■CRIME
Danny Pang allowed bail
A US federal magistrate has ruled that California-based financier Danny Pang (彭日成) can be released on US$1 million bail following his arrest on a complaint alleging he evaded currency reporting laws. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit last week against Pang and the company he founded, Private Management Group, accusing him of bilking investors by falsely portraying returns as coming from investments when the money instead came from a pyramid scheme.
■ELECTRONICS
Fujitsu announces losses
Japan’s Fujitsu Ltd said yesterday it suffered a ¥112.4 billion (US$1.15 billion) net loss for the business year through March due to the global economic crisis. The loss, which compares with a ¥48.1 billion profit a year earlier, was more than twice as big as the company’s own forecast. In addition to weak sales, restructuring costs weighed heavily on the bottom line. The company expects to return to the black in the current business year, projecting a net profit of ¥20 billion, an operating profit of ¥80 billion and revenue of ¥4.8 trillion.
■TELECOMS
Softbank makes record profit
Japanese Internet and telecom company Softbank Corp yesterday reported a record operating profit for the past financial year despite lower sales of mobile telephones. Softbank booked an operating profit of ¥359.12 billion in the year to March, up 10.7 percent from the previous year, while net profit plunged 60.3 percent to ¥43.17 billion partly on the early redemption of bonds and book losses on broadband infrastructure.
■AVIATION
Lufthansa reports losses
Germany’s leading airline Lufthansa posted yesterday a first-quarter net loss of 256 million euros (US$290 million), compared with a profit of 44 million euros in the same period a year earlier. On Wednesday, Lufthansa had reported an operating loss of 44 million euros in the first three months of the year and said it expected a drop in sales this year because of a dip in short-term demand for flights.
■BANKING
BOA chairman removed
Bank of America’s (BOA) shareholders on Wednesday removed Kenneth Lewis from the chairman’s post, but he will remain the chief executive, the US banking giant said. The decision to oust Lewis, who had angered shareholders by acquiring Merrill Lynch without informing them of the investment bank’s massive losses, was taken at the company’s annual meeting. Shareholders narrowly approved a proposal to change the firm’s by-laws to require an “independent chairman,” the bank said in a statement late on Wednesday.
■FINANCE
New rules on reporting
Beijing announced rules that ease controls on foreign financial information providers yesterday under an agreement with the US, Europe and Canada, but said those already operating in China must apply for permission to continue. The rules drop a requirement that foreign providers must work through a Chinese agent and reduces the amount of information they must disclose about their operations. Trade officials said the settlement would help Thomson Reuters Corp, Bloomberg LP and Dow Jones & Co. Xinhua was replaced as the industry regulator in February with a Cabinet body, the State Council Information Office, after complaints that Xinhua should not be allowed to regulate its competitors.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
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
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
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