■CHINA
China leads exporters
China is now the world’s leading exporter ahead of Germany, trade figures released yesterday by the German national statistics office showed. In the 11 months from January to November, Chinese exports reached a total value of US$1.07 trillion, while German exports amounted to 734.6 billion euros, or US$1.05 trillion, the data showed. In November, the German trade surplus nonetheless climbed to 17.2 billion euros, according to seasonally corrected figures from the Destatis service, from 13.6 billion euros in October.
■BELGIUM
InBev bosses held hostage
Workers at an Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery in eastern Belgium took their bosses hostage on Thursday after the world’s biggest brewer announced a tenth of the company’s 3,000 employees in Belgium will be laid off, local media reported. “We are demanding that the [company’s] senior managers come here and call off the layoffs,” Marc Devenne, a union representative was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency.
■MEXICO
Starbucks ‘violates’ IPR
Starbucks Corp’s Mexico unit says it is willing to pay for permission to sell coffee mugs featuring pre-Hispanic images, after the Mexican government notified it about potential violations of intellectual property rights (IPR). Starbucks said on Thursday it regrets any misunderstanding, and “we are willing to pay the appropriate amount for the use of these images.” Mexico’s government archeological agency says the images of the Aztec calendar stone and the Pyramid of the Moon from the pre-Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan are the intellectual property of the nation. The agency will decide how much Starbucks should pay.
■AVIATION
Boeing orders fall
Boeing Co said its customers ordered just 142 commercial airplanes last year as the recession forced airlines to shrink. The net total reported on Thursday was Boeing’s lowest since at least 2003 and just one-tenth of the 1,413 orders in 2007. Meanwhile, Boeing delivered 481 commercial planes last year, up 28 percent after a massive strike in 2008 slowed production. Boeing had predicted 480 to 485 deliveries for the year. Competitor Airbus will report last year’s orders and deliveries on Tuesday.
■ELECTRONICS
Yahoo eyes TV jump
Yahoo announced partnerships with television and other device manufacturers on Thursday as the Internet company joins others seeking to jump from the computer to the TV screen. “Consumers are in love with their televisions, watching more TV and demanding Internet connectivity to further enhance their viewing experience,” said Arlo Rose, senior director of Yahoo Connected TV. Yahoo said the online programs known as “widgets” for the increasing number of Web-capable televisions would be embedded in more models and include video on demand, social networks, games and online shopping.
■UNITED STATES
Bankruptcies spiked last year
The number of US corporate bankruptcies spiked to 207 last year, the third-largest total on record, led by the massive General Motors filing, a research firm said on Thursday. BankruptcyData.com said the number of publicly traded companies filing for bankruptcy protection last year jumped significantly from 138 a year earlier. It was the third-largest total on record.
‘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
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
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