■ Airlines
War may spur changes
War in Iraq would see consolidation in the international aviation industry as some marginal airlines collapsed due to a fall in passenger numbers, the head of Australian flag carrier Qantas said yesterday. "If there was a war in Iraq, I believe we will have failures of airlines," Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon told Network Nine television's Sunday business program. "The inevitable consolidation that must be necessary in an industry that has such high people and capital costs will happen." Describing the state of the global aviation industry as "chaos," Dixon said that Qantas would be "well placed" to take advantage of an industry consolidation in the event of war in Iraq. "Perhaps we will be in the position to be able to look at whether there is potential opportunities out there," he said. Qantas has been one of the few international carriers to prosper following a global downturn in travel after the Sept. 11 attacks in the US.
■ Economic crime
SK executive arrested
SK Group Vice Chairman Chey Tae-won was arrested by South Korean prosecutors for misuse of funds at companies in the country's third largest business group. Chey was arrested last night under a special economic crime law and remains in custody, said Lim Su Kil, an SK Group spokesman. Kim Chang-keun, an official at SK Group's restructuring office, which operates as the group headquarters, was also held. Calls to the office of Lee In-kyu, head of the Seoul District Prosecutor investigation department, which questioned Chey, were not answered. Chey was investigated on suspicion of illegal stock trading alleged to have taken place between him and SK units. Prosecutors Friday summoned the 42-year-old nephew of the SK Group's founder as part of a probe into alleged purchases by SK units of Chey's stock in a hotel company for more than market value.
■ Memory chips
Elpida out to raise funds
Elpida Memory Inc, the memory-chip venture between NEC Corp. and Hitachi Ltd, intends to raise ¥80 billion (US$676 million) to boost its production capacity of silicon wafers, President Yukio Sakamoto said. The ¥80 billion will be invested to increase monthly capacity of 300mm silicon wafers to around 15,000 from the current 3,000, Sakamoto said in a telephone interview. He didn't identify investors. Silicon wafers are the material from which semiconductors are cut and packaged. Elpida, whose liabilities have exceeded assets since its inception in December 1999, in November said it aims to be the world's third-largest memory-chip maker within the next three years.
■ Erectile helpers
Chinese product marketed
A Viagra-style capsule based on traditional Chinese medicine has gone on sale at drug stores in China's largest city Shanghai, state media said yesterday. The Jianyang Capsule is the first medicine for erectile dysfunction using traditional ingredients to be given the green light for over-the-counter sale, Xinhua news agency reported. Interest is expected to be huge, and about 500 drug stores in the city are likely to eventually offer the product, according to the agency. Erectile dysfuntion is up to three times more frequent in Shanghai than in inland areas.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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