■ Electronics
Samsung `limits' directors
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's most valuable company without a stock listing in a developed market, limits the role of outside directors by excluding them in long-term planning, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported, citing four independent directors. Executives at the South Korean electronics maker think the role of outside directors is supervisory in nature and that they should limit comments to short-term management, the newspaper said, citing board director Franz-Hermann Hirlinger. Samsung Electronics, whose shares trade at a discount to overseas rivals because of its lack of transparency, is resisting pressure from foreign shareholders and outside directors to list its stock in the US because of stricter disclosure requirements, the paper said.
■ Aviation
Garuda fires board
PT Garuda Indonesia, the nation's largest airline, dismissed its entire 13-member board of directors today, in a government move to find better managers to improve the carrier's financial performance, a minister said. Indonesia's government, which owns Garuda, yesterday began firing the six commissioners and seven directors on the board of the Jakarta-based airline, said State Enterprises Minister Sugiharto. This would be the second time in eight years that Garuda changed its board of directors. The airline, which may have had its first loss last year since 1998, faces competition from 10 low-fare airlines that are flying in Southeast Asia. Fuel prices that surged to records have also eroded profitability. Garuda was set up in 1949 and nationalized in 1954.
■ Litigation
Qwest directors charged
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged former Qwest Communications CEO Joseph Nacchio and six other executives on Tuesday with orchestrating a "massive financial fraud" at the telecommunications company that hid the true source of billions of dollars in revenue. In a civil lawsuit, regulators blamed Qwest's problems on aggressive revenue and earnings targets set by Nacchio and others that created a "culture of fear" throughout the company. The charges say the fraud occurred between April 1999 and March 2002 and caused the Denver-based company to fraudulently report approximately US$3 billion of revenue.
■ Banking
CCB chairman `resigned'
China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行) yesterday confirmed its chairman had "resigned" amid reports of a graft investigation that analysts warned may force it to postpone a massive overseas share sale until next year. Zhang Enzhao (張恩照) asked to be relieved of his duties for "personal reasons" and the board of directors at China's third largest lender promptly granted him his wish, the bank said in a statement. The dramatic move came a day after Hong Kong media reported Zhang had been put under house arrest on suspicion of corruption, raising concerns over plans for a massive initial public offering (IPO) abroad. "It's good news they're moving so fast," said Bonnie Lai, an analyst with Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong. "But they will probably have to postpone their IPO, perhaps until next year." The bank is trying to spruce up for a share sale abroad, most likely in Hong Kong, hoping to raise between US$5 billion and US$10 billion, according to reports.
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