■ ECONOMIC GROWTH
IMF cuts growth forecast
The IMF has cut its global growth forecast for this year from 4.1 percent to 3.7 percent, a report said yesterday. The IMF's new estimate is to be unveiled next week, the Financial Times Deutschland reported, without saying where it got the information. Reports on Tuesday said the IMF cut its forecast for economic growth in the US this year from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent owing to the ongoing financial market crisis and weak housing market. The fund also cut its growth forecast for Germany from 1.5 percent to 1.2 percent, the daily Die Zeit reported.
■ SEMICONDUCTORS
Atom chips in Asia in May
Intel Corp, the world's largest chipmaker, said handheld computers using its Atom processor will go on sale in Asia next month, the first step toward getting its semiconductors into a new breed of devices. Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), Samsung Electronics Co, Sharp Corp and other Asian manufacturers will put the low-power chip into new mobile Internet computers, said Anand Chandrasekher, head of the company's ultra-mobility division. The other manufacturers include LG Electronics Inc, Toshiba Corp and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩).
■ STEEL
Shougang bid rejected
Chinese steelmaker Shougang (首鋼) said yesterday it has given up its bid for a stake in iron ore developer Mount Gibson after the Australian government ruled against the takeover. Shougang is one of many Chinese companies attempting to secure resources overseas and the decision on Monday by Australia's Takeovers Panel was a blow to that effort. It comes as China's state-backed Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼) is pursuing a A$1.2 billion (US$1.1 billion) takeover bid for iron ore miner Midwest in the first hostile approach by a Chinese company for an Australian one. The Takeovers Panel ruled that Shougang's purchase of a 19.73 percent stake would give it too much control over Mount Gibson because of the Chinese company's 18 percent stake in APAC Resources Ltd, which has a 20.2 percent stake in Mount Gibson.
■ ELECTRONICS
Motorola cuts production
Motorola Inc said yesterday it will stop making mobile phones in Singapore by the end of the year, a move that will result in the loss of 700 jobs. The decision follows "a strategic review of business operations, which includes a previously announced global US$500 million cost-reduction initiative," a Motorola spokeswoman said. The US firm will continue to base its headquarters for Asia-Pacific in Singapore, where it also has units engaged in research and software development, the company said in an e-mail.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
China is deploying its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Ministry of National Defense said today. Speaking in Taipei, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang (孫立方) said the scale of the current Chinese naval deployment in an area running from the southern Japanese islands down into the South China Sea was the largest since China held war games around Taiwan ahead of 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections. China's military has yet to comment and has not confirmed it is carrying out any exercises. "The current scale is
RSS