■ BANKING
Savings tax may be lifted
China may suspend the 20 percent tax on bank deposit savings, official media reported yesterday, in a move that could cool investment flows into the booming stock market. A draft bill outlining the potential move on personal bank savings was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress yesterday, Xinhua news agency said in a brief dispatch. Xinhua said the scrapping or reduction of the interest tax -- introduced in 1999 -- was aimed at making bank deposits more attractive. The central bank said last week that shares and funds had replaced banks as the top investment option for people living in cities, thanks to the nation's stock market boom and low savings deposit rates.
■ MANUFACTURING
Offer made for UTAC
US private equity firm TPG Capital and private fund manager Affinity Equity Partners have offered to buy Singapore-listed United Test & Assembly Center Ltd in a deal that values the chip tester at up to S$2.2 billion (US$1.4 billion), the firms said. The consortium's bid of S$1.20 a share is the largest independent buyout offer in Southeast Asia so far this year, and reflects an 11 percent premium to UTAC's closing price of S$1.08 on Friday. A trading halt on UTAC shares in effect since Monday was lifted at the start of normal trade yesterday. UTAC was trading at S$1.15 yesterday, up S$0.07, or 6.5 percent.
■ NUCLEAR ENERGY
Toshiba to build US plant
Toshiba Corp has been selected by US power supplier NRG Energy Inc to construct a nuclear power plant in the US, a news report said yesterday. Toshiba is to build two 1.35-million-kilowatt advanced boiling-water reactors in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, in a project that had been expected to go to Hitachi Ltd and General Electric Co, the Nikkei Shimbun reported. The total cost of the project is estimated at ?600 billion (US$4.88 billion) and the reactors will begin operations as early as 2014, according to the daily.
■ AVIATION
Qantas to train pilots
Qantas Airways Ltd said yesterday it would open a flight training business later this year to supply pilots to meet both its own needs and those of the booming Asia-Pacific aviation market. Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said the pilot academy would open by the end of this year and is expected to train 3,000 new pilots for the airline over the next decade, as well as offer services to other regional carriers. Qantas was "investigating a range of joint venture options in both the civilian and military arena," Dixon said. Qantas also announced it would sell its 4.2 percent stake in regional rival Air New Zealand.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Playboy chooses Macau
Playboy, the US-based adult publisher and broadcaster, will open an entertainment center in Macau, its partner Macao Studio City said yesterday. "Playboy Mansion Macao," a 3,700m2 entertainment destination, will consist of "numerous nightlife and entertainment options," dining and shops, it said. The new complex will also offer gaming as well as accommodations in the "Hugh M Hefner Villa," named after the group's founder. The entertainment center will be a part of the Macao Studio City, an integrated leisure resort property which broke ground earlier this year. Macao Studio City said it aims to make Macau an entertainment hub of Asia.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)