■ LCD Panels
Samsung to raise output
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, said it plans to spend a combined 3.94 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) to boost production of liquid-crystal displays and memory chips. Samsung plans to spend 2.74 trillion won on production of displays used for flat-panel televisions and computer monitors, up 36 percent from last year, according to a regulatory filing by the Suwon, South-Korea based company. Samsung said it plans to spend 1.2 trillion won boosting production of memory chips, according to the filing. Samsung usually releases spending plans on a rolling basis. The company last year budgeted 3.64 trillion won for memory chips. Samsung Electronics, which spends more money than Intel Corp on capital expenditure, is leading global investments to upgrade memory and LCD facilities, underscoring the constant need to upgrade facilities in the technology industry.
■ Airlines
Cathay reports lower sales
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Asia's sixth-largest carrier by sales, said it carried 18.4 percent fewer passengers last year from the previous year, as the region's outbreak of SARS curbed travel demand. The Hong Kong-based airline flew 10.1 million passengers last year, filling 72.2 percent of its available seats, down from 77.8 percent a year earlier, it said in a faxed statement. For December alone, the carrier flew 1.1 million passengers, up 0.6 percent from a year ago. It filled 77.5 percent of seats with paying passengers last month, unchanged from the same month in 2002. Asian carriers including Japan Airlines System Corp. and Singapore Airlines Ltd slashed more than 1,150 weekly flights in May last year, when the SARS outbreak was at its worst.
■ Semiconductors
Philips unit to expand
Royal Philips Electronics NV's semiconductor unit in Singapore plans to spend US$250 million on expansion this year after demand rose in October. Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co will increase monthly output of silicon wafers, the material from which chips are cut, to 33,000 disks measuring 200mm in diameter by the end of this year, company spokeswoman Lisa Foo said, responding to a Business Times report. The company's current monthly output is 24,000 wafers a month. Systems on Silicon is 48 percent owned by Philips, 32 percent by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufact-uring Co. and 20 percent by Singapore's Economic Development Board.
■ Investment
FDI drying up
Investment by companies outside their home countries stagnated last year but should pick up this year, a UN trade body said Monday. Foreign direct investment totaled US$653.1 billion last year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Investment. That compares with US$651.2 billion the previous year. Investment into the US tripled, though it was mostly due to internal company investment shifts rather than fresh money coming in. "Led by the United States, developed countries expect stronger economic growth in 2003 and 2004, with a positive impact on corporate investment," UNCTAD said. "Further industry consolidation and an increase in mergers and acquisitions will also boost foreign direct investment. The strong euro, while hurting export-oriented companies, favors investment in the United States by EU firms."
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
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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