■ JAPAN
Government mulls tax raise
Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said he wants the government to begin debates "this fall" on whether to raise the consumption tax. He also wants to discuss possible increases in the government's share of contributions to the state pension program to a half from the current one-third by 2009, Nukaga said yesterday on Asahi TV's Sunday Project program. Regarding recent turmoil in global financial markets caused by subprime issues, Nukaga said, "some calm has been restored," adding that it will take time for the problem to fully subside.
■ JAPAN
Cross-shareholding ratio up
The ratio of cross-shareholdings among listed companies rose in the last fiscal year, the first gain since the beginning of the 1990s, the Japan Times newspaper reported, citing Kyodo news agency. The combined market value of shares of listed companies owned by other listed companies rose 0.9 percentage point to about ¥65 trillion (US$561 billion) last year, a survey by Nomura Securities Co showed. This accounted for 12 percent of the total market value of listed companies. Data showed cross-shareholdings is expanding as local companies move to fend off a wave of takeover bids from foreign capital and shareholder activism by overseas funds, the report said.
■ CHINA
Private sector seeks oil
Beijing is considering a request from private oil companies for a guaranteed supply of between 10 million tonnes and 20 million tonnes of fuel annually, to alleviate shortages. As much as 80 percent of private fuel storage facilities are now empty, Zhao Youshan, head of the Petroleum Distribution Committee of China's General Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday. The proposal would ensure that between 5 percent and 10 percent of the nation's total fuel supply went to private companies, Zhao said. The country's two largest oil refiners have stopped supplying fuel to most private gas stations because of tight production.
■ FINANCE
Sony makes unit IPO
Sony Corp will raise ?300 billion (US$2.6 billion) through an initial public offering of its financial unit on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section early next month, the Nikkei Shimbun said. The sale of shares in Sony Financial Holdings Inc, which comprises life and casualty insurers and an online bank, would be Japan's largest IPO this year, the Nikkei reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Sony will sell about a 30 percent stake in Sony Financial through existing shares and also offer an unspecified number of new shares. It will use the funds to strengthen its electronics division, the newspaper said.
■ TRADE
Gulf states discuss FTA
Pro-Western Gulf Arab monarchies have agreed to an Iranian offer to launch talks on a possible free-trade pact, the secretary general of their oil-rich bloc said on Saturday. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers meeting in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah discussed a letter from their Iranian counterpart "regarding Iran's readiness to reach a free trade agreement with GCC member states," Abdurrahman al-Attiyah told reporters after their meeting.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique