■ Banking
China bank reports fraud
Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行), China's fifth-largest bank by assets, has reported a fraud case it said involved 200 million yuan (US$24.9 million) at a branch in Shenyang City. The Hong Kong-listed bank said in a statement on its Web site over the weekend that it was working with security authorities to investigate the case. The case was exposed as the bank was carrying out internal audits and upgrading its customer information management system, said the statement, which provided few other details. "We have found a case in our Shenyang branch where a customer was defrauded of funds, and a preliminary investigation shows that the amount is about 200 million yuan," said the bank, 19.9 percent owned by HSBC Holdings Plc.
■ Air cargo
Hactl pans airline merger
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd, or Hactl, has said the merger between Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd (港龍航空) may hurt airlines, cargo terminal operators and freight forwarders. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's largest airline, on Friday announced plans to acquire Dragon Airlines for HK$8.22 billion (US$1.05 billion). The announcement comes after the airline applied to the city's airport authority to build a dedicated air cargo facility at Hong Kong International Airport. Hactl, which accounts for 80 percent of air cargo movement in Hong Kong, said Cathay Pacific and Dragonair's combined cargo volume makes up 40 percent of the airport's total. "The merger of the two airlines if combined with cargo self-handling would there create a dominant, vertically-integrated air cargo operation," Hactl said in a statement late on Sunday.
■ Banking
Islamic services expanded
Singapore yesterday stepped up efforts to grow its Islamic financial services market as the city-state expands the range of banking products compliant with Shariah law. With immediate effect, banks in Singapore can now offer Murabaha investment products, a type of financing that requires the bank to purchase goods on behalf of the customer before selling them at a mark-up, the central bank said. "We hope this will further expand the range of Islamic products for both private and institutional Islamic asset management in Singapore and the region," said Heng Swee Keat (王瑞傑), managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
■ Economy
Japan revises up Q1 growth
Japan's economy grew a revised 0.8 percent in January-March from the previous quarter, up from preliminary 0.5 percent, the government announced yesterday, in another sign that Japan's economy is posting a solid comeback. On an annualized basis, the economy grew 3.1 percent in the quarter, up from the initial reading of 1.9 percent in the three-month period. Japan released preliminary economic growth data on May 18. The earlier results, of 0.5 percent in the quarter, had already beaten analyst expectations for 0.2 percent growth. The healthy uptick marks the fifth straight quarter of growth for the world's second-largest economy, the first such string of positive figures in five years. Japan's economic growth has improved on the back of rising corporate investment, falling unemployment and the end of deflation. The biggest change in the revised figures comes from a bigger increase in corporate spending, the Ministry of Finance said.
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
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
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
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