■ Banking
S Korean bad loans rising
South Korean banks' bad loans increased 19 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months as an economic slowdown caused more individuals to fall behind on their debts, Yonhap News said. The lenders' bad loans rose to 3.2 percent of all credits, or 22.4 trillion won (US$19 billion), at the end of June, compared with 18.7 trillion won reported at the end of March and 15.1 trillion won at the end of last year, the report said, citing unidentified officials in the banking industry. Among the lenders, Woori Bank reduced its bad loans by 3.1 percent at the end of June from March, while Koram Bank and Shinhan Bank each posted increases of more than 50 percent, the report said. The number of South Koreans behind on debt payments rose to 3.35 million in July, 3.8 percent more than in June.
■ Automobiles
Mitsubishi reduces delays
Mitsubishi Motors Corp plans to reduce the time it takes to deliver a new car to a customer by about a third by October to boost domestic sales, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The company will reduce the delivery time to within 20 days from the current average of 29 days, the paper said, without saying where it obtained the information. Mitsubishi Motors, which earlier eliminated inventories at factories to reduce costs, now plans to have an inventory of between 3,000 and 4,000 cars, enough supply for five days to one week, the paper said. Mitsubishi Motors said delivery time is an important factor in customers' decisions when they compare minivans and small cars offered by different automakers, the paper reported. The 20-day delivery time would probably be the shortest in the industry, the report said.
■ Telecom
NEC boosts production
NEC Corp and Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's largest telecommunications equipment makers, plan to raise output of devices used for Internet phones to meet demand from companies switching to the technology, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. NEC, the nation's biggest telecom equipment maker, aims to expand sales of equipment such as Internet-compatible switches and gateway devices by a fifth to ¥30 billion (US$255 million) in its current business year ending March 31. Rivals Fujitsu, Oki Electric Industry Co, and Hitachi Ltd will also boost production of such devices by as much as 60 percent this business year, the newspaper said. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp, Japan's biggest phone company, earlier this month said it plans to begin offering Internet phone services to companies as early as October. The NTT group is NEC's biggest customer.
■ Macroeconomics
China raises deposit ratio
The Chinese government raised the minimum ratio of deposits commercial banks must place with the central bank by one percentage point to 7 percent effective Sept. 21, the South China Morning Post reported. The increase, aimed at preventing the money supply from rising too fast, would take about 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion) out of circulation, the newspaper said, citing the People's Bank of China. The change is the strongest signal of China's determination to slow the economy which has shown signs of growing too fast, it said. The change is the second time the Chinese government has acted to slow an increase in the money supply, the Post said.
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