■ INVESTMENT
Beijing issues restrictions
The National Development and Reform Commission has issued restrictions on foreign investment in real estate and other industries, part of a range of measures aimed at righting imbalances in the Chinese economy. A lengthy list of revised rules that take effect on Dec. 1 imposes bans on foreign investment in some businesses such as golf courses, gambling, genetically modified crops, teas, film production and weapons manufacturing, according to a document seen yesterday on the commission's Web site. Foreign direct investment in China rose almost 11 percent in January-September over the year before to US$47.2 billion, the report said.
■ FOOD & BEVERAGES
Kirin to buy National Foods
Japanese brewer Kirin said yesterday that it would acquire National Foods of Australia from Southeast Asia's top food and beverage group San Miguel in a US$2.6 billion deal. Kirin Holdings will acquire all the shares in National Foods Ltd from Manila-based San Miguel Corp by the end of this year to turn the leading Australian maker of dairy products and beverages into a subsidiary. The buyout is valued at A$2.8 billion (US$2.6 billion), Kirin said in a statement, adding that the Japanese group would finance the purchase through debt.
■ CAMERAS
Olympus plans new factory
Japan's Olympus Corp will build a factory in Vietnam next year to produce hot-selling digital cameras, a company spokesman said yesterday. "We will build a manufacturing base in Vietnam ... as we aim to secure enough [production] capacity for digital cameras," the official said, adding the company aims to begin construction by late next year. Investment will be some ?5 billion (US$44 million), said the official, who declined to be named. The spokesman denied a Nikkei Shimbum report yesterday that Olympus would consolidate its two Chinese factories and transfer some operations to Vietnam, saying it will build the Vietnamese plant in addition to the Chinese ones.
■ INTERNET
Downloads not blocked
Most companies do not stop staff from downloading music from the Internet, despite the risks posed to work computers, a survey has found. Two-thirds of IT managers polled said they do not block employees from taking music off the Web, even though they named it as the biggest threat. In a poll of more than 1,000 computer managers by ICM, music came top of the list of perceived threats. Other top 5 threats included staff visiting popular social networking Web sites such as Bebo and MySpace.
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
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
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS