■ Corporate taxes
Singapore to cut taxes
Singapore will lower its existing corporate tax rate of 20 percent by at at least one percentage point to stay competitive, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀) said in remarks published yesterday. "You know this is a tough and competitive world. People don't come because they like Singapore," Lee, the influential minister mentor in his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's (李顯龍) Cabinet, was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times. "They come because the returns are better," he said. In reference to Hong Kong, where companies are taxed at just 17.5 percent, one of the lowest in the world, Lee said Singapore had to lower its corporate tax rate or lose out to the former British colony in attracting investors. Details will be announced on Feb. 15.
■ Health products
TV show a false advertiser
Japanese newspapers vented their anger yesterday after a popular local television program made false claims about the weight loss benefits of fermented soybean. The program, aired earlier this month, claimed that eight people who ate the substance -- called natto in Japan -- for two weeks at breakfast and dinner lost as much as 3.4kg. The program, Encyclopedic Discovery, triggered a buying frenzy, emptying shelves of the product. But the show's producers reluctantly admitted the weight loss claims were fabrications and apologized on Saturday.
■ Fishing
Tuna tracking in the works
International fisheries officials are expected to push for a global tracking system that would certify the origin of every tuna headed to market at an unprecedented conference that convenes today to reverse a sharp decline in tuna catches. The conference brings together the world's regional tuna management groups and runs through Friday in Kobe, Japan. Attendees, representing commercial fishing and government regulators, will seek the creation of a framework to produce certificates of origin for all species of tuna they catch, Kyodo News reported yesterday.
■ Toys
Crocodile Hunter doll
A talking "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin action figure with his recorded voice will go on sale across the US next month. The toys will also be sold in Canada, the UK, France and Germany. The 39-piece Steve Irwin Wildlife Adventure Series will launch next month at the 2007 International Toy Fair in New York, toy maker K&M International said. Irwin recorded the voice for the toy before his death last year. The doll says phrases like "Do you see that? It's a giant golden orb spider and she's built her web right across our path! It's super sticky for catching small birds and bats. Let's not disturb it."
■ Insurance
Chinese market booms
China's insurance market expanded 14.4 percent to US$73 billion last year as demand for insurance coverage rises. Insurance companies' total assets rose by 29 percent, according to documents issued at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission's annual conference yesterday in Beijing. The premiums on property and casualty cases jumped 22.6 percent to 150.9 billion yuan, while life premiums rose 10.7 percent to 359.3 billion yuan, the regulator's Chairman Wu Dingfu (吳定富) said. Efforts to dismantle the welfare system are spurring sales.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source