■ COMPUTERS
Dell plans new 3Par offer
Dell Inc is planning a second offer to try to keep data storage maker 3Par Inc out of Hewlett-Packard Co’s (HP) hands, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The exact timing and amount of Dell’s offer are not known. The person said Dell’s bid would likely top HP’s offer on Monday of US$1.5 billion, although according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Dell only needs to match HP’s offer to stay in the running. Dell had previously offered US$1.13 billion for 3Par.
■ ECONOMY
Irish agency slams S&P
Ireland’s debt agency has criticized Standard Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services for cutting the country’s credit rating, saying the downgrade was based on a flawed analysis. The ratings agency cut the government’s long-term sovereign credit rating to “AA-” from “AA.” The outlook is negative. John Corrigan, chief executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, says that S&P’s debt calculations did not accord with the approach of the IMF or the EU’s statistics agency.
■ PHILIPPINES
Growth strongest in 20 years
The government said yesterday it recorded its best half-year economic growth for more than 20 years as confidence returned following smooth national elections. The economy expanded 7.9 percent in the first six months of this year, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board, helped by better-than-expected data in the second quarter. “It is likely that full-year GDP growth in 2010 will be leaning towards the upper-end of the 5 to 6 percent GDP target, perhaps even higher,” National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Cayetano Paderanga told reporters.
■ AVIATION
Boeing expands China plant
US aircraft maker Boeing plans to double the number of employees at its parts factory in northern China to keep up with renewed demand for planes, state media reported yesterday. Boeing Tianjin Composites Co Ltd will increase its workforce to 1,200 in the next three to four years, Boeing China president David Wang (王建民) was quoted by the China Daily newspaper as saying. “We have to enlarge the place because the needs of commercial airlines is growing fast,” Wang said. The factory makes composite secondary structures and interior parts for the B737, B747, B767, B777 and the B787 Dreamliner aircraft, the report said.
■ COSMETICS
L’Oreal forecasts growth
The head of L’Oreal SA says the French cosmetics company will continue to grow faster than the global market for beauty care products this year after a strong performance in the first half. Jean-Paul Agon said yesterday the world cosmetics market grew about 4 percent in the first half and will continue at that pace the rest of the year. “L’Oreal is clearly out of the crisis,” he said. In the first half, L’Oreal’s sales rose 10.2 percent to 9.7 billion euros (US$12.3 billion).
■ BEVERAGES
Diageo profit rises slightly
Diageo, the world’s biggest maker of alcoholic drinks, said yesterday that annual net profits rose slightly on a strong second half driven by growth in emerging markets which offset weakness in the West. The maker of Guinness, Baileys liqueur and Smirnoff vodka said profits after tax increased by 1.5 percent to £1.629 billion (US$2.536 billion) in the 12 months to June compared with the period of 2008 to last year.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
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