■ Cameras
Sony boosts digital output
Sony Corp, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics maker, expects to increase digital-camera production next fiscal year by at least 20 percent to 30 percent to try to meet demand, a spokeswoman said. The company expects digital-camera shipments to match or exceed industry growth, said spokeswoman Aki Shimazu, confirming an earlier report by Dow Jones. It plans to produce and ship 15 million units in the year ending next March 31 up 50 percent from last fiscal year's 10 million units. A 20 percent to 30 percent increase in production would allow the company to ship 18 million to 19.5 million units in the year ending March 2006.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Firm stops drug defense
British drug maker Glaxo-SmithKline (GSK) said yesterday that it has abandoned its defense of the Chinese patent for a component of its popular diabetes drug Avandia following a chal-lenge by three Chinese competitors. The announce-ment came six weeks after US-based Pfizer Inc was stripped of a Chinese patent for its anti-impotence drug Viagra in a case that foreign businesses regarded as a test of China's commitment to protecting GSK's Chinese subsidiary announced its decision following a hearing yester-day morning at which China's State Intellectual Property Office declared that that company had waived its claim to a patent on rosiglitazone last week. The company didn't give a reason for the move. Lilian Xiao, a spokeswoman for GSK China Investment Co Ltd, said GSK's decision won't let Chinese compe-titors sell copies of Avandia, because the company still holds two other Chinese patents covering the drug.
■ Investment
Temasek diversifing
The Singapore government's investment arm plans to diversify its investment portfolio by shifting much of its focus from the city-state to the rest of Asia and to developed economies worldwide, the media reported yesterday. The cash-rich Temasek Holdings has this year bought stakes in South Korean, Indian, Indonesian and Malaysian corporations, particularly banks and telecom com-panies. "Temasek is shifting its investment stance from a Singapore-centric portfolio to a balanced global port-folio of one-third Singapore, one-third Asia outside of Japan and one-third developed economies, including Japan," its executive director Ho Ching was quoted as saying by The Straits Times. Temasek made an unexpected S$2.82 billion(US$1.6 billion) cash bid last week for the world's seventh-largest shipping group, Neptune Orient Lines.
■ Aviation
Air France ups surcharge
Air France said yesterday that it was increasing its fuel surcharge by 12 euros (US$14.82) on long-haul flights from Monday until there is a month-long dip in oil prices. The airline, which introduced a three-euro surcharge on all flights in May, said it would also increase the surcharge on medium-haul journeys by three euros, that on domestic flights by two euros and that to France's overseas territories by 10 euros. The new surcharge increases will remain in place until the price of a barrel of oil remains below US$35 for a consecutive 30-day period, the airline said. Its KLM unit said separately it would increase the fuel surcharge by an average of three euros per ticket for all fares from Sept. 1.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
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