■ TRADEMARKS
Record applications in PRC
China’s trademark office was the world’s busiest for the sixth consecutive year last year, receiving 708,000 trademark registration applications, the China News reported yesterday. The number of trademark registration applications filed by foreigners totaled 103,000 last year, making up 14.5 percent of the total, the paper said on its Web site, citing figures from an industry forum. Intellectual property is gradually emerging as a more important concept in China, although foreign companies frequently complain about continuing abuses.
■ TRADE
NZ official opposes FTA
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said yesterday he and his political party would vote against the free-trade agreement (FTA) with China signed a day earlier. There was not enough in the deal to erase a US$3.6 billion annual trade deficit with China, Peters told reporters. Prime Minister Helen Clark oversaw the signing of the agreement in China on Monday, which made her country the first developed economy to enter such a pact with the Asian giant. Peters leads the nationalist New Zealand First party, which joined Clark’s Labour Party-led government after 2005 polls.
■MACHINERY
Japan firms discuss merger
Japanese heavy machinery makers IHI Corp and JFE Holdings Inc said yesterday they had agreed to begin concrete talks on merging their shipbuilding subsidiaries, a move that would create the country’s biggest shipbuilder. The move comes as Japanese shipbuilders face intensifying competition from regional rivals South Korea and China. IHI and JFE will establish a committee to discuss the details of how operations of IHI subsidiary, IHI Marine United Inc, and its JFE counterpart, Universal Shipbuilding Corp, can be integrated, the firms said in a joint statement. They will also discuss production details, merger ratios and ways to stay competitive in shipbuilding operations, they said.
■SECURITY
Firms plan ratings agency
Eighteen Japanese firms said yesterday they were creating the world’s first ratings agency looking at data security, which they said was a rising concern for companies. The new firm, called IS Rating, will be launched on May 1 and start issuing ratings in July, both to Japanese and foreign companies and organizations. It will give out ratings based on how they manage data, including files containing personal information, which circulates within the firm or is shared with third parties. IS Rating will also offer training and edit documents to encourage security. Companies which are shareholders in the new agency include Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Fujitsu Ltd, Fuji Xerox Co Ltd, Canon Inc and the Nikkei business media group.
■INVESTMENT
Intel sets up China fund
The global investment arm of US chipmaker Intel Corp said yesterday it had established a new China fund aiming to inject US$500 million into ventures in the booming Asian market. Intel Capital told a briefing in Beijing its Capital China Technology Fund II will be focusing on investments in wireless broadband, technology, media, telecommunications and “clean tech.” Intel Capital’s first US$200 million China fund has been fully invested in local Chinese companies, the company said. “Since 1998 Intel Capital has invested in more than 70 companies across China and Hong Kong,” Intel Capital president Arvind Sodhani said in a statement.
Agencies
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
The arrival of a cold front tomorrow could plunge temperatures into the mid-teens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Temperatures yesterday rose to 28°C to 30°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and 32°C to 33°C in central and southern Taiwan, CWA data showed. Similar but mostly cloudy weather is expected today, the CWA said. However, the arrival of a cold air mass tomorrow would cause a rapid drop in temperatures to 15°C cooler than the previous day’s highs. The cold front, which is expected to last through the weekend, would bring steady rainfall tomorrow, along with multiple waves of showers
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