■Trade
China posts surprise deficit
China unexpectedly posted a trade deficit for the first time in more than six years as the nation stockpiled crude oil ahead of a possible war on Iraq and consumers took advantage of tariff cuts to buy more imported cars. The deficit last month was US$1.25 billion, the first time the nation has posted a shortfall since December 1996, Xinhua news agency said, citing customs statistics. Imports rose 63 percent to US$31 billion, driven by a 78 percent increase in the volume of oil imported. Exports rose 37 percent to US$29.8 billion. General Motors Corp and other carmakers took advantage of China's entry into the WTO to import more cars into China and also to increase production at plants assembling parts shipped from overseas. The government may be able to point to rising imports in trade talks with the US and EU, which have been pressing for greater access.
■ US economy
Snow defends tax cut
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is wrong and the economy does need the benefit of the George W. Bush administration's US$690 billion tax cut plan, Treasury Secretary John Snow said. "The package will not only help America return to its economic potential, it will increase it, creating a more abundant future with more good jobs and rising real wages," Snow told the Detroit Economic Club, in his first speech since being sworn in 10 days ago. Greenspan told Congress this week that growth should accelerate once the Iraq situation is clarified, and additional stimulus isn't needed now. Greenspan's comments, along with Democrats' arguments that the plan rewards the rich and will exacerbate budget deficits, have made President George W. Bush's proposal a tough sell in Washington.
■ GDP
Japanese economy grows
Japan's economy squeezed out growth for the fourth straight quarter during the October-to-December period, but worries remained about the nation's fragile recovery possibly fading into another recession. The numbers released yesterday by the Cabinet Office for the GDP -- the value of goods and services produced in a nation -- showed that GDP grew 0.5 percent for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That translates to an annual rate of 2.0 percent growth. The economy grew 0.7 percent for the July-to-September quarter, 1.3 percent for the April-to-June quarter and 0.1 percent in January-to-March. It had contracted for three straight quarters before that -- Japan's worst recession in at least two decades.
■ Advertising
Britain bans tobacco ads
Britain yesterday banned tobacco advertising in newspapers, magazines, cinemas and on billboards, confining companies such as British American Tobacco Plc and rivals to promoting their cigarettes in stores. The UK and the 14 other members of the EU last December endorsed rules to outlaw most forms of tobacco ads. The region must implement them by August 2005, at the latest. "It's goodbye to tobacco advertising," said Tim Robertson, a spokesman for Gallaher Group Plc, the UK maker of Silk Cut and Benson & Hedges cigarettes. Gallaher has been increasing the number of its sales staff in response. The ban comes at a time when UK tobacco sales are stalling. About 13 million British people smoke some 56 billion cigarettes a year.
Agencies
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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