■ PORTS
LA container traffic drops
The busiest port complex in the US could see its first decline in container traffic in four years because of the housing market slump and a loss of consumer confidence that is making retailers cautious about importing goods. Volume at the adjoining Los Angeles and Long Beach ports had been expected to increase by 5 percent to 9 percent this year over last year, but now container traffic may remain flat or even decline, officials said on Friday. The ports handled about 15.8 million cargo containers last year and they had record growth in exports this summer.
■ FINANCE
Eurozone ministers meet
The euro's recent record strength will be in focus today when finance ministers from the 13-state eurozone meet in Luxembourg to hammer out a joint message to take to an upcoming G7 meeting. The eurozone wants a tougher line on exchange rates from finance chiefs from the G7 richest countries when they meet in Washington, said Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers. Eurozone finance ministers are to be joined tomorrow at the Luxembourg meeting by their counterparts from the full 27 EU members for talks focusing on public finances.
■ BANKING
More subprime crisis pain
The head of UBS publicly admitted on Saturday that the giant Swiss bank had underestimated the crisis in the US subprime home loans credit market and that several top executives paid for that mistake with their jobs. UBS president Marcel Ospel told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper the bank had over-invested in subprime-related instruments, even though he stressed its size and other activities would help it pull through. "We poorly evaluated the impact of changing interest rates" in the US, which triggered the problems in that country's mortgage sector, he said.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Hollywood close to strike
Talks between Hollywood writers and studios abruptly broke off for the weekend, dimming hopes of averting a strike that could cripple the US TV industry. The Writers' Guild of America has been in talks since July with studios represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In statements on Friday, each side accused the other of intransigence and expressed frustration at the sluggish pace of negotiations. The writers' contract expires on Oct. 31. Studios and TV networks have accelerated filming of shows and movies and begun stockpiling scripts in case of a strike.
■ AUTOMOBILES
VW forms pact with Proton
German auto giant Volkswagen is close to forming a pact with Proton with at least an initial 20 percent stake in the loss-making Malaysian carmaker, a report said yesterday. The Edge business weekly newspaper said Volkswagen would either take the stake in Proton or a new company into which Proton assets would be injected. "Volkswagen is also seeking management control and will require the government to underwrite any losses at Proton for at least three years," it said. The report came after reports that Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn would visit Malaysia soon to conclude a deal.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
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