Taiwan stocks fell, as investors took profit a day after posting the biggest jump in a month, as Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"If the DPP don't have a majority in the next election [in December] they will have to compromise on every issue," said David Lee (
"This sets a very bad example." Chang and parliamentary Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
TSMC fell NT$4, or 4.1 percent, to NT$94.00 on concern slower global growth will hurt demand for its chips. Last week, TSMC Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said first-quarter profit and sales will fall by at least a quarter as slower global growth saps demand for its chips. The world's No. 1 build-to-order chipmaker's operating margins will fall 24 percent during the same period, while use of production capacity will fall to 70 percent, Chang said.
United Microelectronic Corp (
Semiconductor "supply increased, demand slowed over the third and fourth quarters" last year, said Andrew Lu (陸行之), head of regional technology research at Salomon Smith Barney Securities Taiwan Ltd. "There is a major slowdown in demand for chips in the telecommunication sector." First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) rose NT$0.40, or 1.5 percent, to NT$27.50 after earlier rising as much as 6.6 percent. The government-controlled bank will merge with Pan Asia Bank Co (泛亞銀行) and Dah-An Commercial Bank of Taiwan (大安銀行) That marks the second, three-way Taiwan bank merger in two days, as the government pushes for consolidation among lenders burdened by bad loans and poor returns. Finance Minister Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) said there will be more mergers in coming months.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) fell NT$3.5, or 3.6 percent, to NT$94.5. Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it's lowering its 2000 and 2001 earnings per share forecast for the notebook manufacturer because of investment losses in its thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) manufacturing operations.
Goldman's new EPS estimates are NT$4.67 in 2000 from NT$4.76 and Via Technologies Inc (威盛) fell NT$14, or 4.2 percent, to NT$323. The world's No. 2 chipset company plans to spend US$13 million to consolidate and expand its support and distribution network for central processing units in China.
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