■ AUTOMOBILES
Proton eyes 'Islamic cars'
Malaysian national carmaker Proton plans to team up with companies in Iran and Turkey to produce "Islamic cars" for the global market, a news report said yesterday. Proposed by Iran, the collaboration would include installing features in automobiles such as a compass to determine the direction of Mecca for prayers, and compartments for storing the Quran and headscarves, Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin told Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.
■ BANKING
Landsbanki enters Asia
An Icelandic bank is aiming to become the first in its nation's history to open a branch in Asia, the latest step in the country's economic expansion. Landsbanki, the country's second-largest bank by market capitalization, has opened a regional office in Hong Kong which it hopes to convert to a branch early next year. "If the 20th century was the century of America and Europe, I am sure the 21st century will the century of Asia," chief executive officer Sigurjon Arnason said. The bank's Hong Kong operation will focus on providing finance to small and medium-sized companies.
■ CHINA
Promotional event turns bad
Four people were trampled to death and 31 were injured in a promotional event at a supermarket owned by Carrefour SA in the Shapingba district of Chongqing. Carrefour confirmed the deaths and said it was reinforcing security in all of its stores in China. The accident took place at the entrance of the shopping mall, the company said. The trampling began when some shoppers slipped, a statement said. Authorities have shut the supermarket and ordered an investigation, it said. The government has set up a crisis management team and will "severely punish the companies or people found responsible for the incident."
■ TRADE
Farmers protest FTA
Tens of thousands of South Korean farmers and workers rallied in Seoul yesterday, demanding that a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US be scrapped. "We will thwart [the passage] of the FTA as it would deepen the polarization of our society," said Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of organizers of the rally. Trade chiefs from the two countries signed the accord in June. The proposed agreement must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before it goes into effect. Both sides said the accord will boost growth, but certain constituencies, such as farmers in South Korea and labor groups in the US, have opposed it.
■ TELECOMS
Disney makes phone deal
US media and entertainment giant Disney will launch cellphone carrier services in Japan early next year by leasing local tele-communications networks, a press report said yesterday. The Japanese unit of Walt Disney Co has reached a basic agreement with Japanese Internet and telecom conglomerate Softbank Corp to tie up in cellphone operations, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Under the deal, the US firm will lease telecom networks from a Softbank unit, Softbank Mobile Corp and start providing nationwide service. Disney will also join forces with Softbank to develop handsets and consign their output to other companies, the report said.
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
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
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