■ Trade
China's surplus swells
China's trade surplus surged to US$12 billion last month, the highest monthly total this year, as exports continued to outpace imports, the government reported yesterday. For the first 10 months of the year, China's global trade gap totaled US$80.4 billion, already more than twice its size last year, when the surplus stood at US$32 billion. In September, the trade gap was US$7.6 billion. Exports last month rose 29.7 percent from a year earlier to US$68.1 billion, while imports climbed 23.4 percent on-year to US$56.1 billion, the General Administration of Customs said in a statement. The higher-than-expected export figures were expected to bring more pressure from the US on Beijing. US President George W. Bush is expected to raise that issue, and US complaints over China's currency policies, during a visit to Beijing later this month.
■ Airlines
Bangkok Airways to expand
Thailand's largest private carrier Bangkok Airways said yesterday it will spend 24 billion baht (US$585 million) to buy new long-range aircraft in the face of brisk tourism demand in Asia. The airline plans to buy six aircraft from either US aviation giant Boeing or its European rival Airbus and is in separate negotiations with the two firms, a spokeswoman for Bangkok Airways said. "It is part of our expansion. We believe the future of tourism in this region including Thailand is very positive," she said, adding the company is expected to sign a purchase order for new aircraft next year. The spokeswoman said the purchase would be for the long-haul Airbus A350 carrier or the competing Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
■ Corporate Crime
Doosan executives charged
Prosecutors said yesterday the owner of South Korea's Doosan Group has been indicted along with three of his brothers for embezzling more than US$30 million from the company. They also indicted 14 former and incumbent executives of the country's 10th largest family-run firm on embezzlement and other charges. They accused owner Park Yong-sung and his brothers of diverting 32.6 billion won (US$31 million) from the firm for private purposes over several years. Park, 65, resigned last week as the group's chairman and head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an industry lobby group representing South Korea's leading companies. Doosan, one of the country's oldest business groups, has 19 affiliates involved in construction, machinery and trading.
■ Energy
IAEA cuts demand forecast
The International Energy Agency shaved yesterday its forecast for growth of oil demand this year and next and said the market appeared to have weathered the latest price shock. But it stressed uncertainty over the effects of hurricane damage in depressing US demand and warned that cold weather or buoyant economic growth could again spark market tensions. This year, global demand for oil would rise by 1.5 percent to 83.3 million barrels per day, and by 2.0 percent to 85.0 million barrels per day next year. The IEA said that it was revising down its forecast for growth of global oil demand this year by 70,000 barrels per day to 1.20 million barrels per day and for next year by 90,000 barrels per day to 1.66 million barrels.
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