■ Software
PeopleSoft founder quits
PeopleSoft Inc founder David Duffield, who returned as chief executive during the company's losing battle to escape Oracle Corp's takeover, has quit the software maker weeks before the deal closes, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. Duffield resigned as CEO, chairman and director on Dec. 21, according to the brief document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had been chief executive since October, when the board unexpectedly fired then-CEO Craig Conway. Earlier this month, PeopleSoft ended the 18-month saga by agreeing to Oracle's sweetened terms.
■ Textiles
China to set tax
China said yesterday it will tax some of its textile exports for three years at an average rate of 1.3 percent, following pressure from the US and Europe who fear a glut of Chinese-made clothing on world markets. The duties raise the price of Chinese textile products when shipped abroad. They will come into effect on New Year's Day and last until the end of 2007, China's customs department said in state media. China said earlier this week it would impose export duties of between 0.2 yuan (US$0.024) and 0.5 yuan (US$0.06) on 148 textile products. Those duties result in an average tax of 1.3 percent and will last three years, state media said yesterday. Textiles covered by the tax include outerwear, dresses, pants, knitted and non-knitted blouses, sleepwear and underwear, the government said.
■ Aviation
China won't buy planes
China has no plans to approve the purchase of any new planes next year, an official said yesterday. The official, with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, said China has already bought and lined up 147 aircraft expected to enter service next year. Therefore no further purchases will be necessary until the end of the year, according to the official, who asked not to be named. The official's remarks echoed a statement made by Yang Yuanyuan, the civil aviation administration director general, this week. "The 147 planes can basically meet the requirements of growing market demand," Yang was quoted by the China News Service as telling an industry forum. "So in principle, we will not approve any new purchases beyond that number throughout the year," he said, according to the report.
■ Internet
Telecommuting promoted
Japan has launched a pilot Internet program with the aim of having 20 percent of the nation's work force "telecommute" from home by 2010, cutting down on the stress and family disruption caused by office life. Currently 4 million Japanese, or 6 percent of the workforce of 63.2 million, use technology to work from outside the office, said Taketo Deguchi, an official with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The telecommunications ministry will from January have six employees spend at least one a day a week working away from their offices -- at home or in universities or libraries -- using high-speed Internet services. After hearing their feedback, the ministry will expand the pilot program until 20 percent of its 2,500 employees are able to work from home by around 2006. The project, in which workers can hold meetings through Internet chat rooms and teleconferencing, is hoped to "improve the efficiency of work places," Deguchi said.
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
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
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
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