■ COMPUTERS
Dell betting on China
Dell computer chief Michael Dell said yesterday his company would increase investment in emerging markets, and China in particular, so it can continue to grow as the world economy slows. Dell said in Shanghai that his company’s conservative management, cost-cutting and a strong balance sheet would help it ride out the financial storm. He said the company’s financial position was strong, with US$10 billion in cash and investments.
■ SOFTWARE
Microsoft upsets Chinese
Chinese Internet users have expressed fury at Microsoft’s launch of an anti-piracy tool targeting Chinese computer users to ensure they buy genuine software. The “Windows Genuine Advantage” program, which turns the user’s desktop black if the installed software fails a validation test, is Microsoft’s latest weapon in its war on piracy in China, where the vast majority of 200 million computer users are believed to be using fake software, unwittingly or not. The company defends the program on its Web site as “part of Microsoft’s commitment to help protect its intellectual property and to help you avoid problems before they happen.”
■ ELECTRONICS
NEC cuts earnings forecast
Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp more than halved its full-year earnings forecast yesterday because of a slump in telecommunications systems and mobile phones, as well as stagnant sales of electric devices. NEC downgraded its net profit forecast for the year to March to ¥15 billion (US$150 million) from its earlier estimate of ¥35 billion. Its pretax profit is expected to be ¥95 billion against ¥135 billion projected earlier. Annual sales are forecast at ¥4.6 trillion, down from ¥4.8 trillion.
■ FINANCE
Citic Pacific investigated
Hong Kong’s financial regulator said yesterday it had launched an investigation into Citic Pacific (中信泰富) after the Beijing-backed firm admitted that an executive had made improper currency bets. The Securities and Futures Commission said in a press statement that “a formal investigation has been commenced into the affairs of Citic Pacific Limited.” Citic Pacific revealed huge potential losses from the incident in a statement to Hong Kong’s stock exchange on Monday.
■ RETAIL
Wal-Mart wary about milk
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said yesterday it would set new quality standards for its suppliers amid a scare over toxic milk products that have sickened tens of thousands of babies across China. Mike Duke, vice chairman of the company’s international division, said Wal-Mart was expecting “greater transparency ... from our supplier partners” beginning next month. They will be required to “tell us the name and location of every factory they use to make the products we sell,” according to Duke’s prepared remarks delivered at a company conference in Beijing.
■ TOYS
Chinese factory goes under
A toy factory in China has gone bankrupt, leaving 900 workers jobless, a report said yesterday, just days after a major toy maker went under as a result of the financial crisis. Hong Kong-owned Chong Yik Toy Co, shut down its factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, the South China Morning Post reported, citing local officials who paid the workers from emergency funds. A district labor official said the workers got payments ranging from a few hundred yuan to nearly 8,000 yuan.
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