■ INVESTMENT
China-bound funds dwindle
A total of 117 applications for investment in China were approved during the first two months of this year, down 25 percent from the same period last year, with the total investment amount declining 5.51 percent to NT$1.15 billion (US$37.5 million), statistics released on Friday by Taiwan's Investment Commission showed. During the two-month period, the commission also handled registration of 50 small-amount China-bound investment cases that do not require prior approval, with each investment valued at less than US$200,000 and the total amount adding up to US$6.7 million. The nation's total outbound investment reached NT$760.28 million during those two months, up 183.92 percent year-on-year, the figures show.
■ BANKING
BOJ material leaked
Confidential Bank of Japan (BOJ) material on financial institutions was leaked by an employee and posted on Web sites, the central bank said. The material, leaked from a BOJ branch in Shimane Prefecture, included information related to financial institutions' earnings and dealings in Treasury bonds, a statement from the central bank said yesterday. The sites deleted the information at the bank's request, the statement said. The employee took home the materials without the consent of his superior, the statement said.
■ TRADE
Doha better for south: US
A White House economic affairs advisor said on Friday that developing countries have more to gain than the rich north from the lower tariffs the US is seeking in the Doha round of trade talks. "The Doha round is often incorrectly characterized as a North-South issue. In fact, developing countries have the most to gain from the cut in tariffs from other developing countries," Daniel Price told a trade meeting in Hanoi. "Around 70 percent of tariffs paid by developing countries are paid to other developing countries" he said, adding that trade between developing countries is increasing 50 percent faster than overall trade.
■ BANKING
SG challenges lawsuit
French bank Societe Generale (SG) vowed on Friday to mount a "vigorous" challenge to a New York lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors and failing to clamp down on a rogue trader who ran up massive losses. The bank said it "took note" of the class action law suit filed on March 12 in a federal court in New York. The class action lawsuit alleges that Societe Generale and its chairman Daniel Bouton "misled investors regarding its activities and exposure in the subprime mortgage markets," a statement from the law firm representing the plaintiffs said. SG was also accused of insufficient controls and failure to act on information regarding unauthorized trades by junior trader Jerome Kerviel.
■ AVIATION
Berlusconi against deal
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday he would veto Air France-KLM's deal to buy Alitalia if he won April's election and promised an imminent counterbid from a domestic company. The comments by the media tycoon, ahead in polls to become the next prime minister, are the latest blow to Air France-KLM's planned takeover, which has become a hot issue in election campaigning ahead of the April 13 to April 14 vote.
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