■ FINANCE
Turner may be new UK chief
The former director of the Confederation of British Industry is the British government’s top choice to become the new chairman of the country’s financial watchdog, the Sunday Times reported. The report said that Lord Adair Turner was expected to be appointed to the Financial Services Authority, which admitted earlier this year it had done a poor job of supervising Northern Rock, the mortgage lender that became Britain’s most prominent victim of the subprime mortgage crisis. Britain’s Treasury declined comment on the report, saying an announcement would be made “in due course.”
■ OIL
CNOOC eyeing Talisman
Chinese oil giant CNOOC (中國海洋石油) is in talks with Canadian-based Talisman Energy over a possible takeover deal, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday. CNOOC, China’s third-largest oil company, is in discussions that could lead to asset sales or a complete takeover, the report said, citing unnamed sources. It also said that energy giant PetroChina (中石油) was looking at taking a stake in Santos, the third-largest oil and gas company in Australia.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Toyota making road-rail car
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and its truck-making affiliate have joined a project to develop an environmentally friendly vehicle capable of moving both on roads and railways, an official said yesterday. Toyota and affiliate Hino Motors Ltd will take part in the development of a new model of a road-rail vehicle originally created by railway operator JR Hokkaido, a Hino spokesman said. The two auto companies are providing technology and materials to strengthen the front part of the “dual mode vehicle” so that it can carry up to 25 people. The railway firm, which operates railways in the northern island of Hokkaido, is already developing several prototypes of road-rail vehicles and has begun test drives. The vehicle has eight wheels — four iron wheels for railways and four rubber tires for roads — and is powered by a diesel engine. It is expected to be completed by the middle of next month and will be displayed at a welcome event for this year’s G8 summit in Hokkaido in July for which climate change is high on the agenda.
■ FINANCE
‘Shariah’ fund launch today
Daiwa Asset Management (Singapore) plans to launch Singapore’s first Shariah-compliant exchange-traded fund today as the Singapore attempts to attract more Islamic investment from overseas. The Daiwa FTSE Shariah Japan 100 will track 100 of Japan’s largest companies by market capitalization that comply with Islamic law, including Toyota Motor Corp, Canon Inc and Nintendo Co, Daiwa said in a statement to the stock exchange in Singapore yesterday. The exchange-traded fund is scheduled to list in Singapore today.
■ HOLLYWOOD
Contract talks continue
The smaller of two actors unions says contract talks with the major Hollywood studios are being held over the holiday Memorial Day weekend. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists sent its members an e-mail on Sunday saying says the talks, which began on May 7 over a handful of TV shows, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, have been constructive. Sunday marked the 15th day of negotiations. The union’s three-year contract expires on June 30.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it has lodged a protest with Pretoria after the name of the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa was changed to the “Taipei Commercial Office” on the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (DIRCO) Web site. In October last year, the South African government asked Taiwan to relocate the Taipei Liaison Office, the nation’s de facto embassy, out of Pretoria. It later agreed to continue negotiating through official channels, but in January asked that the office be relocated by the end of this month. As of the middle of last month, DIRCO’s Web
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