■ Electronics
Pioneer to build TV plant
Japanese audio and visual equipment maker Pioneer is planning to invest more than ¥30 billion (US$263 million) to build a new plant to produce plasma televisions in central Japan, a report said yesterday. The plant, due to start operations by March 2008 in Yamanashi prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, would initially produce more than 300,000 units a year and raise output to more than 1 million units, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. With the new plant, Pioneer hopes to double its production of plasma televisions from the current 970,000 units, the business daily said. To lighten its investment burden, Pioneer would consider tying up with another electronics manufacturer on the facility, Nihon Keizai said.
■ Economy
Protesters pan HK tax plan
Nearly 3,000 people marched from a downtown park in Hong Kong to government headquarters yesterday to protest a proposal to levy a sales tax in the territory, arguing it will hurt local businesses. Protesters carried signs saying, "Say no to sales tax" and chanted "no to GST." "Our costs will be high. We expect many restaurants to not be able to take it and shut down," Woo Chu, a restaurant industry association official, said in an interview aired on Cable TV. Police spokeswoman Cynthia Au said that about 2,900 people marched yesterday. The government is currently consulting the public about a possible sales tax. It said in a statement that Hong Kong must take advantage of its current economic strength to shore up public finances for future generations. "We must act now to broaden our tax base for the future prosperity of Hong Kong," it said.
■ Economy
India needs infrastructure
India needs to invest US$330 billion in infrastructure over the next five years to sustain an average annual growth rate of 8 percent, the country's top business group said yesterday. The Confederation of Indian Industry said a study carried out by the group showed India needs to increase its spending on infrastructure projects to 8 percent of its GDP from 4.6 percent now. That means investments in infrastructure must total US$331 billion over the next five years, it said in a statement. India currently spends much less on infrastructure than China and other developing countries in the Asian region, and experts have often warned that its booming economy could falter because of inadequate ports, roads and power supplies.
■ Beverages
Soft drink sales halted
An Indian state has banned the sale of soft drinks at government-run schools and colleges, after allegations that drinks from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo sold in the country contained high levels of pesticide, a report said on Saturday. The government of western Gujarat state has asked state-run colleges and schools not to allow sales of soft drinks on their premises, the Press Trust of India said, quoting the state's education minister Anandiben Patel. The ban will be effective from today, she said. Last week, both firms denied the charges, saying the soft drinks they manufacture and sell in India "comply with stringent international norms and all applicable national regulations." Gujarat is the second state to impose a ban after a New Delhi-based independent research body said last week that it found pesticide residues in samples of Coke and Pepsi that were 24 times above the limits set by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘LAWFUL USE’: The last time a US warship transited the Taiwan Strait was on Oct. 20 last year, and this week’s transit is the first of US President Donald Trump’s second term Two US military vessels transited the Taiwan Strait from Sunday through early yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement, the first such mission since US President Donald Trump took office last month. The two vessels sailed south through the Strait, the ministry said, adding that it closely monitored nearby airspace and waters at the time and observed nothing unusual. The ministry did not name the two vessels, but the US Navy identified them as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and the Pathfinder-class survey ship USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit from