■ BANKING
BEA hit by bank run
Hundreds of customers descended on branches of Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia (東亞銀行) yesterday to demand their deposits back after the bank was hit by unconfirmed rumors questioning its stability. “The Bank of East Asia is not suffering from financial difficulties. We have enough cash to handle the needs of depositors,” deputy chief executive Joseph Pang (彭玉榮) told reporters at the company’s headquarters yesterday afternoon. He declined to say how much customers had withdrawn, but said it was not a large amount and no major clients had pulled their money. The rumors apparently emerged after Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on the bank’s credit rating from stable to negative last Friday, citing a recent insider trading case that exposed “lackluster internal controls” at the bank.
■ ENERGY
Iraq, China to sign oil deal
An Iraqi oil ministry spokesman said Iraq and China would finalize a US$3 billion oil agreement next week. Assem Jihad said a Chinese delegation would visit Baghdad to sign the deal. The Iraqi government approved the deal this month in the first Saddam-era oil deal it has agreed to honor. The contract will let China’s biggest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (中石油集團), develop the field for 20 years. It’s expected to produce up to 25,000 barrels per day after three years and eventually reach 125,000 barrels per day.
■ BEVERAGES
Fonterra posts losses
China’s contaminated milk scandal has cost the world’s largest dairy exporter, Fonterra Cooperative Group, NZ$139 million (US$95 million), the company said yesterday. Chairman Henry van der Heyden revealed the loss at a press conference in Auckland, saying he was shocked by media reports from China that Fonterra’s partner, Sanlu Group (三鹿), might have received complaints of sick children as early as December. Fonterra CEO Andrew Ferrier added that Sanlu milk brand wouldn’t recover from the damage it has suffered, as the New Zealand partner slashed the value of its holding in the Chinese company.
■ TECHNOLOGY
IBM bullish on India
International Business Machines Corp (IBM), the world’s largest computer-services provider, hasn’t seen any slowdown in Indian demand. The company is still “bullish” on India, Shanker Annaswamy, a regional general manager heading IBM’s operations in the South Asian nation, told reporters in Bangalore yesterday. IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co have rapidly increased their work force in India, including via acquisitions, as their largest customers saw the benefits of sending work overseas to competitors in the South Asian nation such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Technologies Ltd.
■ TECHNOLOGY
Sharp unveils car/phone key
A new Japanese mobile phone will automatically unlock the doors of its owners’ cars and let drivers start their engines without using an ignition key. The phone, built by Sharp Corp, uses a technology previously developed by Nissan Motor Co called “Intelligent Key” that allows drivers to enter and start their cars without removing their keys from their pockets or bags. The service will work on the mobile network operated by NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan’s largest mobile operator. The companies said in a joint press release yesterday they would display the technology next week at CEATEC, a major technology conference in Tokyo.
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
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
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
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