Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) yesterday said that the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) is likely to go bankrupt by the end of this year if it does not resolve its financial problems quickly.
Yeh made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, where lawmakers were set to review draft amendments to the Mass Rapid Transit Act (大眾捷運法).
The THSRC board voted Tony Fan (范志強) in as its new chairman last week and named former Uni Air chairman James Jeng (鄭光遠) as chief executive.
“The chairman will be in charge of solving the financial problems, whereas the CEO will oversee the daily operation of the high-speed rail system,” Yeh said. “The company would file for bankruptcy if its financial problems are not solved by the end of this year.”
Yeh also said that the company was asked to submit within three months a proposal to improve its financial situation, including plans to reduce capital and extend its concession period.
The company has NT$105.3 billion (US$3.47 billion) in capital and accumulated losses of NT$53 billion. During construction, the company issued preferred shares valued at NT$40 billion. The losses made the company unable to pay the dividends, causing shareholders to sue for payment. With some suits successful, THSRC and the ministry are concerned regarding potential collective action from shareholders demanding dividend payment or redeeming the stocks, worsening the financial situation.
To write off the losses, shareholders must be willing to reduce the capital by 50 percent, with Yeh saying that the five original shareholders have agreed to do so.
Allen Hu (胡湘麟), acting director-general of the Bureau of High Speed Rail, said shareholders may not redeem their funds so quickly if the company can manage to reduce its capital this year.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS