■ IPR
Sharp sued over LCDs
A former Sharp Corp employee has sued the Japanese consumer electronics maker for Y500 million (US$4.6 million) over key technology he claims to have developed for use in flat-screen products, reports said yesterday. The suit was filed Tuesday with the Osaka District Court. The former researcher claims to have invented technology that improved the efficiency of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) while cutting their cost and power usage, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said. The man in his sixties was paid ?770,000 after his retirement for his extra work while the firm is expected to see profits of ?96 billion from LCD patents based on his work before they expire in 2009, the suit claimed.
■ China
Ex-GITIC chief sentenced
Capping one of China's biggest financial debacles, a court sentenced the former general manager of the bankrupt Guangdong International Trust and Investment Corp (GITIC) to 14 years in prison on Mon-day, official media reported yesterday. Huang Yantian was found guilty of fraud and illegal investments that contributed to the trust's multibillion-dollar collapse, the state-run China Daily reported. GITIC closed down in October 1998 after defaulting on more than US$4.7 billion in debts owed to foreign and domestic institutions. Huang was found responsible for causing at least 900 million yuan (US$109 million) in losses at the trust, the China Daily said.
■ Semiconductors
Hynix in talks on plant
French-Italian semiconduc-tor maker STMicroelec-tronics said on Tuesday that it is in talks with South Korean partner Hynix Semiconductors about building a join fabrication plant in China. The com-pany said a decision on whether to build the semi-conductor factory with Hynix would be made within six to eight weeks. STMicro and Hynix already have a joint venture for NAND flash memory chip production. Hynix said three months ago that it was having talks with STMicro about a Chinese plant.
■ Malaysia
Extra security for cigarettes
Malaysian tobacco firms were introducing security marks on cigarette packs yesterday under a govern-ment plan to curb sales of contraband tobacco. British-American Tobacco (Malaysia), which controls 67 percent of the country's cigarette market, expects 40 million ringgit (US$10.6 million) in extra costs annually from the marks, analysts said. The costs would add about 10 percent to the company's yearly operating expenses, but marks may help it and other companies raise sales of duty-paid products and increase their market share, said Edward Ong, an analyst for ING Financial Markets.
■ Outsourcing
Hallmark signs job deal
Hallmark Cards Inc said it has signed a seven-year, US$230 million deal to outsource some of its high-tech jobs. The deal announced Tuesday will keep the jobs, at least initially, at the firm's Kansas City headquarters. Affiliated Computer Services, based in Dallas, will set up a tech-nical services center that will employ 145 former Hallmark workers, who will provide technical support, network programming and other computer assistance. As part of the deal, the145 jobs cannot be shifted to ACS's operations in India.
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