■ China
Forex rules tightened
China's foreign exchange watchdog yesterday said it will tighten up on offshore funds flowing into foreign companies' coffers in a bid to thwart currency specu-lation and slow growth in foreign debt. "The new rule will help to crack down on illegal forex speculation, curb the fast growth of capital inflows and foreign debt, and maintain a stable monetary policy and rate of exchange for the yuan," the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement. With Beijing under pressure from major trading partners to revalue its currency, speculative funds, or "hot-money," have poured into the country on expectations of a revalua-tion of the yuan. Following investigations last year, the agency found foreign com-panies were using offshore funds in China to conduct business that "went beyond normal operations." Now, when applying to bring in foreign exchange funds of US$200,000 or more, foreign-invested companies must present documents explaining the use of the funds, the agency said.
■ Aviation
AirAsia sees tough fight
Malaysian no-frills airline AirAsia warned yesterday of an industry shake-out as more carriers enter the market but said it is ahead of the pack and will expand its fleet and maintain low fares despite rising fuel costs. Chief executive Tony Fernandes also said AirAsia's initial public offering (IPO) slated for September is on track but talks with Singapore's state investment arm, Temasek Holdings, on taking a stake in the airline are expected to be put on hold until after the listing. "The low-fare market is going to be very, very crowded and very few are going to survive," with budget carriers not only fighting among themselves but also with other major airlines which had started to slash prices, Fernandes said. "Many others are trying to emulate us but we have a two-and-a-half years advantage, so we'll take it as it comes." Fernandes said AirAsia planned to expand its fleet from 17 aircraft to 24 by October and 36 by June next year.
■ Automobiles
Production pact nears end
DaimlerChrysler will stop making Dodge and Chrysler cars at Mitsubishi Motors Corp's central Illinois auto plant next year, the com-pany said. The decision comes at the end of a five-year agreement, and is not related to recent financial troubles at Mitsubishi Motors, plant spokesman Dan Irvin told The Panta-graph newspaper in Bloom-ington, Illinois for a story in yesterday's edition. Chrysler Group spokesman Dave Elshoff declined to say if the company would build other DaimlerChrysler vehicles at Mitsubishi Motors' only North American manufac-turing facility. The Normal plant produced 156,800 vehicles in the fiscal year that ended in March.
■ Retailing
Wal-Mart gets Chicago OK
Wal-Mart won Chicago City Council approval on Wed-nesday to build its first store in Chicago after months of delay and intense lobbying by the chain's foes and supporters. The council's action means that Detroit and New York City are the only top-10 urban markets in the US without a Wal-Mart store or approval to build one. The victory for Wal-Mart comes after an expensive defeat last month in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, where voters rejected a superstore. However, the city council rejected an application for a second store in the South Side neighborhood.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
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