■ 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.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
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