■ Steel tariffs
US may receive sanctions
US President George W. Bush will likely maintain contested steel tariffs in spite of potential sanctions by the WTO, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a lawyer. The US has maintained steel tariffs and quotas even after the WTO ruled against the US in the last six cases on steel tariffs, the Journal said. The US plans to start lengthy negotiations with the WTO on the issue, it reported. The tariff program, which lasts three years, will be complete by the time these negotiations are completed, according to the Journal. The WTO ruled last week that steel import tariffs the US levied a year ago are illegal after complaints from the EU, Japan, Brazil, China and Canada among others. "The likelihood of anything being done before the three year period is done is extremely remote," said Louis Mastriani, a senior partner with Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg LLP, a law firm whose clients include US steelmakers, the Journal said.
■ SK Global
Share trades suspended
The Korea Stock Exchange said yesterday it had suspended trading in shares of SK Global, the scandal-tainted trading unit of the country's third largest conglomerate SK Group. The move, announced prior to the market opening, followed a new outside audit report that showed SK Global's capital had been completely eroded. SK Global posted a net loss of 296.7 billion won (US$235.6 million) last year after booking 476.8 billion won in uncollectable debt repayment guarantees as losses in its balance sheet, according to the audit report. Its irregular bookkeeping and bad assets completely eroded its capital, which was negative 212.8 billion won at the end of last year, it said.
■ WorldCom
Costs shifted to MCI books
WorldCom Inc, the telephone company that last year filed the biggest US insolvency, improved the appearance of its finances in 2001 by moving more than US$3 billion of costs to its MCI unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing internal documents and people familiar with the matter. WorldCom's bankruptcy examiner and the US Securities and Exchange Commission are looking at whether securities laws or corporate-governance practices were violated, the newspaper said. Bernard Ebbers, then WorldCom's chief executive officer, and other top executives with large amounts of WorldCom shares but less MCI stock may have benefited from the shifting of expenses, the Journal said.
■ Agriculture
Japan's farm minister quits
Japan's farm minister resigned yesterday over a money scandal involving his secretary, in an apparent effort by the government to clear away distractions ahead of a debate on key legislation. Agriculture Minister Tadamori Oshima, brought into the cabinet in a reshuffle last year, had been under fire for months over allegations including the embezzlement of ?6 million (US$50,100) by one of his secretaries. "I handed in my resignation and it was accepted," Oshima said. His decision deprives the opposition of ammunition against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and helps clear the path for discussions on "crisis legislation" aimed at boosting the government's powers in the event of an attack. Koizumi has been anxious to pass the new laws since the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a