■ INVESTMENT
Beijing issues restrictions
The National Development and Reform Commission has issued restrictions on foreign investment in real estate and other industries, part of a range of measures aimed at righting imbalances in the Chinese economy. A lengthy list of revised rules that take effect on Dec. 1 imposes bans on foreign investment in some businesses such as golf courses, gambling, genetically modified crops, teas, film production and weapons manufacturing, according to a document seen yesterday on the commission's Web site. Foreign direct investment in China rose almost 11 percent in January-September over the year before to US$47.2 billion, the report said.
■ FOOD & BEVERAGES
Kirin to buy National Foods
Japanese brewer Kirin said yesterday that it would acquire National Foods of Australia from Southeast Asia's top food and beverage group San Miguel in a US$2.6 billion deal. Kirin Holdings will acquire all the shares in National Foods Ltd from Manila-based San Miguel Corp by the end of this year to turn the leading Australian maker of dairy products and beverages into a subsidiary. The buyout is valued at A$2.8 billion (US$2.6 billion), Kirin said in a statement, adding that the Japanese group would finance the purchase through debt.
■ CAMERAS
Olympus plans new factory
Japan's Olympus Corp will build a factory in Vietnam next year to produce hot-selling digital cameras, a company spokesman said yesterday. "We will build a manufacturing base in Vietnam ... as we aim to secure enough [production] capacity for digital cameras," the official said, adding the company aims to begin construction by late next year. Investment will be some ?5 billion (US$44 million), said the official, who declined to be named. The spokesman denied a Nikkei Shimbum report yesterday that Olympus would consolidate its two Chinese factories and transfer some operations to Vietnam, saying it will build the Vietnamese plant in addition to the Chinese ones.
■ INTERNET
Downloads not blocked
Most companies do not stop staff from downloading music from the Internet, despite the risks posed to work computers, a survey has found. Two-thirds of IT managers polled said they do not block employees from taking music off the Web, even though they named it as the biggest threat. In a poll of more than 1,000 computer managers by ICM, music came top of the list of perceived threats. Other top 5 threats included staff visiting popular social networking Web sites such as Bebo and MySpace.
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