■ECONOMY
CFOs optimist, survey shows
Chief financial officers are more optimistic about the direction of the US economy, but remain concerned about consumer demand and weak credit markets, a quarterly survey showed. Compared with the previous quarter, 28.5 percent said they were more optimistic about the US economy, up more than 7 percentage points from June, said the Duke University/CFO Magazine survey of about 1,300 CFOs, including 524 from the US. Those saying they are less optimistic fell to 41.5 percent, from more than half in the previous survey and more than 72 percent in March. About half expect the US economy to begin recovering by the middle of next year.
■BEVERAGES
Tsingtao buys brewery
China’s biggest beer maker, Tsingtao Brewery (青島啤酒), said yesterday it would own a Shanghai brewery outright after agreeing to buy the 25 percent stake in the firm held by Denmark’s Carlsberg. The deal will cost the Qingdao-based company 51.3 million yuan (US$7.5 million) in cash and give it ownership of the Shanghai firm, Tsingtao said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Tsingtao said the purchase would help to better manage the operation of the brewery, which posted a net income of 16.8 million yuan last year, up 30 percent from a year earlier, the statement said.
■FINANCE
DFG in receivership
One of New Zealand’s oldest finance companies, Dominion Finance Group (DFG), has been put into receivership, owing 6,055 debenture holders NZ$224 million (US$141 million), it was announced yesterday. About 30 finance companies have now been placed into receivership or are currently unable to repay debts in the last two years in the wake of the international credit crisis. DFG was incorporated in 1954 and specialized in loans to property developers and other businesses. Trading in its shares on the New Zealand stock market was suspended in June.
■MOBILE PHONES
Nokia adds mail system
Nokia Oyj, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, said it had added Microsoft Corp’s e-mail system to some handsets targeted at business users and would roll out the service to a wider range of devices. Microsoft’s Mail For Exchange e-mail service will run on the third edition of Nokia’s S60 range, targeting about 80 million people who have bought the model to date, Espoo, Finland-based Nokia said in a statement yesterday. The messaging feature will also become available for all future versions of the E-Series as well as Nokia’s advanced N-Series mobile phones, the company said.
■TRADE
China trade surplus soars
China’s trade surplus hit a monthly record of US$28.7 billion last month, authorities said yesterday. China’s exports last month increased 21.1 percent from a year earlier to US$134.9 billion, while imports were up 23.1 percent to US$106.2 billion, customs data showed. The previous monthly surplus record was US$27.1 billion in October last year.
Data from last month was likely to add new pressure on China to revalue its currency, as its foreign trade partners have argued an artificially low yuan is giving its exporters an unfair advantage. In the first eight months of the year, China’s trade surplus was US$152 billion, down 6.2 percent from the same period last year.
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