■ Semiconductors
Samsung plans new plant
Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest semiconductor maker, said it plans to spend 391 billion won (US$388 million) for a plant to make experimental chips. The plant, located in Hwaseong, southwest of Seoul, will be used to develop products such as new types of memory chips, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said yesterday in a regulatory filing. The investment is part of the company's announced capital spending plan, spokesman Ken Noh said. Samsung plans to increase investments into chips by almost 10 percent to 6 trillion won this year, the company said in April. South Korean regulations require listed companies to publicly disclose investment plans of at least 100 billion won.
■ Banking
Former chairman in probe
One of China's biggest state-owned banks said yesterday that a former chairman is under investigation by the Communist Party, but didn't say what he was suspected of. Zhang Enzhao (張恩照), who resigned in March as chairman of the China Construction Bank (中國建設銀行), was involved in violations of discipline, the bank said in a statement. It didn't give any other details. It was the first formal confirmation that Zhang was under investigation. Earlier news reports said he was connected to possible unspecified irregularities. Bank of America agreed on Friday to buy a 9 percent stake in China Construction Bank for US$3 billion.
■ China
Beijing to sell stakes
The Chinese government plans to convert its stakes in 42 major state companies into shares that can be publicly traded and hopes to raise up to US$200 billion by selling blocks of stock, state media said yesterday. The step is meant to reduce the government's role in China's struggling stock markets and to make state firms more efficient by eventually selling off stakes to private investors. Hundreds of state firms have sold shares to investors on China's two stock exchanges. But the government retains a controlling stake, and such "nontradable shares" now account for two-thirds of market capitalization. According to Xinhua, companies covered by the latest move include some of China's best-known corporate giants -- Baoshan Iron & Steel, one of the world's biggest steel producers, electric company Yangtze Power and financial conglomerate Citic Securities.
■ Aviation
Air Canada cancels order
Air Canada canceled an order for 32 widebody Boeing Co jets after pilots rejected a contract deal that would have freed up funds for the new airplanes. Pilots voted on Saturday to reject terms that were tied to the aircraft order, which Air Canada announced on April 25. The deal was worth about US$6 billion at list prices, although airlines typically negotiate discounts, and was subject to employees accepting certain cost-cutting measures. Montreal-based Air Canada emerged from bankruptcy protection last year. "We cannot lose sight of the effort it took to get to where the airline is today," said Montie Brewer, Air Canada's president and CEO. "While the cancelation of this aircraft order will be disappointing to our employee group at large, including many of our pilots, it is the right decision given the circumstances." In a statement posted on its Web site, Boeing said it was disappointed with the decision.
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