
JCDecaux inks contract
French group JCDecaux said on Wednesday it had signed an exclusive 15-year contract to provide advertising on the Shanghai metro worth about US$2.05 billion. The firm already manages all advertising bar the television advertisements on trains and platforms on the city's existing five metro lines. Under the new contract, it will continue this and also manage advertising on the eight new lines planned by 2012, JCDecaux said in a statement. By 2010, when the World Expo takes place in Shanghai, the company will have a presence on nine metro lines and 250 stations, reaching 6 million passengers a day.
‘A SERIOUS THREAT’: Japan has expressed grave concern over the Strait’s security over the years, which demonstrated Tokyo’s firm support for peace in the area, an official said China’s military drills around Taiwan are “incompatible” with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan,” Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Kuala Lumpur. “China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this,” a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday cited Iwaya as saying. The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are a series of diplomatic
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and
DRILLS FOR 10 DAYS: The exercises would continue around the clock under realistic conditions taking into account all possibilities, the defense ministry said Taiwan yesterday launched its largest-ever military drills intended to guard against Chinese threats to invade, including using “gray zone” tactics deployed by China that stop just short of open warfare. This year’s 10-day live-fire Han Kuang exercises are the longest yet and follow the delivery of a range of new weaponry from tanks to uncrewed waterborne drones. The drills began with exercises to counter the actions of China Coast Guard and maritime militia ships that have been harassing Taiwanese vessels around outlying islands close to the Chinese coast, the Ministry of National Defense said. Cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns are seen by Taiwan as
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