■ Economy
China's budget deficit down
China's 2005 budget deficit will amount to some 2 percent of gross domestic product or 300 billion yuan (US$36 billion), down from a budgeted deficit of 319 billion yuan in both 2003 and last year, state press said yesterday. The budget will be presented for approval by Finance Minister Jin Renqing (金人慶) at the upcoming annual session of the National People's Congress which is scheduled to open in Beijing on March 5, China Business News said. The deficit is expected to remain stable over coming years as the government adjusts its expansionary fiscal policy -- in place since the 1997 Asian financial crisis -- to a more "prudent" stance as the economy grows sharply. The finance ministry will also reduce its annual issuance of special treasury bills, used to finance infrastructure and other stimulatory spending.
■ Automobiles
BMW's Asia sales rise 2.6%
German auto giant BMW announced yesterday that its sales in Asia rose 2.6 percent last year and forecast its growth this year to be 10 percent to 15 per cent. The Munich-based automaker sold 95,482 cars in the region last year under the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, Chairman Helmut Panke told a press conference in Singapore. However, in China, the second-largest Asian market behind Japan, sales fell more than 10 percent last year to 24,321 units. In explaining the decline, the BMW chief said the market grew more competitive and Chinese consumers were reluctant to buy because of economic conditions. Luxury car sales were also affected by the government's moves to try and cool down China's economy, Panke said. But he said he viewed the events as a "short term" trend that will not affect the company's plans for this year, adding that BMW will keep investing further in China.
■ Automobiles
Hyundai plans India plant
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said yesterday that it would build its second auto plant in India by mid-2007 to ride on the country's fast-growing demand for automobiles. Construction will start in April this year on a site next to Hyundai Motor India's existing plant at Chennai in the southern province of Tamil Nadu. When completed in June 2007, the annual production capacity of Hyundai Motor India will increase to 400,000 units from the current 250,000. "We have decided to add a second plant to Hyundai Motor India to take advantage of the high growth potential of India," Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo said in a company statement on his visit to Chennai. "We need to expand production here to gain the upper hand in competition with our rivals in this market, which grows 12 percent every year," he said.
■ Cellphones
Singapore gets 3G service
Singapore's second biggest telecoms player, MobileOne Asia (M1), said yesterday it will launch its third generation (3G) mobile phone service this week. M1 said it will start selling 3G-capable handsets from today as it prepares to slug it out with rivals Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) and StarHub for a share of the emerging market. 3G mobile technology allows a user to surf the Internet, stream real-time videos, watch movies and send data at ultra-high speeds while on the move. It has yet to gain mass acceptance across the world.
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