■ Auto Industry
Opel to develop cars for GM
Adam Opel AG, the German subsidiary of the world's largest carmaker, General Motors Corp, will be the sole developer of its parent company's compact cars, Die Welt reported, citing an unnamed spokesman. Opel's International Development Center, ITEZ in Ruesselsheim, Germany, where it has its headquarters, was chosen over General Motors sites in Asia and the US, the newspaper reported. ITEZ employs 7,000 of Opel's 17,000 employees in Ruesselsheim, the paper said. General Motors has ordered Opel, which has been losing money for years, to cut a third of its 27,000-strong German workforce by 2007, the paper said.
■ Tax Policy
HK may consider tax cuts
Hong Kong's incoming Chief Executive Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) said the government may have room for tax cuts should economic growth meet its forecast, the South China Morning Post reported, citing Tsang. Financial Secretary Henry Tang (唐英年) may have leeway to consider tax cuts after he balances the budget should economic growth reach 4 percent to 5 percent this year, Tsang said at a meeting yesterday, the Hong Kong-based paper reported. Tsang also said market forces, not government policy, should dictate property prices in Hong Kong, the Post reported. Hong Kong developer Stanley Ho (何鴻燊) has called for a return to a "high land-price policy," the paper said.
■ Japan's Economy
Half of firms concerned
Half of leading Japanese companies feel the world's second biggest economy is still struggling to overcome its recession, a newspaper poll said yesterday. The influential daily Asahi Shimbun reported that 50 of 100 major Japanese companies it surveyed said the domestic economy was "at a standstill", compared with 38 last November. One of them said the economy was "accelerating" in survey's both this month and in November. The 49 other firms said the economy was in "gradual recovery," compared with 58 in the November survey. Those companies had a more upbeat business outlook in the June survey from last year when eight of them said the economy was "expanding" and 78 others pointed to "gradual recovery." The 14 others said the economy was at a standstill in June last year.
■ Retail
Supermarkets plan closures
Ito-Yokado Co, Aeon Co and eight rival supermarket operators may close a total of 92 outlets by March next year to cut costs, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said. The number of closings is the most ever, and will exceed the number of new stores -- 83, primarily food retailers -- for the first time in three years, the newspaper said, without citing sources for the information. Japan's supermarket operators are applying asset-impairment accounting ahead of a mandatory February 2007 implementation, and need to eliminate unprofitable properties, the newspaper said, citing consolidated losses of ?325.5 billion (US$3 billion) for Daiei Inc in the last fiscal year under the new method. Most stores to be closed are old and located in city centers where business has declined. Daiei aims to close 53 stores; Aeon may close 15 stores; Maruetsu Inc will close 13 stores, and Ito-Yokado will shut four outlets, the newspaper 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