■ Chip transistors
IBM makes world's fastest
International Business Machines Corp scientists have developed the world's fastest transistor for communications chips, which may make sending video and other applications over the Internet easier. The prototype can operate at speeds of 350GHz, more than three times faster than the speediest transistor IBM sells today, said Ronald Soicher, a director of business development at IBM's Microelectronics division. Details will be released at a technical conference in San Francisco next month. Mobile-phone makers and other companies may install the transistors in gear that sends information over a network to personal computers, phones and wireless devices. The transistors will be commercially available in about two years, Soicher said.
■ Free trade
Regional pact signed
Australia and Singapore have agreed on a free trade pact, which is expected to be signed in the next few months, Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said on Sunday. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) news comes shortly after Singapore said it was prepared to open its banking sector further to foreign players as it moves closer to trade deals with major trading partners such as the US. The trade deal will be Australia's first bilateral FTA since the conclusion of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement nearly 20 years ago, Vaile said in a statement. He said the deal with Singapore would create a wide range of opportunities for Australian business, open up markets worth "hundreds of millions of dollars", and send a "powerful" message to the rest of the region that Australia is open to negotiations.
■ China Telecom
IPO size may be cut
China's biggest fixed-line operator China Telecom Corp Ltd may cut the size of its initial public offering by half after having to delay the IPO last week due to poor demand, a report said yesterday. China Telecom may relaunch its IPO, which had been set to raise up to 3.68 billion dollars, on Tuesday at the earliest, reported the Chinese-language Hong Kong Economic Times, citing sources close to the deal. China Telecom said last week its Hong Kong public offering would not be completed as scheduled, amid weak share market sentiment, for telecoms stocks in particular. The company had been scheduled to release pricing details on Thursday last week for the dual listing in Hong Kong and New York.
■ Free trade
China proposes zone
China proposed establishing a free trade zone with Japan and South Korea, a Japanese official said yesterday. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji raised the suggestion in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo, said the official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. They agreed to let private-sector experts study the feasibility of the deal to strengthen ties between the world's biggest nation and two top industrialized economies, the official said A free trade deal would presumably facilitate commerce and investment by bringing down tariffs and other barriers. No timetable was set for reaching an agreement, according to the Japanese official. The leaders met during an ASEAN summit.
Agencies
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
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
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
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