The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus said yesterday it would propose an amendment to the Petroleum Management Law (石油管理法) to restrict and impose taxes on oil product exports.
DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) told a press conference that while CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油, CPC) made profits of just NT$15.4 billion (US$510 million) last year, Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) made NT$78.5 billion. In the first quarter of this year Formosa has enjoyed a surplus of NT$13 billion, while CPC has incurred losses of more than NT$20 billion.
Wong said she suspected Formosa had profited from exporting oil products.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said statistics showed that while Formosa has exported 63 percent of the petroleum it refines, CPC has only exported 21 percent. Formosa exported 84 percent of the diesel oil it refined, while CPC exported just 29 percent.
Wong said the proposed amendment would restrict oil companies from exporting oil products.
She said the amendment also imposes export taxes on oil products.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus expressed support.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said: “We agree to this proposal. After all, Taiwan does not produce oil, but has to rely on imports for all crude oil and gasoline products.”
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan