■ Electronic
Sanyo to invest in China
Japanese electronics maker Sanyo Electric has signed a deal in China to invest US$300 million in new production facilities, state press reported Thursday. Sanyo will sink US$120 million into the initial phase of investment in the eastern city of Suzhou's high-tech zone, the Oriental Morning Post said. The 60,000m2 production base will serve as a multi-purpose center for research and development, production, processing and sales of Sanyo's electronic sectors, the newspaper said. Sanyo Electric Co Ltd earned net profits of ¥3.6 billion (US$30.3 million) in the first quarter this year, up 1.3 percent from the same period last year. The company's domestic sales rose 9.1 percent to ¥296 billion, while overseas sales jumped 22.5 percent to ¥289.5 billion.
■ Beverages
Soda is safe, India says
Government tests show that soft drinks produced by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo operators in India are safe to drink, countering claims by an environmental group that they contained dangerous levels of pesticide residue, the health minister said yesterday. Sushma Swaraj told Parliament samples of the drinks had residue levels that fell "well within" Indian safety limits for bottled water, although they did not meet EU standards as had been claimed by the two companies. There are no standards for soft drinks in India, so the standard for bottled water was used by the government's food testing laboratory in the southern Indian city of Mysore. The results cut across charges of high residue levels reported by the privately run Center for Science and Environmental on Aug. 5.
■ Real estate
CBRE releases office survey
Occupancy costs for prime office space in Asian cities are the lowest in Manila, Jakarta and Bangkok, a study showed yesterday. Among 14 cities covered by the CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) findings, Grade A office space was US$0.84 per square foot at the end of June in the capital of the Philippines. Next was US$1.01 in Jakarta and US$1.02 in Bangkok. Occupancy cost is rent inclusive of service charges and taxes. Costliest by far was Tokyo, at US$9.51 while Mumbai emerged second at US$3.23, Hong Kong at US$2.99 and Seoul at US$2.72. With occupancy costs sliding since 2001, Singapore came out fifth at US$2.56, a 10 percent decline from the previous quarter. It is still more expensive than New Delhi, at US$2.32, Shanghai, US$2.25, Beijing, US$2.13 and Taipei, US$2.01, the study found.
■ Tobacco
RJ Reynolds cuts workers
RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc, the second-biggest US cigarette maker, will eliminate an unspecified number of jobs to reduce costs as competition from discount brands hurts sales and profit. Employees were asked to consider severance packages to minimize firings, said Carole Crosslin, a spokeswoman for the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company. She declined to comment on how many of the company's 7,500 jobs will be cut. The company also plans to reduce benefits and limit overtime pay and end its practice of matching contributions by employees and retirees to arts and educational groups. Second-quarter profit at RJ Reynolds tumbled 67 percent and sales fell 16 percent and its shares have tumbled 23 percent this year.
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