■ 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.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
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