■ Asian Banking
Corporate lending lags
Asian banks are lagging behind their Western rivals in some regional corporate lending activities in terms of quality of products and services offered, a survey said yesterday. US financial giant Citigroup and British-based HSBC and Standard Chartered collectively account for 49.3 percent of the primary transaction banking relationships segment as at the end of last month, Sydney-based banking research firm East and Partners said in the survey. Their share of this segment of the corporate lending market was 48.6 percent six months ago, it said. "They [foreign banks] are ahead at the moment," Paul Bartholomew. "They can offer the kind of level of products and services that large corporates expect ... they are sort of better in areas like Internet banking."
■ Aeronautics
Airbus proposals examined
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of aircraft maker Airbus, said on Monday it would re-examine proposals to launch the A350, which would rival Boeing's 7E7, on Dec. 10 but would not necessarily make a decision then. But an Airbus spokeswoman later said that "the [EADS] board fully supports the proposals brought by the Airbus management ... Final decisions will be made at the 10th December regular board meeting," she said. But an EADS spokesman quickly countered that timeline. "The board will not necessarily make a decision on Dec. 10," he said. "It will proceed with a re-examination of the matter."
■ Semiconductors
Firms detail `cell' processor
Technology giants IBM, Sony and Toshiba on Monday released the first details of their new "cell" processor, which they said will bring the performance level of supercomputers to personal computers and other home devices like high-definition television. The processor, which is to enter production next year and was set to appear first in Sony's next-generation videogame consoles in 2006, has been in development for four years and is based on a 64-bit processor core that will allow it to perform 16 trillion calculations a second. The processor, code-named Cell, will handle vastly more memory than today's consumer chips as well as enable hardware-based copyright protection and allow multiple operating systems to run at the same time, the companies said in a joint statement. Such abilities would give it a leading position in the race to create a machine that could seamlessly handle all home computing and entertainment tasks in the coming years, representing a significant challenge to the likes of Intel and Microsoft.
■ Auto Industry
Renault to invest in S Korea
French auto giant Renault said yesterday it will invest some US$570 million in South Korea over the next three years as part of its global strategy to become a key player in Asia. Renault chairman Louis Schweitzer announced the investment plan in Seoul at the launch of a new sedan, the SM7, made by Renault Samsung Motors, the group's South Korean affiliate. "The investment for the next three years will be 600 billion won [US$573 million] or 200 billion won a year," Schweitzer told a press conference. Renault's presence in South Korea is key to the French firm's expansion strategy in the fast growing Asian market, he said. According to reports, Renault will construct a 200 billion-won engine plant in Busan.
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