■ Airlines
Budget terminal opened
Asia's second budget airline terminal opened yesterday at Singapore's Changi Airport with only one airline using it, but authorities expressed optimism that more would follow. Tiger Airways, backed by Singapore Airlines and the government's investment arm Temasek Holdings, is the only one to make the switch so far out of at least 18 regional no-frills airlines. The S$45million (US$27.7 million) terminal opened three days after Malaysia's budget terminal in Kuala Lumpur, which beat the city-state for first in the region. A third major terminal is under construction.
■ Automobiles
Smart forfour canned
German-US carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG will stop production of its four-seater Smart forfour model because of it poor performance, with a resultant 300 job losses, it announced on Saturday. But an end to production would have to be negotiated with Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors Corp and other partners in the project, a statement said. The Smart forfour is currently produced in the Netherlands in partnership with Mitsubishi. DaimlerChrysler plans to concentrate in future on the two-seater Smart fortwo. The company said the brand name would be integrated into the Mercedes group and "would show positive results by 2007."
■ Investment
Japanese seeking capital
Japanese companies are stepping up issuance of shares and bonds as they need cash to invest in production and capital tie-ups, a press report said yesterday. The value of their equity financing and bond issuance at home and abroad in the business year to March 31 is estimated at a seven-year high of ¥11.1 trillion (US$94 billion), the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. It is up 10 percent from the previous year, keeping up an uptrend since the year to March 31, 2003, when it totaled ¥8.8 trillion, the leading business daily said. Fueling the growth is higher fund demand for capital investment as well as mergers and alliances, the report said. Other factors are the recovering stock market and growing expectations of an interest rate hike, it added.
■ Broadcasting
Tallest tower planned
Plans are underway to build the world's tallest tower in Tokyo, about 600m high, in a derelict railway yard, press reports said at the weekend. Japan's six broadcasting networks have selected a former freight shunting yard as the site for New Tokyo Tower which will become their radio and television transmitter tower by 2010, the reports said. Tobu Railway Co, a private rail firm which owns the land in Sumida in eastern Tokyo, will shoulder part of the construction cost estimated at ¥50 billion (US$420 million), said Kyodo News agency and Nihon Keizai Shimbun. New Tokyo Tower will dwarf the capital's nostalgic landmark, the 333m tall Tokyo Tower.
■ Energy
China raises fuel prices
China yesterday raised prices of petroleum products for the first time in eight months and set up a system to subsidize prices in some vulnerable industries such as grain, fishing and forestry industries as well as public services. The National Development and Reform Commission increased wholesale prices of gasoline by 300 yuan (US$37) per tonne and diesel by 200 yuan (US$24) per tonne, rises of 6.8 percent and 5.2 percent respectively.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) met in Beijing yesterday, where they vowed to bring people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait closer to facilitate the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The meeting was held in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People, a venue typically reserved for meetings between Xi and foreign heads of state. In public remarks prior to a closed-door meeting, Xi, in his role as head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said that Taiwan is historically part of China, and remains an “inalienable” and
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