■JAPAN
Trade surplus rebounds
Japan posted a trade surplus for a ninth straight month last month as the world’s No. 2 economy slowly emerges from its deep slump thanks to recovery in the rest of Asia, data showed yesterday. The trade surplus came to ¥807.1 billion (US$9.1 billion), a sharp rebound from a deficit of ¥75 billion a year ago amid the sharp global downturn, and the highest level since March last year, the finance ministry said. Exports fell at their slowest rate in a year last month, down 23.2 percent from a year ago at ¥5.31 trillion, while imports were 35.6 percent below their level a year earlier at ¥4.50 trillion, the ministry said.
■VIETNAM
Central bank hikes rates
The central bank hiked interest rates yesterday as it tries to calm inflation, which rose at the fastest pace in six months this month. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) also moved to devalue the dong as concerns over the impact of the global slowdown on the economy have weighed on the currency. The bank is to raise rates to 8 percent from Tuesday as it aims to “contribute to macroeconomic stabilisation, control inflation and maintain sustainable economic growth in 2010,” it said in an online statement. The SBV set the interbank exchange rate at 17,961 dong for US$1 starting today against 17,034 yesterday.
■IMF
Lending scheme boosted
The IMF said on Tuesday that a lending scheme to aid countries hit hard by the latest financial crisis has been increased to US$600 billion. The Washington-based Fund said that an additional 13 potential countries had agreed to join 26 nations in committing money to the so-called New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB), which was originally targeted at US$500 billion. They also agreed to introduce more flexibility to the NAB, a standing set of credit arrangements under which participants commit supplementary resources for IMF lending when needed.
■FINANCE
AIG head gets pay package
American International Group Inc (AIG) said on Tuesday that it would go ahead with a previously announced pay package for its new CEO Robert Benmosche of US$7 million in cash and stock. Benmosche, who took over as CEO of the embattled insurer three months ago, will receive an annual salary of US$3 million in cash and US$4 million in AIG common stock under the pay agreement. The Wall Street Journal reported online on Tuesday that Benmosche signed a noncompete agreement and reiterated at a board meeting his commitment to stay as CEO after threatening to leave his post earlier this month amid heavy government oversight and restrictions on what the bailed-out company could pay employees.
■STEEL
US cuts duties on PRC pipe
The US Commerce Department cut some of its duties on Tuesday on steel pipe from China used to transport oil in a case that is part of the largest US trade action against the country. The department said Chinese exporters of the pipe had received subsidies ranging from 10.36 percent to 15.78 percent, down from its preliminary determination in September, which had applied duties ranging from 10.9 percent to 30.69 percent. Imports of the pipe, worth US$2.7 billion last year, increased more than 350 percent by volume between 2006 and last year, the Commerce Department 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