China’s millions of car owners woke up yesterday to sharply higher energy prices, with widespread complaints about the cost of living — and not a few despairing over prospects of making ends meet.
The price increase of up to 18 percent hit a population already wary of rapidly rising inflation and particularly hurt the people who seemed least able to to take another blow to their pockets.
Kong Fanshan, a Beijing taxi driver in his 50s, said he could not afford to stop driving, even though the increase would cut a quarter out of his monthly income of 2,000 yuan (US$290).
“I would have quit 10 years ago if I could. But I’ve paid a 20,000 yuan deposit with my company, which I’ll lose if I terminate my contract,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, I only know driving. People my age can’t get another job. That’s the case for most taxi drivers.”
Gas and diesel prices would rise by 1,000 yuan per tonne, while aviation kerosene would increase by 1,500 yuan a tonne, the National Development and Reform Commission said late on Thursday.
Retail prices of gas and diesel would be increased to 6,980 yuan and 6,520 yuan a tonne, it said.
The rises mean an increase of 0.8 yuan and 0.92 yuan a liter for gas and diesel, Xinhua news agency said.
Michael Gao, a 26-year-old office worker driving a black Hyundai Sonata, said the increase would push his monthly fuel cost to 2,000 yuan — a level where he started questioning if he could afford it.
“I will reduce the use of the car and opt for public transportation,” he said.
The price increase comes after months of China groaning under the worst inflation in a dozen years.
Meanwhile, the crude price rose more than US$1 to above US$133 a barrel yesterday, after plunging nearly US$5 in the previous session after China’s unexpected price rise.
Some analysts said the move might bolster consumption by encouraging healthier supply. Chinese had faced long lines as refiners cut production to limit losses made by selling discounted fuel.
“We do not think that a country where consumers are used to waiting three hours for automotive fuel in many cases, will see significant negative demand elasticity from a simple 20 percent price increase,” CitiGroup analyst James Neale said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)