■ Airlines
Cathay to hire 1,550 people
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific said yesterday it will create 1,550 jobs as it resumes cargo flights to China's commercial hub of Shanghai at the end of the month after a 15-year absence. "It's part of our expansion. We have launched new routes and have more new planes. The company is growing," a company spokeswoman said. With nine new aircraft scheduled for delivery this year, Cathay Pacific said it will employ 1,550 more staff with most of them cabin crew, and the remainder pilots and ground staff. The company regained the rights for the Shanghai route after the government awarded it 12 weekly cargo flights under a Sino-Hong Kong aviation pact agreed last year.
■ Macroeconomics
China lowers money target
China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan (周小川) said yesterday it has set a money supply growth target of 15 percent for this year, down from the 17 percent target last year. M2, the broad measure of money supply, is estimated to come in at 14.5 percent for last year, a statement on the bank's Web site said. The People's Bank of China has said the new loan target for this year stood at 2.5 trillion yuan (US$300 billion), compared with 2.2 trillion yuan last year. M1, the narrow measure of money supply, is expected to grow 15 percent this year. M1 was up 13.8 percent year-on-year at the end of November.
■ Pharmaceuticals
Bristol to sell OTC line
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co is in talks to sell its consumer over-the-counter (OTC) drug line, which includes pain relievers Excedrin and Bufferin, cold medicine Comtrex and Keri lotions. The pharmaceutical giant, which has struggled to restructure in the face of lost patents on key drugs, is working to shed non-core consumer products as it focuses on drugs to treat and prevent disease, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday on their Web sites, citing people familiar with the discussions. The Times said UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc and some private equity firms were said to be interested in the unit.
■ Transport
Motorcycles to get airbags
Japan's Honda Motor has launched research into developing the first safety airbags that could be mounted on motorcycles, a report said yesterday. Japan's nation's largest motorcycle manufacturer aims to commercialize motorcycle airbags in about three years, the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun said without citing sources. Honda plans to develop an airbag that will fit under the handlebars and protect the driver from the head to lower back when it is opened in the event of an accident, it said. No immediate comment was available from Honda.
■ Services
New Year girlfriends to rent
Agencies in China's Chengdu City are offering rented girlfriends to bach-elors who need someone to show off to relatives during the upcoming Lunar New Year, state press said yesterday. "Love agencies are springing up in Chengdu offering an invaluable service for those men whose parents are nagging them to settle down," the China West Metropolitan News reported. A hired girlfriend can cost as much as 300 yuan (US$36) a day, the paper said, a third of an ordinary worker's monthly salary in China.
THREATS: Naval facilities have been built in Shanghai and Zhejiang, while airbases have been expanded in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Zhangpu, across the Strait from Taiwan The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building large-scale military infrastructure at five sites along the eastern coast of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. The latest issue of the council’s Mainland China Situation Quarterly said satellite photos showed military infrastructure such as air force and naval bases being constructed along the eastern coast of China. That means the CCP might be preparing for potential conflict in Taiwan, it said, adding that there are five such construction sites from north to south. A naval base has been built in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, with underground oil storage tanks, railway
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
GIVE BACK: The president thanked immigrants, recounting heartwarming stories, from a gymnast helping athletes shine internationally to a spouse helping the disadvantaged There is no need to amend the law to exempt Chinese spouses from single allegiance to the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that such changes would only increase the public’s doubts toward new residents from China and would not improve social harmony. Taiwan is a democratic, diverse and free country, he said. “No matter which ethnic group you belong to, where you come from or when you arrive, as long as you identify with Taiwan, you are masters of this country,” he said. Taiwan is a democratic nation that follows the rule of law, where immigrants are
A trial run of the north concourse of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s new Terminal 3 is to commence today, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The eight additional boarding gates would allow for more aircraft parking spaces that are expected to boost the airport’s capacity by 5.8 million passengers annually, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Kuo-shian (林國顯) said. The concourse, designed by a team led by British architect Richard Rogers, provides a refreshing space, Lin said, adding that travelers would enjoy the tall and transparent design that allows sunshine to stream into the concourse through glass curtain walls. The
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