■ China
Power equipment buys up
China bought 50 percent more power equipment in the first seven months than in the whole of last year, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified energy executives in a survey. It didn't say what sort of equipment was purchased. China bought enough power equipment from January to July to add 30 million kilowatts of generating capacity, equal to 10 percent of the country's total, the report said. China wants to build more power plants and transmission lines to meet domestic demand. General Electric Co, which aims to secure power equip-ment orders worth US$1 billion this year, has signed a US$900 million agreement this year to supply 13 gas turbines with capacity totaling 5 million kilowatts, the report said. A surge in power demand this summer caused sporadic blackouts in Shanghai and Jiangsu.
■ Trade
Japan offers concession
Japan plans to accept in principle the idea of cutting import tariffs across the board in WTO farm talks on the condition that the reduction excludes rice and some other products, a report said yesterday. Tokyo plans to convey its proposal to the US as early as this week, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said without citing sources. Tokyo wants to maintain high tariffs on a small number of products, such as rice and pork, while agreeing to the across-the-board cuts on other items, the economic daily said. The latest round of WTO free-trade talks has made little progress since being launched in 2001 in the Qatari capital Doha. WTO ministers are to meet in Cancun, Mexico, next month to try to boost the bogged-down negotiations.
■ Publishing
Stewart losses balloon
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia warned on Monday that its full year losses would be twice as bad as Wall Street's current estimates, as the insider dealing allegations against the company's founder continue to sully its pros-pects. Martha Stewart, who relies on her wholesome image to promote the company's magazines and television shows, has been embroiled in financial scandal for more than a year. Her company reported on Monday an 86 percent decline in profits during the second quarter, from US$6.7 million to US$931,000. The company said the slide stemmed in part from the US government's criminal case against Stewart. It cited higher public relations and legal costs, and said that advertisers were steering clear of the main magazine, Martha Stewart Living. Revenues fell 16 percent to US$65.8 million. "We believe the Martha Stewart Living core brand will continue to be under pressure until resolution of Martha Stewart's personal legal situation," said Sharon Patrick, the company's chief executive. Stewart, who stepped down as chief executive in June, will go to trial in January.
■ Travel
Air NZ to slash fares to Oz
Air New Zealand Ltd, the country's biggest airline, will slash fares by an aver-age 20 percent on routes to Australia to stave off com-petition from Virgin Blue and Emirates. The new fares, which start Oct. 29, will enable the company to compete with Qantas Air-ways Ltd, its biggest rival on the route, and Virgin Blue, which has been granted regulatory approval to begin flights this year. Virgin's arrival would boost the number of airlines operating between the two countries to 13.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
RSS