The stock gains tax is a “straw-man” that serves only a superficial purpose without providing any actual positive effects, Wang Chien-shien (王建瑄), the president of the Control Yuan, said recently.

Shares in Taiwan closed above the 8,300-point mark Wednesday on futures-led buying as foreign institutional investors pushed the spot market higher to add value to their futures holdings, dealers said.

The U.S. dollar rose against the Taiwan dollar Wednesday, gaining NT$0.122 to close at the day's high of NT$30.028, marking the first time since April 9 that it finished above NT$30.00, dealers said.

Indonesia's efforts to set up Morotai, one of its northernmost islands, as a special economic zone, could be concluded by the end of this year, Indonesia's representative to Taiwan Ahmad Syafri said.

The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) issued a statement early yesterday morning that Taiwan will immediately freeze all worker applications from the Philippines in-line with the president's 72-hour ultimatum for retaliatory measures against the close neighbor.

Taipei City yesterday said in light of the Philippines' refusal to officially apologize over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman, the city government has received over 30 phone calls regarding Philippine laborer working permits in the city.

Taiwan's decision to impose a hiring freeze on Filipino workers in retaliation for a Philippine attack on a Taiwanese fishing boat on May 9 will cost about 3,000 Filipinos the chance to work in Taiwan every month, Taiwan's government said yesterday.

Over 42 incidences of cross-strait trade related disputes have been logged, with six cases resolved, according to a recent announcement by organizations tasked with handling technical or business matters between Taiwan and China.

The Tourism Bureau announced yesterday that tourists scheduled to go to the Philippines can receive full refunds after deducting a certain amount of regulated fees after the Executive Yuan announced a “red” travel alert against the Philippines among eight other sanctions issued over the shooting of a local fisherman in disputed waters.

The owner of the starch manufacturer Hsieh-chi (協奇) was fined NT$60,000 and referred to prosecutors for questioning after failing to disclose the company's source for food products that recently tested positive for maleic acid (順丁烯二酸), the Public Health Department (PHD) of New Taipei City said yesterday.