■ Automobiles
Toyota production rises
Toyota Motor Corp, on pace to overtake General Motors to become the world's biggest automaker, said yesterday its global production rose 17.3 percent last month, the 22nd straight monthly gain. Soaring oil prices have proved a boon for Toyota as drivers turn to fuel-efficient cars, including the Prius hybrid, Corolla compact and the midsize Camry, the best-selling model in the US for eight of the last nine years. The Japanese automaker's total output during the month totaled 622,471 vehicles. Overseas output rose 7 percent to 322,079 vehicles, while domestic production jumped 30.9 percent to 300,392 units.
■ Electronics
Pioneer files patent suit
Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp announced yesterday that it had filed a complaint against South Korean plasma display maker Samsung SDI Co alleging infringement of Pioneer patents related to plasma display technology. Samsung SDI, a flat-panel television-making subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co, denied it was using Pioneer's patents and said it planned to fight the lawsuit. Tokyo-based Pioneer said in a statement that it was seeking a court order to enjoin sales of allegedly infringing Samsung SDI products in the suit filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The company also plans to seek an unspecified amount of compensation for past infringement, it said. The lawsuit also names several other Samsung companies, the statement said without identifying them.
■ Banking
ICBC's IPO date set: report
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行), China's largest bank, plans to launch its initial public offering on Oct. 27 in Hong Kong and Shanghai, a report said yesterday. Final pricing for the shares will likely happen Oct. 20, ahead of the bank's dual listing the following week, a person familiar with the deal told Dow Jones Newswires. The stock sale could raise more than US$19 billion, surpassing the record US$18.4 billion raised by NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc in 1998. The bank also intends to sell HK$27.6 billion (US$3.54 billion) worth of shares to several strategic investors in its IPO, according to the bank's preliminary prospectus. ICBC is seeking to issue 13 billion A shares -- priced in Chinese currency -- and 35.39 billion H shares, or stocks for a mainland Chinese-registered company listed in Hong Kong, the preliminary prospectus said.
■ Thailand
SET composite index rises
Thai stocks yesterday recovered for the first time since the coup against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but analysts warned the bloodless takeover could dent economic growth already hit by months of political uncertainty. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 1.41 points or 0.21 percent to close the morning session at 683.12 after falling to a two-month low on Friday in the wake of the coup last Tuesday. But analysts said the coup created more uncertainty over the future of Thailand, raising concern among business leaders and investors over a slowdown in the country's economy. "In the eyes of foreign investors, the coup was taken as a blow to democracy. Most foreign investors were surprised by the coup. They did not expect this to happen," said an economist who declined to be named.
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