■ CHINA
Center to monitor food
China, which has been plagued by food safety problems, will set up a center to monitor food standards at the Summer Olympics, state media reported yesterday. The Olympic Food Safety Command Center will tackle the task during the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Games and will deal with any food-related emergencies, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Zhikuan, head of the Beijing Industry and Commerce Bureau, as saying. Xinhua said food supplied for the Olympics will be checked against specific technical standards.
■ AUTOMOBILES
Kia CEO paints rosy picture
Kia Motors Corp will probably return to profitability this year, helped by new vehicles and updated models, the company's CEO said yesterday. "This year, Kia Motors will likely post profits," chief executive and president Chung Eui-sun told reporters at the launch of the automaker's Mohave SUV. Including the Mohave, Kia Motors is introducing three new vehicles this year. It is also upgrading two existing models. For the January-September period last year, Kia posted a net loss of 24 billion won (US$25.6 million), compared to a net profit of 40 billion won during the same period in 2006.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Japan to buy Chinese quotas
Japan has agreed to buy greenhouse gas emissions quotas from China as part of efforts to meet its Kyoto Protocol target, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The two countries will seek a formal accord on the plan during Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) visit to Japan, scheduled for late March, the newspaper said. Japan plans to use the so-called clean development mechanism, under which industrialized countries can fund projects to cut greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and offset these reductions against their own output. Japan hopes to purchase greenhouse gas emission quotas resulting from environment-related projects in China financed by Japanese loans, the daily said.
■ AVIATION
Firms set to join forces
China's two major aircraft makers are likely to join forces as part of the nation's ambitious efforts to build a domestic passenger jet that would rival Boeing and Airbus, state media said yesterday. China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) and AVIC II, both state-owned, may consolidate their commercial aircraft manufacturing businesses and set up a new firm to assemble the plane, the China Daily reported, citing company sources. The move is aimed at "strengthening the country's aviation manufacturing capabilities" and "pooling resources to carry out the large commercial airplane project," said an unnamed official with AVIC II.
■ GOLD
Price hits record high
The price of gold struck a new all-time peak of US$863.11 an ounce on the London Bullion Market on Wednesday. Unrest in Pakistan, a faltering dollar and surging oil sent the price of gold soaring to a record level, beating the previous highest level of US$850 set 28 years ago. The price slipped back slightly to US$861.57 yesterday. According to analysts, price movements were being slightly exaggerated by the lightness of holiday trade, which meant large transactions could influence the market more than usual.
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