■ TELECOMS
Willcom, CNCG to forge tie
Japanese mobile provider Willcom Inc will forge a tie-up with China Network Communications Group (CNCG) to expand its low-cost phone business in Asia, a report said yesterday. Willcom plans to provide know-how on so-called "packet communications," in which a firm determines users' fees based on the amount of data transmitted rather than a blanket charge, the Nikkei Shimbun daily said. In Japan, Willcom offers the personal handy system, a type of simple mobile telephone that costs less than more advanced technologies and is also popular in a number of other Asian nations.
■ AVIATION
AirAsia X to raise funds
Malaysia's long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X plans to raise 1 billion ringgit (US$294 million) on the local bourse to fund the purchase of new aircraft for European routes, a top official said. "The floating of the IPO we are looking at three years down the road," AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said. "We plan to raise at least 1 billion ringgit on the local bourse." AirAsia X has signed a contract confirming the purchase of 15 wide-body A330-300 airliners from Airbus, with an option to buy 10 more.
■ AVIATION
Dash 8 problems continue
A Bombardier Inc Dash 8 Q400 turboprop airplane with a faulty undercarriage made an emergency landing in Munich, Germany, the third incident in two weeks involving this type of aircraft in Europe. The aircraft bound for Florence returned to Munich on Saturday after the pilot discovered its forward landing gear wouldn't extend, Ausburg Airlines spokesman Nico Lange said on Saturday. The latest incident involved a spring that allows the door for the landing gear under the nose to open and close and isn't related to two landing-gear collapses on the same type of aircraft operated by SAS AB's Scandinavian Airlines, Bombardier spokesman Bert Cruickshank said.
■ RUSSIA
French lament difficulties
French businessmen complained on Saturday about the numerous legal and operational difficulties faced by foreign investors in Russia at an economic forum in the southern resort of Sochi. Investors said they had confidence in the country's economic potential but pointed to problems including a weak legal framework, bureaucratic delays and ageing infrastructure. "Our Russia projects take 30 percent longer than in other parts of the world," said Joel Polo from the French chemicals group Rhodia, which has production in around 25 countries in the world. France ranked as the sixth-largest foreign direct investor in Russia last year, official statistics showed.
■ INTERNET
Wireless retest requested
Microsoft Corp and Royal Philips Electronics NV urged US regulators to retest portable wireless Internet devices they developed, saying the gadgets don't interfere with television signals. Microsoft asked for a new analysis on Friday in a letter to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The company said last month that its device wasn't working properly when the FCC found it may interfere with TV signals and wireless microphones. Microsoft and Philips are part of a group of companies that submitted devices that work with television airwaves known as white spaces.
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
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
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
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