■ Insurance
Firms charged over bribes
Four major insurance companies paid a broker tens of millions of dollars in hidden kickbacks in exchange for winning contracts with some of the largest US companies, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi charged on Thursday. A lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court names MetLife Inc, Pruden-tial Financial Inc, Cigna Corp and UnumProvident Corp. The suit also names Univer-sal Life Resources Inc, which brokers employee benefit plans and insurance coverage on behalf of companies such as Safeway Inc, Intel Corp, Northrop Grumman and other Blue Chip names. Garamendi said he has agreed to drop the charges against Universal Life, based in San Diego, in exchange for "full and timely" cooperation in the investigation of the four insurance companies.
■ Tobacco
China halts new ventures
China has suspended all new cigarette and tobacco foreign joint ventures, state media reported yesterday, raising doubts over a claim by British American Tobacco that it has approval to manufacture cigarettes in China. "The decision is made on the grounds that the Chinese tobacco market is saturated and it has surplus cigarette production capacity," Xinhua News Agency said. But the report said China would allow cooperation in upgrading technology, and in importing high-quality tobacco leaf, high-grade cigarette paper and other "necessary materials." China is the world's biggest tobacco market, with annual sales of about 1.8 trillion cigarettes -- or about 30 percent of worldwide sales.
■ Macroeconomics
S Korea's growth weakens
South Korea's economy achieved lower-than-expected growth in the three months to September as domestic demand failed to pick up the slack from weakening exports, the central bank said yesterday. Real GDP growth slowed to 4.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, down from 5.5 percent in the second quarter, the Bank of Korea said. GDP expanded 5.4 percent in the first half and 5.1 percent in the nine months to September. The bank said that the failure of a hoped-for recovery in domestic demand, coupled with slower growth in exports, weakened the third-quarter GDP growth rate. The trend will continue through the fourth quarter, the bank predicted.
■ Airlines
AirAsia ready for Indonesia
Asia's best-known budget carrier, Malaysian-based AirAsia, could be ready for takeoff in Indonesia as early as January, a newspaper reported yesterday. The timing of the maiden flight of AirAsia Bhd's Indonesian joint venture, PT AWAir, would depend on when AirAsia completes a due-diligence review of the airline's financial details and finalizes the deal, The Star newspaper said, quoting the airline's executive director, Kamarudin Meranun. AirAsia is paying a token US$2 to buy 49 percent of PT AWAir, a debt-ridden Indonesian airline that suspended operations in March 2002. The Indonesian joint venture will be AirAsia's second overseas foray after Thai AirAsia, in which the Malaysian carrier also has a 49 percent stake. Thai AirAsia is 51 percent owned by Shin Corp, which is controlled by the family of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. PT AWAir, using leased aircraft, used to fly from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to Denpasar in Bali, Surabaya and Medan.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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