■ Energy
China nixes oil tax rebates
China has temporarily scrapped a tax rebate on oil exports that would make it more expensive to ship petroleum products overseas amid record high international crude prices, the government said yesterday. The cancellation of the 11 percent rebate will take effect tomorrow for a four month period and in effect reduces Chinese exporters' incentive to ship petrol, the State Administration of Taxation said on its Web site. Products affected are automobile gasoline and airplane fuel as well as naphtha, a cheap diesel oil, as China ships only some 580,000 tonnes of oil products a month. By contrast the nation consumed more than 300 million tonnes of oils, or roughly some 50 times more than it exports.
■ Consumer trends
Singapore has top shoppers
Women in the city-state are Asia's undisputed shopping queens with the top-earning 28 percent having at least S$1 billion (US$594 million) to spend each month, a regional survey said yesterday. Media agency OMD queried more than 3,000 women in China, Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila and Singapore. Results published in the Straits Times found a monthly average of S$2,400 (US$1,500) burning a hole in the purses of each of the 450,000 Singapore women in the top-earning group. Nearly a third of the women earn more than their husbands, and 56 percent visit shopping malls or department stores at least three times a week, the most frequent for any of the markets surveyed. Across Asia, women have become careful to squirrel away their money, the survey found. Some 84 percent said it was necessary to have private savings that their husbands knew nothing about.
■ Internet
Yahoo promotes videos
Yahoo was to spotlight its video search service, and the clips of amateur film-makers, on its Web site beginning yesterday as part of its first "Yammys" awards, according to the US Internet company. Computer-users can visit the Yahoo Web site any time from yesterday to Sept. 12 to vote for their favorite of 15 videos that made it into the Yammys semi-finals, Yahoo spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly said. Today, vans equipped with projection gear will cruise the US cities of New York and Los Angeles to display the clips on sides of buildings and give passersby the option of voting on handheld tablets, Kelly said. Each clip is no longer than 60 seconds, and the semi-finalists were culled from nearly 1,000 original submissions, Kelly said.
■ Internet
Google losing out to Baidu
A survey by a Chinese Internet research group has found that Google is losing market share to its biggest Chinese rival, Web search engine Baidu.com (百度). The survey, conducted by the Beijing-based China Internet Network Information Center, reported that Baidu.com Inc boosted its market share in Beijing by 10.8 percentage points to 52 percent. Google Inc's share was at 33 percent, as the US Internet search engine kept its customer base steady while the overall market grew, according to the survey, seen yesterday on CNNIC's Web site. China's Internet population hit 103 million in June, second only to the US, according to CNNIC. The survey found that combined, Google and Baidu held 80 percent of the market in Beijing and Shanghai, and 75 percent in Guangzhou. The three cities account for the lion's share of Chinese Internet use, it said.
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