■ Mobile phones
Three firms in venture
NEC, Matsushita Electric Industrial and Texas Instruments said yesterday that they had set up a joint venture to develop mobile phone operations. Adcore-Tech, based in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo, is capitalized at ¥12 billion (US$104 million) with some 180 employees, the companies said in a joint statement. The firm is 44 percent controlled by the NEC group, while Matsushita -- best known for its Panasonic brand -- and its mobile phone unit jointly own another 44 percent. The remaining 12 percent is held by Texas Instruments. The venture is based on their agreement last month to jointly develop handsets and a common software and hardware platform.
■ Auto industry
AB Volvo plans acquisitions
AB Volvo, the world's second-largest truck maker after DaimlerChrysler AG, has outlined ambitious plans for a series of acquisitions to broaden its product range, according to a published report on Sunday. "Given our growth target of 10 percent, to do that wholly organically is almost impossible. A significant part of that will come from acquisitions," said Leif Johansson, chief executive, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview in an article on its Web site. The company is also in discussions with Dongfeng, the Chinese truck maker, about a possible alliance. "We are discussing doing something bigger in China," Johansson said. He will also consider acquiring a truck maker in Russia if the right deal can be reached.
■ Technology
China plans TV standard
Chinese regulators will soon announce a digital TV standard for the world's biggest television market, a state news agency reported yesterday. The system will apply to terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcasts in China, the Xinhua news agency said, citing Wang Xiaojie (王效傑), director of the technology department of State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The government has said that it would start rolling out digital television this year. China has about 400 million television viewers, according to industry estimates. It is also one of the leading producers of digital television sets. China already has 4.13 million households that receive digital pay-TV channels, and companies that serve them will be required to switch to the new standard, Xinhua said. The country has more than 120 licensed pay television channels, according to the government.
■ Telecoms
Telstra sale under review
Australia's Cabinet will discuss this week whether to proceed with the country's largest-ever privatization by selling the government's stake in Telstra Corp now that the firm's share price has dropped, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday. Legislation to sell the government's 51.8 percent shareholding in the telecommunications company passed the Senate by a narrow margin last September. The sale was then expected to make A$30 billion (US$23 billion), but the share price has since slumped about 21 percent. Telstra shares fell to A$3.51 yesterday after the company downgraded its full-year earnings guidance, down from A$4.44 on the day the legislation was passed nearly a year ago. Telstra blamed the downgrade on the national competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which sets the prices the company can charge its competitors to share its national infrastructure.
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