Word: strait
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Taiwan's third-largest telecoms service provider, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. announced Wednesday that it plans to sell a 12% stake to China Mobile Ltd. for $528 million, - the largest cross-strait business deal in over 60 years. The two companies also announced plans to partner in China and offer roaming services and technology upgrades for their networks, which will strengthen FarEasTone's position in Taiwan. This would be the first direct investment by a Chinese state-owned company in Taiwan in six decades. "It is especially significant," says Dr. Edward Chow, a professor at National Chengchi University...
...held three rounds of unprecedented talks - the first in 60 years - to agree on milestones like establishing direct flights between Taiwan and China and opening Taiwan tourism to Chinese citizens. Last weekend, they agreed to enable each other's banks to set up branches on either side of the Strait, and more than double the number of weekly direct flights that started last year. Before Ma's time, passengers traveling from Taipei to Shanghai had to go through a third city like Hong Kong, which made an 80-minute trip a 7-hour long haul. "The increase of mutual trust...
...three-decade battle between a local Islamic separatist group and the Indonesian military, isolating Aceh and annihilating economic opportunities. Desperate Acehnese took to piracy as the only way to earn a living, while arms-smuggling operations spawned by the conflict added an organized, criminal element to the strait. But in 2005, the two parties finally signed a peace accord and normalcy returned to Aceh, opening up less-risky job options on land. "The impetus for piracy began to change," says Alex Duperouzel, managing director of Background Asia Risk Solutions, which provides security for vessels. "You have to solve the problem...
...results were a series of measures taken collectively, mainly by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, with some cooperation from Thailand, that significantly improved security in the strait. Beginning in 2004, the local armed forces organized coordinated sea patrols. Each side polices its own territorial waters, but they communicate with one another on potential pirate activity, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of the patrols. In 2005, they added regular sorties of airplanes to scout the strait for pirates. The flights are undertaken by crews with nationals from the different countries so they can better share information. Intelligence gathered on pirates is also disseminated...
...case of Malacca gives at least a glimmer of hope that the piracy problem in Africa can also be tackled. The success in the strait clearly shows how committed and carefully orchestrated naval action can combat pirates. But analysts warn that the lessons of Malacca also tell us how much more difficult fighting the Somali pirates will be, because of the very different conditions on shore in Africa. The countries along the strait possess the resources and organized governments necessary to stand up to piracy. Those crucial elements are lacking in destitute and disorderly Somalia, where most of the pirates...