■Free trade
Bush champions Russia
Russia must make a commitment to stick to WTO rules if it wants to join the body, US President George W. Bush said Thursday ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "It's in our national interest that Russia joins the WTO. And Russia will have to make some internal decision whether they are willing to conform to the guidelines of the WTO," Bush told reporters. Russia is negotiating with 64 members of the WTO on the conditions for its accession to the global trade body and hopes to wrap up bilateral talks by the end of the year. Talks have been going on for 10 years. Talks on liberalizing service sectors such as finance, tele-communications and transportation have proven to be the main sticking points.
■ SARS closures
Matsushita to open plants
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the world's biggest consumer-electronics maker, will today reopen two Beijing plants that were closed May 17, after five employees were found to have SARS. Earlier this month, Matsushita Electric said four of the SARS patients worked at a television display factory and one at a fluorescent lamp plant. All five workers were locally hired, according to Matsushita. SARS typically has up to 10 days until symptoms appear. Matsushita asked its employees to stay home for 14 days and avoid contact with others. The Osaka-based company halted an inspection line on April 21 at another Beijing plant that makes electric components, after learning the husband of a worker came into contact with someone infected with the deadly respiratory disease.
■ Airlines
US Air sells in-flight meals
US Airways said Thursday it plans to start selling breakfast, lunch and dinner to its economy class passengers on certain domestic flights beginning next month. The carrier plans to replace com-plimentary snacks on 360 routes with an in-flight catering service offering seven-dollar breakfast packs or 10-dollar lunch and dinner meals. The move follows a two-month trial in select markets and reflects a growing trend among cash-strapped airlines: bankrupt United Airlines ran a similar pilot project last month. The US Airways service is expected to roll out to additional routes June 18 and go systemwide July 1, the carrier said in a statement. "Our two-month test with LSG Sky Chefs has proven this product to be popular both with our customers and with our flight crews that have participated," said Sherry Hendry, US Airways vice president of in-flight services.
■ Asian cities
Urban hotspot list released
Asia will be one of the best places to be an urban dweller with China and India ranked among the top hotspots, property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle said in a study on yesterday. The firm looked at key indicators in 500 cities worldwide and turned up a list of 24 dubbed the "future rising urban stars," with 11 in Asia. China topped the list with eight cities including Beijing, Chongqing, Dalian, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou and Xian. India's Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi were also mentioned. The research team identified technology, the environment and the economy as three aspects that will define urban life.
Agencies
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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