■ Auto market
Mitsubishi in engine deal
Japan's Mitsubishi Motors will start supplying fuel-efficient gasoline engines to DaimlerChrysler of Germany for its Smart compact cars, the Japanese company said yesterday. Mitsubishi will supply the engines to DaimlerChrysler next year for its next-generation Smart "Fortwo" vehicles, the company said, but declined to comment on the exact number of engines to be supplied. The engines will be the same type as Mitsubishi Motors plans to install in its own new small car, the "i," to be released in January, it said. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun earlier reported that Mitsubishi was expected to supply 80,000 to 100,000 engines annually to DaimlerChrysler, which ended its financial support for the Japanese automaker in April last year. Mitsubishi will begin producing the engines at its Mizushima facility in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, at the end of this year, the business daily said, without citing sources.
■ Airlines
Soros invests US$25m
US billionaire investor George Soros has signed a deal to pump an additional US$25 million into China's Hainan Airlines (海南航空), the country' fourth largest carrier, state press and company officials said yesterday. The investment will be used to reorganize Hainan Airlines and create a new brand, Great Xinhua Group (新華航空集團), by merging its Xinhua Airlines (新華航空), Changan Airlines (長安航空) and Shanxi Airlines (山西航空) into Hainan, the China Daily and an airline official said. The new company aims to raise 5 billion yuan (US$618 million) by the end of this year and plans to list in Hong Kong next year, the newspaper said. "We are very confident about the future development of Hainan Airlines," Soros was quoted as saying.
■ Electronics
Sony Ericsson profits soar
Mobile phone giant Sony Ericsson said yesterday it had outpaced a fast-growing global mobile handset market to post profits for the third quarter well in excess of analysts' expectations. Net profit rose to 104 million euros (US$126 million) for the three months to Sept. 30, up from 90 million euros in the same period of the previous year. Pretax profit increased to 151 million euros from 136 million as the average selling price for mobile phones rose, compared with market expectation of 104 million euros. Sales leaped to 2.05 billion euros from 1.67 billion on the back of 13.8 million units shipped, which compares with 10.7 million units in the third quarter of last year. Sony Ericsson raised its global market outlook for this year to over 760 million units from 720 million previously.
■ Japan
Bankruptcies decline
The number of business bankruptcies in Japan between April and last month declined below 6,500 for the first time in 14 years on a fiscal first-half basis, Tokyo Shoko Research announced yesterday. The six-month figure dropped 4.8 per cent, compared to 6,388 during the same time period last year. More medium to small-size companies avoided bankruptcies by using the government's financial aid system while major firms improved their business conditions, the agency said. Debts accumulated by the bankrupt firms fell 8.2 percent to ¥2.90 trillion (US$25 billion), falling below ¥3 trillion for the first time on a fiscal first-half basis in nine years.
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