■ICELAND
PM accuses UK of ‘bullying’
Prime Minister Geir Haarde accused Britain in an interview yesterday of “bullying a small neighbour” over funds frozen in the online bank Icesave, and threatened to take legal action in response. Haarde told the Financial Times that London’s reaction to the collapse of the bank, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s threat to sue Iceland to recover British savings, had made the island’s banking crisis worse. “The UK authorities have said they will sue us ... well both countries can sue if they see it fit. Going to court is one way of settling disputes in a civilized way,” Haarde told the newspaper. Brown’s government used anti-terrorist laws to freeze the assets of failing Icelandic banks in Britain as it attempted to protect the deposits of thousands of British savers and public bodies. But Haarde rejected suggestions his government had abandoned British savers, saying: “To claim we were running away from our obligations was unfounded and reacting in this way ... caused us more damage than was necessary.” He said London’s move to put part of Icelandic bank Kaupthing’s British operations into administration “led to the collapse” of the parent bank. He said he would support Kaupthing’s plans to sue the British government.
■ELECTRONICS
Royal Philips slows buyback
Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe’s biggest television maker, said it will slow down its 5 billion euros (US$6.8 billion) share buyback after third-quarter sales fell short of analysts’ estimates. Philips will reduce the pace of purchases because of “the risks and opportunities presented by the deterioration of the economy and the financial market turbulence,” the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement yesterday. Third-quarter sales fell 2 percent to 6.33 billion euros, missing the median estimate from 12 analysts of 6.71 billion euros. Net income rose 7.9 percent on the sale of shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Philips, led by chief executive officer Gerard Kleisterlee, said it’s “cautious on end-market demand” this quarter as the economy weakens further. Philips will increase some prices and accelerate expense-reduction projects across the company to protect margins at a cost of as much as 230 million euros in the fourth quarter. Philips said it has a “strong balance sheet” after completing 3.1 billion euros of the buyback since December. “The slowdown of the buyback is logical,” Wing-Yen Choi, an analyst at Theodoor Gilissen Bankiers NV in Amsterdam, wrote in a note. “In these markets you can buy back your shares, but apparently the stock can drop even further the next day.” Philips fell 2.4 percent to 15.41 euros at 10:30am in Amsterdam yesterday, as the Amsterdam Exchanges Index jumped 6.2 percent.
■AVIATION
Jetstar expands routes
Australian budget carrier Jetstar Airways announced yesterday that it was expanding services on the highly competitive routes across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. Jetstar, a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas Airways, said it would start daily flights on April 28 from Auckland to Sydney and the Queensland Gold Coast. Chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the flights would complement Qantas’ four daily Auckland-Sydney services, and he did not see the parent carrier scaling back its New Zealand routes. Jetstar already flies between Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island and four Australian cities. Trans-Tasman services are also flown by Air New Zealand, the Virgin subsidiary Pacific Blue and Dubai-based Emirates
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
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