■ Global Economy
Growth of 4.75% projected
The world economy, led by Asia and the US, is projected to grow 4.75 percent this year, the strongest performance in a generation, according to a semiannual forecast from the Institute for International Economics. "It is clear we are in a boom right now -- a US boom, a world boom," C. Fred Bergsten, director of the research group, told an audience at its Washington headquarters. Global growth may reach 4 percent next year, the strongest two-year performance since the early 1980s, the group said. With record-low interest rates and high budget deficits in the US and elsewhere, nations have few weapons left to protect their economies from a sudden increase in oil prices or other shocks, it said. Oil prices have jumped 18.5 percent from a year ago.
■ Aircraft Makers
Boeing upbeat about 7E7
US aircraft maker Boeing Co said yesterday it expects steady demand for its new 7E7 Dreamliner jets in Asia. The mid-sized 7E7 "is right for a lot of airlines," particularly those in Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, said Thomas Pickering, Boeing's senior vice president for international relations. Boeing says the 7E7s, which carry 200 to 250 passengers, will be lighter and more fuel-efficient than other comparable models. Pickering refused to give sales targets or details of continuing negotiations with Asian airlines. But he said Boeing is in close contact with key customers to discuss "every aspect of the airplane." The company has said it plans to sell 2,000 to 3,000 of the 7E7 jets in the next 20 years, although it didn't provide a regional breakdown for the sales.
■ Fortune 500
Asians under-represented
Ethnic-Asians are woefully under-represented on the boards of the Fortune 500 list of top US corporations, Chinese-American leaders said Thursday. Asian- and Pacific-Americans make up about 4 percent of the US population, but the percentage of seats they hold on the boards of top firms represents only about one-fourth of that number, the Committee of 100 said in its first "report card" on Asian-American corporate representation. The group said that the lack of Asians on the board of the top global companies represented missed opportunities for corporate America as it is not tapping a significant Asian talent pool. "We believe this report card makes a compelling case for corporate America to diversify its boards with more Asian-Pacific Americans," said committee chairman Bob Lee.
■ Internet
Number of Web sites jumps
China had about 600,000 approved Web sites by the end of last year, up 60 percent over 2002, state media said yesterday, pointing to the booming popularity of the Internet since it first became available in the country in the early 1990s. About 90 percent of the Web sites came from China's eastern, northern and southern provinces, and few were from the economically backward western region, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a report by the government-linked China Internet Network Information Center. Beijing, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai ranked in the top four for numbers of Web sites, accounting for nearly 57 percent of the total, the report 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
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
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
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