■ Aviation
Private airlines OK'd
China has approved preparations for the establishment of two private airlines that hope to offer chartered passenger and cargo flights out of the eastern municipalities of Shanghai and Tianjin, state press reported yesterday. The Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) has given the green light for the establishment of Shanghai-based Spring and Autumn Airlines and the Tianjin-based Aokai Airlines, the China Business Daily reported. Both companies are expected to finalize the make-up of their companies within two years, when they will be able to seek final approval for operations, the newspaper said. No other details were provided. In February, CAAC approved the establishment of Yinglian Airlines Co, which is expected to become China's first privately-owned airline.
■ File-Swapping
More suits in the works
A new wave of lawsuits is being prepared against the most prolific Internet song-swappers as part of an expanding global crackdown on Internet piracy, music industry officials said yesterday. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said it will sue 24 individuals in Denmark for trading music files online and it warned Britain, France and Sweden that they could be added to the list of target countries. "It's inevitable," said Jay Berman, IFPI CEO, when asked of the likelihood those countries would be included. He added that Japan, the world's second largest music market, is also a strong candidate for lawsuits as recorded music sales there continue to slide. The music industry has already sued 2,947 people in the US and has announced more than 230 suits.
■ Retailing
Home Depot eyes China
The Home Depot is expanding into China with the hope of one day becoming the largest home improvement store chain in Asia and rivaling the success it has had in the US, company officials said. The Atlanta-based retailer would not say how many stores it plans for China or when its first store there will open, but it named Bill Patterson to the newly created position of Home Depot president of Asia. "Anything The Home Depot takes on we will do with the same intensity," Patterson said. "I think anybody's goal would certainly like to be the biggest player." China, with a huge population and gross domestic product, offers Home Depot a chance to tap into a nearly US$50 billion home improvement market. The market there is currently fragmented, with several players with only a few dozen stores each. Germany's OBI is among the major home improvement retailers there now.
■ Bankruptcy
Indonesia overturns verdict
Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned a controversial bankruptcy verdict giant Prudential Life, an official said yesterday. On April 23, the Central Jakarta commercial court declared PT Prudential Life Assurance bankrupt on the grounds that a former consultant had demanded US$40 million in damages after the company terminated a contract with him. The court ruled Lee was owed US$400,000. Under Indonesia's 1999 Bankruptcy Law, a company is deemed bankrupt if it is proven that it has not repaid at least two creditors instead of on the basis of its financial sheet. The commercial court's ruling against PT Prudential Life Assurance, which boasts US$180 million in local assets, sparked outcry from foreign investors.
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