Construction: HK scaffolding unsafe
It has always looked highly precarious to foreign visitors. Now a new report published yesterday confirms that bamboo scaffolding really might be unsafe. The traditional scaffolding leans out of the side of buildings 30 storeys and more high around Hong Kong and is used across Asia because of bamboo's strength and its easy availability. Its proponents say bamboo is so strong there is no need to use steel scaffolding, and generations of expert scaffolders have passed on methods of tying and erecting bamboo scaffolds to dizzying heights. However, a two-year study by Hong Kong's University of Science and Technology found that the quality of the most commonly used bamboo in scaffolding varies greatly. It can also deteriorate quickly in high humidity.
Automakers: GM opens China shop
General Motors Corp has opened its first AutoWorld import dealer in northeastern China's Dalian city, to bring in Saabs, Cadillacs and Opels to the world's fastest growing vehicle market. GM plans to open five additional showrooms by the end of this year, and to expand the network to 30 outlets by the end of next year, said Lori Williams, its director of vehicle sales. "WTO is creating new opportunities for the sale of imported vehicles in China," Williams said. "We decided to take advantage and leverage our global resources and portfolio to better meet the needs of our Chinese customers." General Motors, which runs four joint ventures in China and employs more than 8,000 workers in the country, is expanding the range of its products to compete with other foreign automakers such as Volkswagen AG.
Memory Cards: Matsushita says demand up
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, in response to more demand for storage capacity in devices such as digital cameras and mobile phones, may boost production of memory cards early next year. The world's No. 1 consumer-electronics maker has seen demand for its SD memory cards surge since the company lowered prices to below those of a competing technology from Sony Corp., Matsushita Electric general manager Nobuyoshi Yokobori said in an interview. SD memory cards are postage-stamp sized devices capable of storing data such as digital music files and photographs. They've become widespread in devices such as digital cameras and portable music players because of their convenience and ability to store large quantities of digital information many times over.
Drinking study: Alcohol warps perceptions
A study has established a link between drinking alcohol and perceptions of beauty. Researchers in Scotland found evidence of the so-called "beer goggles" effect in a study involving 80 students. Glasgow University students were shown color photographs of 120 male and female St Andrews University students aged between 18 and 26. Participants were asked to rate their aesthetic properties on a scale of between one - highly unattractive -- to seven -- highly attractive. Half of the students had drunk up to four units of alcohol, equivalent to a maximum of around two pints of lager or two-and-a-half glasses of wine. The 40 tipsy aesthetes rated the people in the photographs as broadly more attractive than their abstemious counterparts.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2