■TECHNOLOGY
Executives retire early
Lockheed Martin on Wednesday announced that more than 600 company executives have taken up early retirement offers as the defense contractor undergoes a massive cost-cutting restructuring. The layoffs, representing one quarter of Lockheed Martin’s senior management, are part of the company’s plan to cut back about 10,000 employees across the US since the start of the year, it said in a statement. The 600 managers will receive “financial incentives” to leave the company.
■AUTOMAKERS
Nissan to launch new brand
A Chinese unit of Japan’s No. 3 automaker, Nissan Motor, has announced it will launch a new brand for China to tap the huge demand in the world’s largest car market. The Venucia — Qi Chen in Chinese — will be developed by Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co, Nissan’s joint venture with China’s Dongfeng Motor Group, the company said in a statement. The first mass-production model marketed under the new brand will be introduced to the Chinese market in 2012, said the statement, posted on Nissan’s Web site on Wednesday.
■ENERGY
Doosan wins Saudi bid
South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction said yesterday it had won a US$3.42 billion bid to build a power plant in Saudi Arabia. The company said in a statement it had received a letter from state-run Saudi Electricity Co confirming it had secured the deal. Construction will begin this month after a contract is signed and will be completed by December 2014, a spokesman said. He said the thermal power plant at Rabigh on Saudi Arabia’s west coast would produce up to 2,800 megawatts of electricity, enough for 2.8 million people.
■INTERNET
Amazon buys Amie Street
Amazon.com Inc, seeking to expand its position in the music download market against rivals such as Apple Inc’s iTunes Store, has purchased online music retailer Amie Street for an undisclosed amount. In an e-mail to users on Wednesday, Amie Street said it has found “a great home” for its site AmieStreet.com with Amazon. The Seattle-based online retailer first invested in the site nearly four years ago, Amie Street said. The e-mail said that starting on Sept. 22, site visitors would be forwarded to Amazon.com Web pages and the AmieStreet.com service would be shut down.
■AVIATION
ANA plans low-cost airline
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) is to launch a low-cost carrier that will operate both international and domestic short-haul routes from the second half of next year, the company said yesterday. ANA said it had signed an agreement with Hong Kong-based private equity firm First Eastern Investment Group to establish “the first Japanese low-cost airline,” adding that it would operate independently from ANA. The new company will be established by the end of this year, ANA said.
■ENERGY
Total buys gas project stake
French giant Total has paid a little more than 625 million euros (US$793 million) for a 20 percent stake in a major liquefied natural gas project in Australia, two of the other companies involved announced yesterday. Australia’s Santos announced it would cede 15 percent of its shares in the project to Total for A$650 million (US$597 million). Malaysia’s Petronas said it had sold 5 percent of its stake for A$217 million.
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,