■ Economics
Minister warns of tax hikes
Japan must increase tax revenues to pay for welfare and other such programs, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said. ``While efforts need to be made to cut back on spending, it's inevitable that tax burdens will need to be increased to boost revenue,'' Tanigaki said on Fuji Television's Hodo 2001 program yesterday. Japan's public debt, the heaviest among industrialized countries, is expected to reach ?719 trillion (US$6.78 trillion), or 144 percent of GDP, by March, the govern-ment has estimated. Policy makers including Tanigaki have said that the govern-ment could roll back tax cuts it implemented to 1999 to help boost revenue. Tanigaki said that the economy is in better shape than it was when the cuts were implemented to boost consumer spending.
■ Advertising
Nike still showing ad in HK
Nike is continuing to screen a controversial TV ad in Hong Kong showing US basketball star LeBron James, after pulling the ad from China. Last week Nike issued a "deep apology to Chinese consumers" for the ad which shows James defeating a kung-fu master, two women fighters and a pair of dragons. China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said the ad offended national feelings and stirred up "strong public indig-nation." Nike said it will continue to screen the ad in Hong Kong where it claimed reaction to the campaign had been entirely positive. The South China Morning Post said the ad will be aired during English Premier League and National Bas-ketball Association broad-casts. The Hong Kong Tele-vision Licensing Authority said it had received only one complaint about the ad.
■ Trade
Red tape slowing exports
India is witnessing an export boom with 24 per-cent growth this year, but businesses still often run into red tape, the commerce minister said on Saturday. India is bringing down tariff levels, cutting state sub-sidies and plans to double its 0.7 percent share of world trade by 2009 with export growth of more than 20 percent annually. Ex-ports in the eight months since April, when the finan-cial year began, were valued at US$46 billion, a growth of more than 24 percent over the same period last year, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath reported on Saturday in a meeting with top officials. Exports for this year and next are likely to reach US$75 billion, Nath was quoted as saying by the government's Press Infor-mation Bureau. The export boom is led by gems and jewelry, minerals, engineer-ing goods and chemical products, it said in a state-ment. The government projects that exports will grow to US$150 billion by 2008-2009.
■ Toys
Barbie complaint nixed
Germany's federal court of justice on Saturday ruled against giving Barbie a monopoly in the themed doll market, saying that a German rival called Steffi Love had every right to compete with her. Mattel Inc had sought an injunction against Simba Toys. Mattel said its good reputation was being exploited by Simba, which it accused of mis-leading consumers about the origin of its products. But the court said the con-cept of a doll with acces-sories could not be copy-righted. The court ruled that with 82 percent of the German market for Barbie-type dolls, Mattel could not prevent rivals from launching similar products.
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