■ Energy Supply
China suffering blackouts
Serious power shortages have hit southwest and central China, causing many blackouts in some areas during one of the coldest months of the year, Hong Kong press said yesterday. Officials in Sichuan Province said shortages were so severe that it was not abnormal for power to be cut off at one point in time in more than 1,500 locations within a single day, The Sun newspaper reported. Sichuan boasts one of the richest hydropower resources in the country with reserves estimated at a quarter of the national total but other power plants are running low on coal and natural gas, the newspaper said. China first reported failures to meet power demand in 2000 and the situation has deteriorated steadily since then.
■ Telecoms
Deutsche policy unchanged
Deutsche Telekom has no intention of making acquisitions or stepping up investments for its mobile phone business in the US, in spite of the planned merger of rivals Sprint and Nextel, the head of German telecommunications giant said yesterday. The US market, with 280 million people and a penetration rate of only 60 percent, was large enough for the current number of players, Deutsche Telekom chief Kai-Uwe Ricke told the Financial Times and Financial Times Deutschland in an interview. "It does not matter whether you have four, five or six players, as long as our positioning is right, and as long as we have the critical mass" of at least 15 million subscribers, Ricke said. Deutsche Telekom's mobile phone arm, T-Mobile, has been growing rapidly in the US, adding 3.2 million customers during the first nine months.
■ Economics
Japanese data mixed
The latest Japanese data yesterday painted a mixed picture of the world's second-largest economy, with a sharp improvement in the unemployment rate offset by continued deflation and modest industrial output. The unemployment fell to 4.5 percent in November from 4.7 percent in October, and the number of people out of work dropped by 400,000 to 2.9 million, showing companies have begun hiring after years of job cuts. Significantly, job offers hit a 12-year high at 92 for every 100 job seekers after 88 in October, marking the best level since 93 in December 1992. Meanwhile, industrial output rose 1.5 percent in November, the first gain in three months after a fall of 1.3 percent in October, but this was less than forecasts for a 1.7 percent increase.
■ Retail
Japan to rescue Daiei
The Industrial Revitalization Corp of Japan (IRCJ) said yesterday it will bail out troubled retailer Daiei in an arrangement costing ?597 billion (US$5.8 billion). Under the rescue package, the government-backed revitalization body asked Daiei's creditor banks to forgive ?405 billion in debts. Daiei's three main creditor banks -- UFJ Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp -- will also give up ?192 billion in Daiei's preferred shares, the government body said. Daiei, Japan's third-largest supermarket chain, is trying to restructure under debt of about US$10 billion. The ICRJ said it planned to force Daiei to write-down its common capital by 99.6 percent and would also invest ?50 billion in the troubled retailer, which will leave it with a one-third stake.
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