■ Aviation
Tibetan airport planned
China will build the world's highest airport in Tibet as part of a US$13 billion investment splurge in the Himalayan region, state media reported yesterday. The airport in northern Ngari Prefecture will be located at about 4,300m above sea level, making it the highest airport in the world, the Xinhua news agency said. The airport will be the fourth in Tibet and another important plank in China's plan to link the remote Himalayan region with the rest of China. A third airport began operating in Nyingchi, southeast Tibet, last September, two months after China launched a railway line from Beijing to Lhasa.
■ Energy
Biofuels may be costly
Increased production of biofuels such as ethanol might help farmers' bottom lines and address climate-change concerns, but it could inflate food prices worldwide, a former White House economist said. "Worldwide, especially in developing countries ... food price increases are definitely something we're going to have to come to grips with," said David Sunding, who served on former president Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers. The combination of rising energy prices and the demand for corn, which is used to produce ethanol, will continue to drive up commodity prices, he said. The resulting higher market prices could then dampen the public's support for government subsidies that are designed to help farmers reap profits when markets are down.
■ Electronics
Sanyo president quitting
The president of Japan's struggling electronics maker Sanyo will step down, two weeks after the firm's chairwoman also quit amid window-dressing allegations, the Yomiuri Shimbun said yesterday. Toshimasa Iue, a member of the family that founded Sanyo, will quit on Sunday, the Yomiuri said, without identifying its sources. A company spokesman declined to comment, but added: "Nothing has been decided on the matter." The Yomiuri said Goldman Sachs, now the firm's top shareholder, has clashed with Iue on how to restore the firm's flagging fortunes.
■ Automobiles
Hyundai chief pleads case
Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo, who is facing a three-year jail term for creating a multimillion dollar slush fund, yesterday pleaded for another chance so he could continue leading the world's sixth-biggest automaker. The tycoon was sentenced last month by a lower court for breach of trust and embezzling 90 billion won (US$95 million) in company funds through fraudulent accounting. "If I can have another chance, as there are many challenges that my company is confronted with, I will do my best to overcome them," he told the Seoul High Court. "I'm ashamed and have been reflecting on myself a lot."
■ Steel
Nippon Steel, Tata team up
Japan's leading steelmaker is planning to enter the booming Indian market through a tie-up with the nation's major conglomerate Tata, the Nikkei Shimbun said yesterday. Nippon Steel, the world's second-largest manufacturer after the new Arcelor-Mittal behemoth, would be the first Japanese steelmaker in India. It is in talks with Tata Steel to turn out steel sheets for Japanese automakers operating in India as early as 2010, the Nikkei said, citing Nippon Steel president Akio Mimura.
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