■ Cabinet seeks lower land taxes
The Ministry of Finance said yesterday that the proposal to permanently lower land-value incremental tax rates was passed by the Cabinet on Thursday, and will be submitted to the legislature for review. The proposal, drafted by the ministry and was submitted in October to the Cabinet, stipulates to cut the land-value incremental tax rates from the current 40 percent, 50 percent and 60 percent to 20 percent, 30 percent and 40 percent, respectively. The tax break initiative was proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who had previously vowed to permanently reduce the land value incremental tax by 50 percent to stir local property market.
■ Bond sales to go toward deficit
The government will boost first-quarter bond sales by two-fifths from the previous three months to help plug the budget deficit. The government will sell NT$150 billion (US$4.7 billion) of bonds in the quarter ending March 31, a 43 percent increase from the fourth quarter, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry's Department of National Treasury plans to auction NT$40 billion of two-year bonds on Jan. 4; NT$40 billion of 5-year bonds on Jan. 19, NT$30 billion of 20-year bonds Feb. 22; and NT$40 billion of 10-year bonds March 11, according to the statement. The bond sale plan comes as the government faces a budget deficit forecast of NT$292.9 billion for next year, compared with an estimated shortfall of NT$304 billion this year. The first-quarter bond sale amount is unchanged from the same period this year.
■ CAL denies purchase deal
China Airlines (華航), the nation's largest air carrier, denied a report saying it planned to order new planes from Airbus SAS. Taipei's Economic Daily News reported earlier today China Airlines may buy 10 A340-600s to replace older Boeing Co planes, in an order worth at least US$1.8 billion. The newspaper didn't say where it obtained the information. "We haven't made any decision on the amount and model for future purchases of planes," the Taipei-based airline said in a statement. "We don't have any preferred airplane maker." China Airlines ordered 14 Airbus A330s and 10 Boeing 747-400s in 2002 as it sought to rebuild its reputation, following its fifth crash in 11 years in May that year. The carrier is expanding its fleet as more residents travel and the nation's exports grow.
■ Evergreen founder won't retire
The Evergreen Group (長榮集團), which owns Asia's largest container shipping company, denied group chairman and Founder Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) will retire on Jan. 1 next year. "The chairman will still be here, although he's fully delegating his authority," Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), spokesman for the group, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Nieh's remarks came after the United Daily News reported Thursday that Chang, 77, will retire from the group's main units Jan. 1 next year and will be succeeded by his third son, Chang Kuo-cheng (張國政). Chang Kuo-cheng is currently chairman of Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), Asia's biggest container shipper. His younger brother Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒), currently vice president of EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Taiwan's second-biggest airline, will be promoted to president of the carrier on Jan. 1 next year, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
■ NT dollar up against US dollar
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday gained NT$0.038 against its US counterpart to close at NT$32.19 in Taipei. The turnover was US$73.15 million.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last