Taiwan's defense ministry wants to lift military spending to 2.85% of gross domestic product this year from 2.32% in 2005 as China ranges an ever-growing number of surface-to-surface missiles against the island. China has now deployed 980 such missiles, of which 100 are cruise missiles and 880 ballistic, Taiwan's ministry says. The build-up has accelerated: there were 540 such missiles in 2003 and 190 in 1996, according to the ministry.

Thai Airways International will scrap ultra-long-haul Airbus A340-500 services to the U.S. as part of a route revamp that could also see it yield ground in Australia to rapidly expanding Emirates. The economic failure of the polar services to Los Angeles and New York casts renewed doubt over the attractiveness of the special A340 and Boeing 777 versions that can fly farther than other commercial aircraft but with fewer seats and correspondingly higher operating costs.

Asian lessor SALE is ramping up its business as it becomes a tool for deploying part of China's mountain of foreign exchange into the global aviation industry. SALE's orders for 20 Airbus A320-family aircraft and 20 Boeing 737s announced last week were just part of a strategy that is looking for ways to spend the money of the lessor's new owner, Bank of China--which, like all big Chinese banks, has more deposits than it knows how to invest. Orders for around 150 more aircraft are likely in the next few years.