■POLITICS
No ‘push’ for raise
The Presidential Office denied yesterday that it had pushed for raises for the secretaries-general of the Presidential Office and the National Security Council (NSC). Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and NSC Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) would respect the legislature’s decision on whether to increase their salaries. The legislature is reviewing a bill on political appointees’ salaries. Minister of Civil Service Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) said the raises were necessary because the salaries for the two positions were equal with those of the heads of other government branches. The legislature resolved in 2004 to lower the pay of the Presidential Office NSC secretaries-general to the level of government ministers.
■POLITICS
Ma to sign UN covenants
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is scheduled to sign two UN covenants tomorrow, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy said yesterday. The foundation is planning to hold a news conference today to urge the Ma administration to use the international conventions in amending the controversial Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法). The amendments to the act have raised tensions between the ruling and opposition parties, with the opposition vowing to block the amendments on the legislative floor. Ma supports the proposal but has asked the Cabinet to reduce the fine for violators. At Ma’s behest, the legislature on March 31 ratified the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights — 42 years after the nation signed them. The legislature also approved the Act Governing Execution of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (公民與政治權利國際公約及經濟社會文化權利國際公約施行法), making the two covenants legally binding. The Presidential Office has blamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the delay in signing the two covenants.
■PETROLEUM
CPC plans expansion
State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp is expected to further cooperation with the China-based Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), which will expand the range of their oil exploration ventures to cover the northern continental areas of the South China Sea, Ministry of Economic Affairs officials said yesterday. The two sides reached a consensus on the issue in March during a visit to Beijing by CPC executives, and are likely to sign the contract by the end of this year, the officials said.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit
HOSPITAL VISITS: Shin Kong Mitsukoshi pledged to give the families of the four people who died NT$11m each and provide support for staff working at the time The central government would assist local governments to enhance public safety, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as he visited people in hospital who were injured in an explosion at a department store in Taichung on Thursday. A suspected gas explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang department store in Taichung at 11:33am on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 36. Of the 40 casualties, 39 were hospitalized, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed. Three died after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the data showed. As of 6am yesterday, 25 of those injured had been discharged from hospital, leaving 11