■ Automakers
Mazda to boost production
Japan's Mazda Motor Corp will double annual car production to 45,000 units in China next year from this year's projection, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday. Japan's fifth-largest car maker plans to finish building new production lines next month at its Chinese partner, Faw Hainan Motor Co, at a total cost of ?2 billion (US$16 million), the business daily said. With the new production lines, Faw Hainan, based in Haikou, Hainan island, will raise output of Mazda's Premacy minivan and Familia subcompact to 30,000 units next year from 22,000 this year, it said. Mazda will newly entrust to China FAW Group Corp's subsidiary production of 15,000 units of Atenza midsize models starting next March, the newspaper said.
■ Trade
Minnesota eyes China
Minnesota's expanding agricultural trade with China will provide a US$428 million lift for the state's economy and generate more than 5,000 new jobs by 2010, according to a new study from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Minnesota exports to China will generate 3,600 new jobs and an additional US$307 million in economic activity by 2005, the study found. Last year, the state's agriculture exports to China topped US$149 million -- roughly 6 percent of the state total. The economic impact of the exports was US$285 million, and the exports supported more than 3,000 jobs.
■ Real estate
Malaysia still struggling
Analysts have warned that Malaysia's sluggish property market would remain weak in the near future with the government saying a shocking 10 billion ringgit (US$2.6 billion) worth of office space remains unoccupied. Although interest rates are low, a declining stock market and cautious consumer sentiment, among other factors weigh down the sector, they said. Nizam Idris, Singapore-based regional economist with IDEAglobal market research company attributed the glut to steady supply met by weak demand and a fragile economy. "There is still a lot of supply overhang. Demand has not been strong," he said. Nizam said the right step forward would be to cut supply but there was not much the government could do to bolster demand. "People are worried about the economy. Consumers are cautious and delaying big capital expenditure like buying cars and houses," he said.
■ Internet
EBay indicates hot toys
EBay Inc has become a bellwether of what's hot in the toy market, with retailers and analysts keeping an eye on the Web auction site to divine the bestsellers in the holiday season, the Washington Post reported. Most US retailers get more than half their annual sales in the months leading up to Christmas, and the site helps them understand a consumer's willingness to pay for certain items, the Post said. Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Toy `R' Us Inc. Target Corp, KB Toys and Kmart Corp have the bulk of toy sales. While they don't consider EBay a major rival, they do keep tabs on it, according to the newspaper. The retailers cut prices on the hot toys to attract customers, said Greg Ahearn of toysrus.com Consumers go to EBay searching for hard-to-find items. If all the winning bids were added up, their value could reach US$1 billion by the end of the year.
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
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