Sinking Philippine tanker sparks diesel spill

MANILA: A Philippine fuel tanker partially sank in the country’s waters on Tuesday (Feb 28), authorities said, as they tried to contain a diesel spill stretching several kilometres. The Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil from Bataan province, near the capital Manila, to the central provinceContinue Reading

The mythology of a tax haven crackdown

About a decade ago, the world’s biggest economies agreed to crack down on multinational corporations’ abusive use of tax havens. This resulted in a 15-point action plan that aimed to curb practices that shielded a large chunk of corporate profits from tax authorities. But, according to our estimates, it hasn’t worked. Instead of reining in […]Continue Reading

China says US overstretching concept of national security, abusing state power on TikTok ban

BEIJING: China says the United States is overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress foreign companies after the White House gave government agencies 30 days to remove Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices. “We firmly oppose those wrong actions,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao NingContinue Reading

China’s President Xi Jinping, poised for third term, urges ‘intensive’ state and party revamp

“REJUVENATION” China’s “rejuvenation” must be guided by Xi and the Central Committee as national governance is “modernised”, the Central Committee said in a communique but it offered no details. “It is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement a new development concept,” the committee, the largest of the party’s topContinue Reading

Tax-evading tax collectors living high on the hog in Indonesia

JAKARTA – Indonesia may have a tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of only 11.9%, one of the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region, but nothing gets up the nose of the citizenry more than government officials in positions of influence seemingly living beyond their means. So it is with the latest case involving middle-ranking taxman Rafael Alun Trisambodo, who […]Continue Reading