■ CHINA
Center to monitor food
China, which has been plagued by food safety problems, will set up a center to monitor food standards at the Summer Olympics, state media reported yesterday. The Olympic Food Safety Command Center will tackle the task during the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Games and will deal with any food-related emergencies, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Zhikuan, head of the Beijing Industry and Commerce Bureau, as saying. Xinhua said food supplied for the Olympics will be checked against specific technical standards.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Kia CEO paints rosy picture
Kia Motors Corp will probably return to profitability this year, helped by new vehicles and updated models, the company's CEO said yesterday. "This year, Kia Motors will likely post profits," chief executive and president Chung Eui-sun told reporters at the launch of the automaker's Mohave SUV. Including the Mohave, Kia Motors is introducing three new vehicles this year. It is also upgrading two existing models. For the January-September period last year, Kia posted a net loss of 24 billion won (US$25.6 million), compared to a net profit of 40 billion won during the same period in 2006.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Japan to buy Chinese quotas
Japan has agreed to buy greenhouse gas emissions quotas from China as part of efforts to meet its Kyoto Protocol target, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The two countries will seek a formal accord on the plan during Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) visit to Japan, scheduled for late March, the newspaper said. Japan plans to use the so-called clean development mechanism, under which industrialized countries can fund projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and offset these reductions against their own output. Japan hopes to purchase greenhouse gas emission quotas resulting from environment-related projects in China financed by Japanese loans, the daily said.
■ AVIATION
Firms set to join forces
China's two major aircraft makers are likely to join forces as part of the nation's ambitious efforts to build a domestic passenger jet that would rival Boeing and Airbus, state media said yesterday. China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) and AVIC II, both state-owned, may consolidate their commercial aircraft manufacturing businesses and set up a new firm to assemble the plane, the China Daily reported, citing company sources. The move is aimed at "strengthening the country's aviation manufacturing capabilities" and "pooling resources to carry out the large commercial airplane project," said an unnamed official with AVIC II.
■ GOLD
Price hits record high
The price of gold struck a new all-time peak of US$863.11 an ounce on the London Bullion Market on Wednesday. Unrest in Pakistan, a faltering dollar and surging oil sent the price of gold soaring to a record level, beating the previous highest level of US$850 set 28 years ago. The price slipped back slightly to US$861.57 yesterday. According to analysts, price movements were being slightly exaggerated by the lightness of holiday trade, which meant large transactions could influence the market more than usual.
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
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘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
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