■Travel
Foreign investors get break
In a bid to help boost an industry still reeling from the impact of SARS, China will allow foreign investors to set up wholly-owned travel agencies in the country, more than two years ahead of schedule, state press reported yesterday. The China National Tourism Administration and the Ministry of Commerce issued a provisional rule on Saturday, lifting a longstanding ban on foreign-owned or controlled travel agencies in China, the China Daily reported. The new regulations, which come two-and-a-half years ahead of the schedule agreed with the World Trade Organization, will take effect on July 14.
■ Free trade
Macau in line for deal
Macau is expected to receive trade benefits from mainland China similar to those conferred on the neighboring Chinese territory of Hong Kong under a free-trade agreement scheduled for completion later this month, a government spokeswoman said yesterday. Officials in the former Portuguese enclave of Macau and authorities on the Chinese mainland "have an understanding" that "[trade] arrangements made with Hong Kong will be extended to Macau," Macau spokeswoman Elena Au said. But Au said discussions on a Macau-China deal have not begun. "We are not at the stage of negotiations yet," she said, declining to provide further details.
■ New Zealand
Porn king issues threat
A New Zealand porn king is threatening to sue the country's stock exchange for stealing the name of his sex magazine, news reports said yesterday. Steve Crow of Auckland said that he launched his adult magazine NZX in November 2001, and he wants compensation from the New Zealand Stock Exchange, which has only just rebranded itself with the same name. As well as cash, he wants an agreement from the Stock Exchange -- which unlike him registered NZX as a trademark -- that it will never complain about his use of the name, he told the Dominion Post newspaper.
■ Japan
Bubble-gum cards for sale
With Japan's economic bubble burst, a company is attempting to inflate opportunities with bubble-gum business cards, a company spokesman said yesterday. Osaka-based We've Co Ltd has started selling the mint-tasting gum packaged with the name and address of Japanese business people. We've Co said it started selling the ad gum on May 14 and has received more than 100 orders from various businesses from restaurant owners to insurance sales people.
■ Conglomerates
SK Group faces uphill battle
An uphill battle awaits South Korea's scandal-tainted SK Group even though its flagship SK Corp approved a rescue plan for ailing sister firm SK Global over strong opposition from foreign shareholders and unions, analysts said yesterday. The board of SK Corp debated for 11 hours Sunday, apparently knowing the depth of hostility to the plan before endorsing a 850 billion won (US$710 million) debt-for-equity swap for SK Global, the trading arm of the country's third largest conglomerate that has been embroiled in an accounting scandal. SK Corp's controversial decision got a distinctly chilly market reaction, with the shares down badly while, in marked contrast, SK Global was up as investors switched positions.
Agencies
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
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