■ Japan
Economy worsening: official
The Japanese government left its assessment of the economy unchanged yester-day after three straight months of downgrades but admitted conditions were worsening as private demand slumps. "While movements of an incipient recovery can be seen in some areas, the state of the economy has weakened somewhat," the Cabinet Office said in its report for this month. The announce-ment came two days after the Bank of Japan left its economic assessment unchanged for the third straight month, saying a pick-up in exports had triggered hopes for a grad-ual recovery. One official offered a downbeat view of the economy yesterday, saying the trend was down-wards. "Though we have not changed the statement of the overall assessment, the actual economic conditions are worsening from the previous month," he told a briefing.
■ Trade
Lamy worried by US stance
Europe's trade chief said on Tuesday he was concerned that the US was taking an increasingly hard line against international trade rules. Pascal Lamy has led several disputes against the US, most recently over steel tariffs in March last year. The two have also sparred over a EU ban on gene-tically-modified foods and subsidies to farmers. "My feeling is that the situation which the [US] administra-tion is facing is becoming more and more compli-cated," Lamy said in a speech to a gathering of parliamentarians from NATO state at the European Parliament. He said there was a tough battle between the White House and Con-gress for control of trade policy. "The result is that we are seeing a fairly hard line forming on Capitol Hill against the submission of the United States to decisions by the WTO," he said.
■ Automobiles
Chery to make cars in Iran
SAIC Chery Automobile Co, a venture 20 percent owned by China's biggest vehicle maker, will make passenger cars in Iran this year, becoming the first Chinese automaker to move offshore as domestic competition heightens. Chery and Iranian car parts-maker SKT Co will build a factory in northeastern Iran with the capacity to manufacture up to 30,000 A11 passenger cars, Chery spokesman Li Huiyou said. The cars will run on 1.6-liter engines, he said. Chery and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp are seeking fresh markets abroad as Ford Motor Co, Mazda Motor Corp and other foreign automakers crowd into a China market where car sales growth is expected to slow to about 20 percent this year from 50 percent last year. Chery, based in Anhui Province, plans to double car sales to 100,000 units this year, or to 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), Li said. It will collect an undisclosed fee from the Iranian venture through selling SKT its technology and compo-nents, Li said.
■ Telecoms
Singapore firm fined for ad
The mobile arm of Singa-pore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) was fined for placing misleading informa-tion in its newspaper advertisements last October after complaints from rival operators, regulator Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) said. The IDA said on its Web site that "SingTel Mobile had breached" a section of the Telecom Competition Code and ordered the operator to pay a fine of S$ 5,000 Singapore dollars (US$2,873).
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