■MINING
BHP, Rio to work with EC
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto said yesterday they would cooperate with European regulators probing their proposed iron ore joint venture, which has also raised concerns in China. The European Commission (EC) said on Monday it would investigate the Anglo-Australian companies’ plans to jointly produce iron ore at their West Australian Pilbara operations. “We aim to convince them of the benefits of the joint venture structure and why it will not raise competition concerns,” a BHP Billiton spokeswoman said. The EC said it had opened a formal antitrust investigation into the proposal to combine BHP and Rio’s western Australian operations to produce iron ore — a key ingredient in steel production.
■DEVELOPMENT
EBRD to boost its capital
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to boost its capital by 50 percent by 2015, its president said on Monday. Thomas Mirow said he hoped the next annual EBRD meeting of shareholder countries, in Zagreb in May, would approve increasing capital from its current level of 20 billion euros (US$28 billion) to 30 billion euros. The bank, which focuses on the former Soviet bloc, also wanted to increase its annual investment from 8.5 billion euros to 9 billion euros between 2010 and 2015, Mirow said. Last week, the EBRD raised its GDP growth forecast for the former Soviet bloc countries in which it invests — which were badly hit by the economic crisis — from 2.5 percent to 3.3 percent.
■INTERNET
AOL acquires StudioNow
AOL said on Monday it paid US$36.5 million for StudioNow, a Tennessee-based firm that creates and distributes online video for companies. AOL, which recently regained its independence from media and entertainment giant Time Warner after their disastrous 2001 merger, said the stock-and-cash acquisition of StudioNow closed last week. “The integration of StudioNow into Seed.com will enable us to increase our video content [and] offerings significantly,” AOL chairman and chief executive Tim Armstrong said in a statement. Seed.com is AOL’s newly launched content management system. StudioNow, which is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and was founded in 2007, has a stable of more than 3,000 freelance filmmakers, editors and other talent. StudioNow creates content for commercial companies and syndicates it to online video channels and portals. AOL, citing eMarketer, said US online video advertising spending is projected to increase from US$734 million in 2008 to US$5.2 billion by 2014.
■ECONOMICS
Blair strikes gold with talks
Former British prime minister Tony Blair will give a number of private talks to executives at Lansdowne Partners in London, in a deal that media said could net the former leader as much as £2,000 (US$3,250) a minute. It is the latest engagement for Blair, who already works as an adviser to US investment bank JP Morgan and Zurich Insurance. Lansdowne is best known for making millions of pounds betting on the collapse of Northern Rock and the fall of Barclays amid the worst economic crisis since World War II, British media reported. The Guardian newspaper said he charges up to £180,000 for 90 minutes for his thoughts on geopolitical matters.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
DETERRENCE EFFORTS: Washington and partners hope demonstrations of force would convince Beijing that military action against Taiwan would carry high costs The US is considering using HMAS Stirling in Western Australia as a forward base to strengthen its naval posture in a potential conflict with China, particularly over Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, Washington plans to deploy up to four nuclear-powered submarines at Stirling starting in 2027, providing a base near potential hot spots such as Taiwan and the South China Sea. The move also aims to enhance military integration with Pacific allies under the Australia-UK-US trilateral security partnership, the report said. Currently, US submarines operate from Guam, but the island could
RESTRAINTS: Should China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, China would be excluded from major financial institutions, the bill says The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which states that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude Beijing from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China must be prepared
The partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday. The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, said the government has increased its defense budget at an average annual rate of 5 percent from 2019 to 2023, with about 2.5 percent of its GDP spent on defense in 2024. Lai in November last year proposed a special budget of about US$40 billion over eight years, and said he intends to increase defense spending to
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