■ Internet
New standard agreed
Four Japanese electronics makers have agreed to work together in developing a common standard to link refrigerators and other home appliances to the Internet. Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Sharp Corp and Sanyo Electric Co said yesterday that the system called "iReady," which stands for "Internet ready" or "I am ready," will make network appliances from each of the makers compatible and help reduce development costs. Proposed network appliances include ovens that cook dishes following downloaded recipes and home-heating systems that can be adjusted from mobile phones.
■ Investment
Glut feared in China
China's investment in real estate, factories and other fixed assets jumped 29.6 percent in the first 11 months of this year, the government said yesterday. The announcement came amid official warnings that Chinese businesses are investing too much in steel production and other fields, raising the risks of an industrial glut and financial problems. Spending on fixed assets from January to November totaled 3.5 trillion yuan (US$419.1 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. It said the figure in November was up 25.3 percent from the same month last year at 415.2 billion yuan (US$50.3 billion).
■ Japan
Agency affirms ratings
International credit ratings agency Fitch affirmed Japan's ratings yesterday, saying the pace of a decline in the country's creditworthiness has slowed. Fitch affirmed Japan's long-term foreign and local currency ratings at AA and AA-minus, respectively, while the short-term foreign currency rating is affirmed at F1-plus. The negative outlook for the long-term ratings is unchanged as the country continues to suffer deflationary pressure and the structural weaknesses in the economy may undermine the recovery.
■ Trade
China earns mixed marks
China's trading partners gave it mixed marks in an annual review in Geneva on Tuesday, welcoming moves to adapt economic policies to WTO norms, but complaining of problems in areas such as patent protection. A US envoy pointed to progress in reducing quotas on imports and in cutting the minimum capital requirements for foreign firms wanting to enter the insurance sector. But on the negative side, China was still not doing enough to enforce rules on protecting intellectual property rights and patents.
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