■ Telecoms
Ericsson ups China stake
Swedish wireless equipment maker Telefon AB LM Ericsson says it plans to invest US$1 billion in China over the next five years, a senior company official said yesterday. The plan, which will span 2006 to 2010, is part of Ericsson's long-term commitment to China, said Mats Olsson, president of Ericsson Greater China. The spending will go toward manufacturing, research and development, and service-capacity expansion, according to a company presentation to be given at an Ericsson-sponsored event in Shanghai yesterday. Ericsson is also planning "significant local purchasing" during the same period, it said.
■ Electronics
LG.Philips heads to Poland
South Korea's LG.Philips LCD Co said yesterday that it would invest 429 million euros (US$536 million) to built a new liquid-crystal display plant in Poland. Production at the plant in Wroclaw is set to start in the first half of 2007 and the facility will initially be able to produce 3 million thin-film transistor LCD units per year, rising to 11 million units by 2011. LG.Philips said it would sign an investment agreement with the Polish government soon. "This move is in line with the ongoing trend of major TV set manufacturers setting up production plants in central and eastern Europe," said Duke Koo, executive vice president of worldwide sales at LG.Philips.
■ Banking
Huaxia sells shares abroad
Second-tier Chinese lender Huaxia Bank (華夏銀行) has auctioned off a 6.88 percent stake to an overseas buyer, the auctioneer said yesterday, in the first such sale for China. Reports in Hong Kong and in China's media identified the buyer as Singapore-based investment company Pangaea Capital Management. In a separate deal, Britain's Standard Chartered PLC on Tuesday became a founding shareholder of Bohai Bank (渤海銀行), the first new stockholding commercial bank set up in China in nine years. Standard Chartered paid US$123 million in cash for a 19.99 percent stake in Bohai Bank in a deal signed in Beijing.
■ Retail
Daiei plans more job cuts
Struggling Japanese retailer Daiei said yesterday that it planned to trim its workforce yet again amid reports the company aims to slash its head count by at least 1,000 through early retirement. The price of shares in Daiei surged on the news, rising ?155 (US$1.41)or 7.12 percent to end the morning session at ?2,330 in Tokyo. Daiei is restructuring under a government-led three-year program, with up to 53 stores slated for closure by February 2008. "As our corporate size is to shrink, we need to review the personnel. We have proposed voluntary retirement to the labor union," a spokeswoman said, without giving further details. Daiei shed 188 managerial jobs in June.
■ Automobiles
Fiat eyes joint venture
Fiat SpA may be discussing a joint venture with DaimlerChrysler AG, la Repubblica reported yesterday without citing its sources. The companies may announce the deal as early as next week at the Frankfurt car show, the daily said, without giving further details. Fiat plans to form a venture this year to produce vehicles as part of its strategy to reduce costs and introduce new models, chief executive Sergio Marchionne said on Tuesday at a news conference.
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