■ Free trade
Korea, US hold talks
South Korea and the US were to launch negotiations yesterday on a free trade agreement that would be the biggest such accord for Washington since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993. The deal is seen as part of a strategic US attempt to boost business with an ally while countering China's huge presence in a crucial region. The agreement faces strong resistance, especially among South Korean farmers, who have staged violent street demonstrations to protest giving up farm protections. Any agreement would also have to be approved by the US Congress, where some lawmakers contend Bush's free-trade policies cost US jobs.
■ Aviation
Takeover battle steps up
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said yesterday it may put up more than A$1 billion (US$752 million) if a consortium led by US investment bank Goldman Sachs makes a formal bid for British airports operator BAA. The Australian bank said its asset management unit, Colonial First State Global Asset Management, was a member of the consortium but that no formal decision had been made about a possible offer for BAA, which operates London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. In April, BAA rejected an informal approach from the consortium which valued the airports group at around £9.4 billion (US$17.7 billion) or 870 pence per share. Reports in British newspapers over the weekend said the Goldman-led panel was considering making a £10 billion (US$18.8 billion) offer for BAA, to counter a rival bid by Spanish construction group Grupo Ferrovial. Britain's Takeover Panel told the consortium last week that it must make a formal bid by Friday or withdraw from the race.
■ Electronics
Pioneer may halt DVD work
Shares of Pioneer Corp rose on a report the company, which had a record net loss last year, will end development of the DVD recorders it invented in 1999. The stock rose 1.4 percent to ¥1,933 (US$17.30) at the 3pm close of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Pioneer will stop development of all DVD recorders except for high-definition Blu-ray models, which it will develop with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported on Sunday. Pulling out of the DVD recorder business will help Pioneer focus on its profitable car electronics division, the newspaper said. Spokesman Kohei Iwamoto said Pioneer will continue to develop DVD recorders and is not in discussion with Panasonic-brand maker Matsushita about allying on Blu-ray disc recorders. Blu-ray discs are a high-definition DVD format being developed by a group of companies led by Sony Corp. The Blu-ray can store at least five times more data than conventional DVDs.
■ Energy
Toshiba bid approved
Toshiba Corp, Japan's largest maker of nuclear power equipment, said it won approval last week from the US committee on foreign investment for its planned US$5.4 billion takeover of Westinghouse Electric Co. "This as a significant step forward," said Keisuke Ohmori, a Toshiba spokesman, confirming an earlier report in the Financial Times. Toshiba in February agreed to buy Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Co to expand its power plant operations because it expects the atomic energy market to expand 50 percent by 2020.
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