■ELECTRONICS
Siemens seeks funds
German conglomerate Siemens wants to attract investment from sovereign wealth funds to enlarge its long-term investor base and improve access to fast-growing markets, its chief financial officer said in comments published yesterday. Siemens “would very much welcome an active involvement” by funds from the Gulf, Russia and other regions, Joe Kaeser told the Financial Times in an interview. The German industrial group already cooperates with Russian steel magnate Alexey Mordashov in a joint venture to build power plant components, the Financial Times said.
■FINANCE
Dollar refinancing boosted
The European Central Bank (ECB), the US Federal Reserve and other central banks plan to ease dollar refinancing rules in times of emergency, the Financial Times Deutschland said yesterday. According to a proposal, the Fed would make loans in the US currency to banks offering euro-denominated real estate assets as collateral, the newspaper said, quoting financial sources. Until now, central banks have only accepted collateral backed by their own currencies. The measure is aimed at ensuring that money markets on which commercial banks lend to each other keep operating in times of crisis.
■PHILIPPINES
Economic growth stalls
Economic growth in the second quarter slowed to its lowest rate in three years as higher inflation hurt consumption and mining output contracted, Manila said yesterday. Gross domestic product in the April-to-June quarter grew 4.6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Growth in the first quarter was revised to 4.7 percent from an earlier 5.2 percent. GDP growth in the second quarter of last year was a much stronger 8.3 percent. The “uninspiring growth” in the country’s economy was driven the relatively strong performance of manufacturing, agriculture and construction, the National Statistics and Coordinating Board said in a statement.
■JAPAN
Agency suggests tax breaks
Japan’s Financial Services Agency recommended the ruling party create tax breaks for individuals buying stocks to draw more money to the world’s second-largest equity market. The proposal, part of a tax reform plan for the fiscal year starting in April, calls for a 10-year tax exemption on dividends of up to ¥1 million (US$9,200) for all investors. A copy of the recommendations also suggests exempting the elderly from taxes on capital gains of as much as ¥5 million and dividends up to ¥1 million. Japan cut taxes on capital gains and dividends in half to 10 percent in 2003 as a temporary measure to encourage individuals to boost the nation’s stock market. The government last year agreed to extend the incentives, pending permanent reforms.
■HONG KONG
Disney numbers surge
Hong Kong Disneyland has seen a surge in visitors in its third year of operation, but the troubled theme park was still well short of government targets, a report said yesterday. Visitor numbers were expected to hit 5.6 million when the park reaches the end of its third year of operation next month, up from 4.2 million the previous year, the South China Morning Post said, citing unnamed sources. The sources attributed the increase to marketing focused on Chinese visitors and strong economic growth. The figure is still well short of the 6.22 million visitors originally projected in the park’s third year, the report said.
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