Formosa Plastics Group chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) confirmed yesterday that the company is considering investing in the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), which is reportedly struggling to raise the NT$7.5 billion needed to continue construction.
The troubled THSRC failed to raise the sum through issuance of preferred shares because of funding shortfalls by some of its investors, the company said in a statement.
PHOTO: WU CHUN-FUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wang told reporters that President Chen Shui-bian (
Wang said he will make a final decision after reviewing an evaluation report which he has requested from Ing. He said he has not yet received the report.
Arthur Chiang (
Chiang said the company needs to raise NT$6 billion by March and NT$7.5 billion by May to continue construction of the 345km line connecting the north and south of the country.
The THSRC has completed 78 percent of the project and today will test-drive a train on a 60km stretch of track between Kaohsiung and Tainan, a test that was postponed for more than three months. The delay triggered doubts over whether the company could launch the service by the end of October as scheduled.
Chiang said the delay was mainly because of uninstalled core electrical systems.
The company has asked the contractor to accelerate work, and the final deadline has not been revised.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique