■ Semiconductors
Chip VAT rebates extended
Weeks after agreeing to scrap tax rebates to Chinese semiconductor makers following US complaints, Beijing says it has a new plan for similar reimburse-ments on products that contain chips made in China. The new plan, announced on Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission, appears to apply to chips made in China by both domestic and foreign com-panies. Chip makers with factories outside China complained that the earlier measure unfairly hurt them in the Chinese market by return-ing a 17 percent VAT to domestic makers on chip sales in China while foreign producers got nothing. The new plan will give a full VAT rebate on exports of pro-ducts that contain chips made in China, the com-mission said on its Web site.
■ Semiconductors
Hynix fined for bad books
South Korean microchip giant Hynix Semiconductor has been fined for irregular accounting practices, financial regulators said yesterday. The Securities and Futures Commission said Hynix has been fined 2 billion won (US$1.7 mil-lion) for falsifying its accounts to the tune of 1.98 trillion won in 1999. Former Hynix president Park Jong-Sup and two other exec-utives have been referred to prosecutors for punishment, the commission said. Hynix admitted its former manage-ment was involved in illegal accounting but said the company had since cleaned up its financial statements.
■ Telecoms
SingTel ready to launch 3G
Singapore Telecommunica-tions (SingTel) said yester-day it will commercially launch its high-speed third generation (3G) mobile service within months, putting it at the forefront of Southeast Asian telecoms firms looking to roll out the technology. SingTel said it will start a month-long trial for 150 customers tomor-row and use their feedback to fine-tune problems before beginning full commercial operations. The commercial start-up could come as early as the end of this year, although it was more likely to be the first quarter of next year, a top official said.
■ Banking
Share purchase to end
Japan's central bank plans to stop buying stocks from the nation's banks later this month because financial markets have stabilized, officials say. In an unprece-dented move, the Bank of Japan decided in 2002 to buy shares from banks to pump more money into the financial system as the economy struggled with a slowdown that lasted more than a decade. The measure was initially intended to last a year, but the bank extended it for one more year. The pur-chases were slated to end on Sept. 30, and would need a special extension.
■ Automobiles
Chinese await price cuts
China's vehicle imports rose at a slower pace last month as potential buyers held off purchasing new vehicles in anticipation prices will fall further. Imports rose 2.6 percent last month from a year earlier to 12,000 vehicles, compared with a 5.4 percent increase in July, the commerce ministry said in its Web site. Total vehicle imports gained 6.5 percent to 124,700 units in the first eight months of the year, the ministry said. China will remove import quotas and cut tariffs to 30 percent next year from as much as 37.6 percent in order to meet its WTO obligations.
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