■ Travel
SARS would cut into travel
Business travel could slump by as much as 90 percent should SARS return to Asia, even though many countries have safeguards in place to prevent any future out-breaks from spreading, an American Express report released yesterday said. The world's largest corporate travel agency released find-ings of a new survey on business travel patterns among 807 corporate clients after the spread of SARS earlier this year. "Our clients are saying that they owe a duty of care to their staff," said Kyle Davis, American Express vice president and general manager for the Asia-Pacific. "They will enforce strictly all World Health Organization travel advi-sories and allow very few exceptions," he said. The survey covered business travel originating from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Australia and New Zealand. Amex found it would took only three weeks for business travel between SARS-affected regions to fall by 90 percent.
■ Forex
Five-year plan for yuan
The People's Bank of China is considering boosting the yuan's value by 30 percent in five years, Japan's Jiji Press reported yesterday, citing unnamed financial sources in Beijing. The bank is considering revaluing the yuan in stages, but the timing and how much it will be revalued in the initial step has not been decided, the report said. But in the face of strong domestic opposition, Chinese author-ities are expected to move cautiously on the matter, the report said. The com-merce and other depart-ments are strongly opposed to the plan because the revaluation of the yuan will make Chinese exports more expensive, it said.
■ Computers
Fujitsu, Siemens link up
Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu formed a partner-ship with a subsidiary of Siemens AG of Germany yesterday to work together in global computer services. The agreement will allow Fujitsu to offer its Japanese customers better services in Europe and North America, where Tokyo-based Fujitsu does not have direct opera-tions, while Siemens Busi-ness Services will be able to take advantage of Fujitsu's strength in Asia, both sides said in a statement. The companies will work to-gether in consulting, sys-tems integration and infra-structure management, they said. Siemens Business Services ranks fifth in IT services in Europe and employs 34,500 workers worldwide, according to the company.`
■ Automobiles
Chrysler mulls job cuts
DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit is considering cutting 4,500 jobs as the US division of the world's fifth-largest carmaker tries to post an operating profit this year, a company spokesman said. A decision hasn't been made yet about the possible reductions, said Thomas Froehlich, a spokesman in Stuttgart, Germany. He was responding to a report in the Financial Times that cited chief financial officer Man-fred Gentz. Chrysler is aiming to boost US sales and lower costs after losing US$1.1 billion in the second quarter because it spent more than expected on rebates and loans to sell its Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep-brand cars and trucks. The com-pany last week said it would offer early-retirement buyouts to skilled trades union workers to cut costs as part of a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers. Skilled-trades positions include electricians, toolmakers and machine-repair specialists.
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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