■ ENERGY
Itochu invests in gas
Japanese trading house Itochu Corp plans to invest some ¥100 billion (US$850 million) in developing natural gas in the US, a report said yesterday. This year Itochu intends to spend roughly ¥25 billion on gas development, including concessions in 15 gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico that it formally obtained on Friday, the Japanese business daily Nikkei Shimbun reported. It did not specify its sources. The investment through 2010 comes as the US is accelerating efforts to encourage the use of natural gas as an alternative energy source to reduce its reliance on oil.
■ AVIATION
Asian carriers challenged
Asian airlines are likely to see a drop in earnings over the next two years because of growing competition from Middle Eastern firms and regional low-cost carriers (LCCs), an industry group said yesterday. A renewed focus on the region by European and North American rivals could also hurt the Asian carriers' bottom line, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation said in a summary report. "Long-haul profitability will be weakened by rising competition from Middle East carriers and an intensified focus on Asia by European and North American airlines, as well as increasing long-haul activity by the region's LCCs," said Peter Harbison, the center's executive chairman.
■ MANUFACTURING
Philips starts Polish factory
LG.Philips LCD Co, a major manufacturer of liquid-crystal-displays, said yesterday that it began full-scale production at its new factory in Poland to meet growing demand in Europe. The plant, located in Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw, will produce screens mainly for large LCD televisions, LG.Philips said in a statement. It is the company's second overseas factory. The plant will assemble the screens from LCD panels produced at LG.Philips' two plants in South Korea by adding backlights and other basic components, spokeswoman Sue Kim said. The screens will be sent to customers with nearby factories.
■ FINANCE
PRC pushes city banks
China will push all city commercial banks to fulfill the mandated capital adequacy ratio of 8 percent by the end of next year, the nation's banking regulator said. Assets at China's city commercial banks total 2.6 trillion yuan (US$336.5 billion) to date, from 700 billion yuan in 2000, Tang Shuangning (唐雙寧), vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said yesterday at a conference in Beijing. China's 113 city commercial banks had profits of 18.1 billion yuan last year, compared with 1.3 billion yuan in 2000, according to Tang.
■ TRADE
Bush, Lula discuss Doha
US President George W. Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met on Saturday outside Washington for talks that included the revived Doha round of negotiations of the WTO. The talks restarted in January after a six-month lull, following disagreements over farm subsidies. Bush said he remains willing to cut subsidies to the politically influential US agricultural industry in return for improved access to markets in other countries. Lula said that the Doha round is key to "our struggle against poverty." He said that the talks with Bush left him with "much optimism."
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
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