■ electronics
Infineon spin-off dragging on
Infineon AG's plans to spin-off its memory chip division are "hopelessly behind schedule" and threaten a planned share sale for the division this summer, Welt am Sonntag reported, citing an unidentified Infineon manager working on the project. It's unlikely that Infineon will be able to make the initial public offering this year, the manager told the German weekly. Infineon still has not clarified details necessary for the banks working on the share sale to move the project forward, an unidentified investment banker told Welt am Sonntag.
PHOTO: AP
■ leisure
Japan may legalize casinos
Japan's ruling party is mulling plans to legalize casinos in a bid to attract more foreign tourists to the country, a news report said yesterday. Quoting unidentified lawmakers, Kyodo News agency said the Liberal Democratic Party would encourage lifting Japan's ban on gambling parlors, following in the footsteps of Singapore, which last year reversed its decades-old ban on casinos. The subcommittee plans to produce an interim report in April that will outline possible legal changes, Kyodo said.
■ automobiles
Swiss autoshow opens soon
Automakers will be showing off their flash and frugality side by side at the Geneva auto show as they introduce edgy models aimed at drivers looking for style. But mindful that consumers are feeling the high price of gasoline, automakers at the 76th International Motor Show will also be touting new fuel-efficient engines, diesel-powered vehicles and smartly designed hybrids. The Swiss show opens to the public on Thursday and runs until March 12. It will host 262 exhibitors from more than 30 countries, displaying 924 makes and models.
■ communications
Mitsubishi losing in China
Mitsubishi Electric is planning on drastically scaling back its money-losing handset business in China and sacking about 200 employees, a report said. The Japanese company plans to close three of the four bases held by Mitsubishi Soyea Mobile Communication Equipment at the end of next month, Jiji Press news agency said late on Saturday. Headquartered in Beijing, Mitsubishi Soyea is 36 percent owned by Mitsubishi Electric. The company plans to gradually reducing its capital participation ratio, but wants to remain a stakeholder in the venture as "a foothold for the future," the agency quoted an anonymous Mitsubishi official as saying.
■ industry
State-run firms lose money
Seven Taiwanese state-run companies registered combined pre-tax losses of NT$4.017 billion (US$123 million) last month, the Commission of National Corporations (CNC) reported yesterday. Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖), Taiwan Water Corp (台灣自來水), China Shipbuilding Corp (中船) and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (漢翔) made record profits for last month, but Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油), Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) and Tang Eng Iron Works Corp (唐榮) all operated in the red. Affected by high prices of crude oil, coal and natural gas on the world markets, CPC and Taipower posted pre-tax losses of NT$3.246 billion and NT$1.256 billion, respectively. Tang Eng Iron Works also registered pre-tax losses of NT$40 million due to dropping steel prices.
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