■ China
Bond market to widen
Beijing is likely to allow foreign companies to issue yuan-denominated bonds on domestic markets this year, state media said yesterday, citing People's Bank of China Vice Governor Wu Xiaoling (吳曉靈). Wu said the central bank was in favor of foreign companies and international organizations issuing yuan-denominated bonds in China, the China Securities Journal reported. Foreign firms currently must transfer foreign exchange from abroad when they need capital for domestic investment purposes. The World Bank's International Finance Corp and the Asian Development Bank are the only foreign entities allowed to issue yuan-denominated bonds in China at present.
■ Aviation
French union warns Airbus
A French trade union representing Airbus workers threatened to disrupt production at the aircraft manufacturer if the company refuses to renegotiate a new restructuring plan. Julien Talavan, general secretary of the Force Ouvriere (FO) trade union at Airbus, said in an interview published yesterday in the daily La Tribune his union was prepared to "block the production of airplanes" if a new discussion with Airbus executives did not lead to a re-distribution of production between French and German Airbus factories. He said that the decision taken as part of the Power8 program to have a final assembly line of the A320 aircraft transferred to Hamburg, Germany, was "unacceptable." He also said his union opposed the spinning off or sale of the French Airbus sites at Meaulte and Saint Nazaire.
■ Banking
HSBC's annual profit up 5%
British banking giant HSBC Holdings, Europe's largest bank by market value, reported yesterday that profit rose 5 percent last year despite losses in its mortgage operation in the US. HSBC, which operates in the UK, Europe, Asia and the Americas, reported net income of US$15.79 billion, up from US$15.08 billion in 2005. Total operating income rose 14 percent to US$70 million, the company said. "It is a testament to HSBC's strength and diversity that we grew pretax profits in 2006 to US$22 billion, despite a major setback in part of our mortgage business in the United States," group chairman Stephen Green said.
■ Banking
HSBC inks Indian deal
HSBC Holdings yesterday tied up with Bangalore-based Canara Bank and another Indian lender to set up an insurance business, entering a market that is expanding as incomes grow and life expectancy rises. State-owned Canara Bank will hold a 51 percent stake in the venture, initially capitalized at 2 billion rupees (US$45.3 million), with HSBC taking 26 percent and New Delhi-based Oriental Bank of Commerce the rest, a Canara official said. An initial agreement was signed by the three partners in New Delhi yesterday.
■ Aviation
BA Connect routes canceled
British Airways yesterday canceled some loss-making routes served by its regional subsidiary BA Connect as it sold the business to Flybe for an undisclosed sum. BA said many of the canceled services duplicated Flybe's routes. With the acquisition, Flybe will have 152 routes to 36 European destinations, BA said. BA will absorb an additional £20 million (US$38.9 million) charge in consequence of the sale, on top of a £106 million charge disclosed when the deal was announced last November.
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