■ AUTOMOBILES
License plate costs millions
Without batting an eyelid, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman dished out a record US$14 million for a car license plate at a charity auction in the UAE on Saturday. "It is not huge compared to my family's fortune," Saeed Abdel Ghaffar Khouri said after bidding 52.2 million dirhams (US$14.2 million) for an Abu Dhabi license plate bearing the single number "1." "The price is fair. After all, who among us does not want to be number one," Khouri said. Emirates Auction which organized the sale said on its Web site that it had been expected to set a new world record for the most expensive car license plate in the world. Funds from the auction will be given to charities, including one that will set up a hospital for casualties from road accidents.
■ BANKING
Bank urged to cut rates
An influential think-tank yesterday urged the central Bank of Korea to cut interest rates quickly to prevent market instability stemming from wide interest rate gaps with the US. In a report published yesterday, the Korea Institute of Finance (KIF) noted that foreigners have been snapping up South Korean bonds to capitalize on the country's high interest rates compared with those of the US. "In light of foreigners' rush to the local bond market, the Bank of Korea should cut the interest rate in a pre-emptive manner," the think tank said. "If the interest rate gap between South Korea and the United States lasts for a long period, it could come as a destabilizing factor for the local bond market." Should foreign investors suddenly withdraw funds from the local bond market, it would throw the market into chaos, it warned. Citing inflation concerns and uncertainty about the global economy, the bank last Wednesday kept its key interest rate unchanged for a sixth straight month.
■ TRADE
Bush talks cotton
US President George W. Bush told West Africa's cotton producers that US subsidies to US cotton growers were a matter for Washington, Beninese President Boni Yayi said on Saturday. Yayi was speaking at a joint press conference with Bush, who spent three hours in the small west African country at the beginning of a five-nation tour of the continent. Bush "considers that the question of these subsidies was an American matter, and told me that he was well aware of the importance of this sector in the life of our people," Yayi said. The US leader advised West African countries to grow cotton and process it for added value.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Plastech deal extended
A tentative deal for auto parts supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc to continue sending parts to Chrysler LLC has been extended. The deal was set to expire on Friday. But Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier says it has been extended to Feb. 27. Both companies are awaiting a ruling expected tomorrow from Bankruptcy Judge Phillip Shefferly on Chrysler's efforts to retrieve equipment from Plastech. Dearborn-based Plastech filed for bankruptcy protection on Feb. 1 after Chrysler said it was severing business with it. Four Chrysler plants closed briefly when Plastech stopped shipping parts, but Plastech resumed sending parts under the tentative deal. Plastech supplies about 500 components for nearly all Chrysler's vehicles.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS