■ INVESTMENT
China-bound funds dwindle
A total of 117 applications for investment in China were approved during the first two months of this year, down 25 percent from the same period last year, with the total investment amount declining 5.51 percent to NT$1.15 billion (US$37.5 million), statistics released on Friday by Taiwan's Investment Commission showed. During the two-month period, the commission also handled registration of 50 small-amount China-bound investment cases that do not require prior approval, with each investment valued at less than US$200,000 and the total amount adding up to US$6.7 million. The nation's total outbound investment reached NT$760.28 million during those two months, up 183.92 percent year-on-year, the figures show.
■ BANKING
BOJ material leaked
Confidential Bank of Japan (BOJ) material on financial institutions was leaked by an employee and posted on Web sites, the central bank said. The material, leaked from a BOJ branch in Shimane Prefecture, included information related to financial institutions' earnings and dealings in Treasury bonds, a statement from the central bank said yesterday. The sites deleted the information at the bank's request, the statement said. The employee took home the materials without the consent of his superior, the statement said.
■ TRADE
Doha better for south: US
A White House economic affairs advisor said on Friday that developing countries have more to gain than the rich north from the lower tariffs the US is seeking in the Doha round of trade talks. "The Doha round is often incorrectly characterized as a North-South issue. In fact, developing countries have the most to gain from the cut in tariffs from other developing countries," Daniel Price told a trade meeting in Hanoi. "Around 70 percent of tariffs paid by developing countries are paid to other developing countries" he said, adding that trade between developing countries is increasing 50 percent faster than overall trade.
■ BANKING
SG challenges lawsuit
French bank Societe Generale (SG) vowed on Friday to mount a "vigorous" challenge to a New York lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors and failing to clamp down on a rogue trader who ran up massive losses. The bank said it "took note" of the class action law suit filed on March 12 in a federal court in New York. The class action lawsuit alleges that Societe Generale and its chairman Daniel Bouton "misled investors regarding its activities and exposure in the subprime mortgage markets," a statement from the law firm representing the plaintiffs said. SG was also accused of insufficient controls and failure to act on information regarding unauthorized trades by junior trader Jerome Kerviel.
■ AVIATION
Berlusconi against deal
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday he would veto Air France-KLM's deal to buy Alitalia if he won April's election and promised an imminent counterbid from a domestic company. The comments by the media tycoon, ahead in polls to become the next prime minister, are the latest blow to Air France-KLM's planned takeover, which has become a hot issue in election campaigning ahead of the April 13 to April 14 vote.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
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