■ Investment
PRC forms investment firm
China's government is creating an investment company to make more effective use of its US$1 trillion in foreign reserves, the finance minister said yesterday. The company will report directly to the Chinese Cabinet, Finance Minister Jin Renqing (金人慶) said at a news conference. He gave no timetable for the creation of the company or details of how it might invest the reserves. China's foreign reserves, the world's largest, are managed by the central bank, which is believed to keep most of them in safe but low-yielding US Treasuries.
■ Liquor
Absolut draws top bidders
Three of the world's top spirits makers -- Pernod Ricard SA, Bacardi Ltd and Diageo PLC -- have told the Swedish government they are interested in buying the state-owned liquor group that makes Absolut vodka, a spokeswoman said on Thursday. The center-right government presented plans last week to sell the V&S Vin & Sprit AB liquor group as part of wider privatization plans. V&S owns several brands of liquor and wine, with Absolut its biggest moneymaker. Analysts said they expected V&S to sell for about 40 billion krona (US$5.7 billion). It was not clear, however, if the government would opt for a direct sale or a stock market listing.
■ Finance
Top US lender struggles
Subprime lender New Century Financial Corp said on Thursday it had stopped accepting all new loan applications as it struggled to obtain financing amid market speculation that the company could file for bankruptcy. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, New Century said it was only able to fund some of its loans this week, and its capacity to fund new loans was "substantially limited" because of problems obtaining financing from lenders. The US' second-largest subprime lender provides loans to people with bad credit. Amid a slowdown in housing markets nationwide, the subprime industry has come under the microscope in the past month.
■ Internet
Royal prank on eBay
Norway's royal palace ran the risk of being sold cheap on the auction Web site eBay when a hoax advertisement offered it for one dollar, media reported on Thursday. "Cheap! The royal palace of a young monarchy, just 102 years old, is on sale," the offer read and it had already managed to attract a bid of US$99,999,999 before being taken down on Thursday morning. "At the moment, the castle is in Norway but it can be moved to another country whenever. The King and Queen are not included in the price, but I am sure that they would move with the Royal Palace," the offer said. The Norwegian royal palace is the residence and workplace of King Harald and Queen Sonja.
■ Investment
Thai capital rules remain
Thailand's new finance minister said yesterday he would keep controversial currency rules, dashing market speculation that the government would soon lift the measures aimed at curbing the Thai baht's rise. New finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said the capital rules were needed to control the Thai unit, which has risen nearly 12 percent against the US dollar over the past year. "At the moment, appropriate measures [to replace the capital rules] have not been found," he said.
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