■ Hong Kong
Sales tax being mulled
Hong Kong may introduce a sales tax after three years, risking the territory's reputation as a duty-free shopping haven to bring government finances into balance. The deficit in the year ending March 31 will probably be HK$49 billion (US$6.3 billion), lower than the government's previous HK$78 billion forecast, and may fall to HK$42.6 billion next fiscal year, Financial Secretary Henry Tang (唐英年) said in his first budget speech. He forecast economic growth will accelerate to 6 percent this year from 3.3 percent last year. A sales tax won't be introduced for at least three years, Tang said, adding that a 5 percent rate would generate HK$20 billion to HK$30 billion a year. Tang said the government expects a HK$6 billion budget surplus in five years time.
■ Food
Imports add spice to kimchi
South Korean kimchi may not always be as Korean as people think. Imports of the fermented food soared to a record 2,396 tonnes in January, tripling from 698 tonnes over the same period last year, according to figures released yesterday by South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Nearly all the imports came from China, where costs for such ingredients as cabbage, garlic and spicy red pepper are much lower than those in South Korea. Last year, South Koreans gobbled up 1.18 million tonnes of kimchi, about two-thirds of it homemade. Kimchi imports for last year totaled 26,042 tonnes, worth US$10.3 million. South Korean kimchi producers are trying to counter the challenge of rising imports by also cutting costs and focusing on niche markets for "high-quality" native kimchi.
■ Mobile phones
Nokia No. 1 in the US
Nokia Oyj regained the No. 1 position in the US mobile-phone market from Motorola Inc, helped by a new range of handsets that use Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology, newspaper Kauppalehti reported, citing researcher Gartner Inc. The Finnish company has a market share of 34 percent in North America, the Helsinki-based financial daily reported. Nokia has also been helped by delivery problems at Motorola, the paper said. Nokia's global market share was 35 percent last year, down 0.4 percentage points from 2002, the paper said. In Europe, Nokia's fourth-quarter market share fell to 45 percent from 53 percent in the year earlier period.
■ Airlines
Japanese carrier to cut jobs
Asia's top carrier, Japan Airlines System Corp, will reduce its group work force by almost 8 percent in the next three years, a report said yesterday. The job cuts, which will affect mainly ground staff, are intended to trim operating costs after the integration of Japan Airlines and Japan Air System in April, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. The group's work force would be reduced by 4,500 from the current 57,000 by March 2007, the newspaper report said. The airline believes it will be able to achieve the payroll reduction through natural attrition alone, it said. At the same time, it will push ahead with the consolidation of administrative divisions and group companies to eliminate duplication, the newspaper said. The company hopes the personnel reduction will help turn around its business to post a profit of about ¥100 billion in fiscal 2006.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from