■Crude oil
It's now US$33 a barrel
Crude oil rose above US$33 a barrel for the first time in more than two years on concern the US may attack Iraq early next year and street protests in Venezuela look set to disrupt oil supplies for a fifth week. The US military will be prepared should President George W. Bush decide to use force to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of any chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. UN weapons inspectors in Iraq will report their findings by the end of January, Powell said yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Crude oil may rise to US$40 a barrel if the attack begins, he said. Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as US$0.45, or 1.4 percent, to US$33.17 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since Dec. 1, 2000. It traded at US$33.05 at 2:59pm Singapore time.
■ Power industry
China breaks up sector
China on Sunday broke its massive state power company into 11 smaller firms in a move to encourage greater competition, the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency reported. The dismantled State Power Corp will spin off its power generating assets to five smaller companies, each controlling less than 20 percent of the country's electricity generating capacity, Xinhua said. Two other companies will operate power grids and four companies will handle peripheral business operations, the report said. The five electricity generators will be forced to compete for contracts with the grid operators, State Power Grid and Southern Power Grid, according to State Power Corp's Web site.
Agencies
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
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