■AUTOMOBILES
Porsche head avoids crisis
Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking has managed to steer clear of the immediate fallout of the global financial crisis, telling a German newspaper yesterday he has avoided investing in shares. “I’ve never had any shares” the CEO of the iconic German sports car manufacturer was quoted as saying in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Instead Wiedeking said he preferred to invest into real estate, start-up companies, and even restaurants. He said he had just realized one of his dreams by buying a cafe in the North-Rhine Westphalia region. “The cafe is doing very well, I can recommend it to everyone: good food, good beer and reasonable prices,” Wiedeking said.
■REAL ESTATE
Amlak, Tamweel to merge
The two largest property financiers in the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai — Amlak Finance PJSC and Tamweel PJSC — announced on Saturday that they have opened merger talks. The two firms said they had the blessing of Dubai emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency. Tamweel chairman Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed bin Saqer al-Nahayan said that the major shareholders — Emaar Properties for Amlak Finance, and Dubai Islamic Bank and Dubai World for Tamweel — were “fully supportive of the merger discussions.” Amlak Finance chairman Nasser bin Hassan al-Sheikh, who is also director general of the Dubai finance department, said the merged firm would have a combined balance sheet of more than 27 billion UAE dirhams (US$7.35 billion).
■SEMICONDUCTORS
Chip exports plunge
South Korea, the world’s top memory chip producer, suffered a drop in semiconductor exports for a third straight month last month amid a market glut and a slow US economy, data showed yesterday. Statistics from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, disclosed by Yonhap news agency, showed semiconductor exports plunged 9.9 percent year-on-year to US$2.96 billion last month, a consecutive fall since July. Semiconductors account for a quarter of the country’s exports of information technology goods, such as mobile handsets and flat TV or computer display screens, the ministry says. Market research firm iSuppli Corp warned in a statement online on Saturday that memory chip makers, reeling from a major downturn in business conditions, face difficulty in securing capital due to the US credit crunch. It said some memory chip suppliers could face serious liquidity issues in the near future.
■ECONOMICS
Japan mulls stimulus plans
Japanese Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said the government might form economic packages in addition to the current stimulus plan being suggested. Liberal Democratic Party officials are urging lawmakers to approve ¥1.8 trillion (US$17 billion) of additional spending to help small companies cope with high oil and food prices before parliament is dissolved. Opposition and ruling party lawmakers haven’t agreed on a timetable to debate the legislation. Nakagawa hasn’t forgotten a promise of balancing the budget by fiscal 2011, he said yesterday on Asahi Television’s Sunday Project. Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi set a goal in 2006 of balancing the primary budget, which excludes interest payments, so Japan could start to cut debt that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates is about 180 percent of the economy.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
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