■ PROPERTY
China to penalize hoarders
In a new effort to boost supplies of housing and cool surging costs, the Chinese government said yesterday it would penalize developers that hoard land to push up prices. Developers that acquire government land and leave it undeveloped for one year will be charged a tax of 20 percent of the purchase price, the Cabinet said on its Web site. It said parcels that go undeveloped for two years can be confiscated without compensation. The step adds to a string of government measures imposed in recent months to cool China's booming real estate market and ensure adequate supplies of housing for the poor.
■ ENERGY
Seoul to boost loans
South Korea's Ministry of Finance and Economy said yesterday it would increase lending by a state-run bank to finance overseas resources development projects by public firms to secure steady supply. "It is necessary for public corporations such as Korea National Oil Corp, Korea Gas and Korea Resources to expand their operations to overseas resources development to secure stable supply of energy resources," the ministry said in a statement. The Export and Import Bank of Korea plans to raise loans to overseas investment and resources development projects to 9.12 trillion won (US$9.7 billion) by 2015 from 2.47 trillion won last year, it said.
■ AIRLINES
China Eastern rejects bid
Shareholders in China's third-largest airline yesterday rejected a bid by Singapore Airlines to buy a minority stake after rival Chinese carrier Air China offered more money in an unusual takeover battle involving two state-owned companies. China Eastern Airlines supported the Singapore carrier's bid, made jointly with its parent, the government investment agency Temasek Holdings Ltd. A deal would have brought the struggling Chinese airline cash and foreign expertise, but shareholders voted against it at a meeting in China Eastern's home city of Shanghai, the airline said. The rejection was a blow to Singapore's efforts to gain a foothold in China's booming air travel market.
■ AUTOMOBILES
No new alliances: Chrysler
Struggling US automaker Chrysler LLC dismissed rumors of new alliances on Monday but said there was room to grow existing partnerships. "The Nissan rumored conversation is still not anything since there is no substance that exists at this point," Chrysler vice chairman Jim Press told a conference call with reporters. Press also waved off reports that Chrysler was in talks with Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra. But he did not rule out future alliances. "We will continue to use the potential of affiliations to broaden our products line," Press said. He also reported that Chrysler sales outside of North America last year hit a record 238,215 units.
■ PROPERTY
US to address downturn
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday that the housing market's woes were far from over and that the government was studying fresh measures to minimize economic harm. Paulson said in a speech to securities analysts in New York that a housing correction had been "inevitable" following years of rocketing property prices, but that the government wanted to provide effective remedies to offset the housing downturn rather than providing quick fixes.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the