全通翻譯/翻譯社

Exit Strategy?

WHEN Deng Xiaoping began opening China up to free-market economics and foreign trade in the 1980s, foreign companies were quick to take advantage of the opportunities that the PRC offered. The establishment of Special Economic Zones, beginning with Shenzhen in 1980, was the first of several incentives to demonstrate that China was now open for business. It all boded well for the future.

In many ways, much of that promise has been realized. From 2000-2010, around 20 percent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) was in China, accounting for roughly 2.5 percent of the country's GDP from 2005-2010. During the same period, foreign-invested enterprises were responsible for more than half of PRC imports and exports. As of 2010, they provided a third of China's industrial output and over a fifth of its industrial profits while employing just 10 percent of its workforce –– a demonstration of their high productivity.

Monte Carlo or Bust

Few cities can rival Monte Carlo when it comes to glitz and glamour. With its casinos, grand hotels and luxury yachts, Monte Carlo is the epitome of opulence and, some might say, excess. Monaco's main district has long been considered a playground for the rich and famous. Monte Carlo is home to more millionaires and billionaires per capita than anywhere else. It also has the world's priciest real estate, with four-room apartments overlooking Port Hercules going for over 60 million euros.

Monte Carlo was named after Prince Charles (Carlo) III of Monaco, a scion of the Grimaldi family whose preeminence in the area dates from the late 12th century. The Grimaldis were wealthy Genoese who spoke a dialect similar to Monegasque, which is still used by about 15 percent of Monaco's citizens. 

A Brief History of Taiwanese Clothing

Unsurprisingly for a nation that has been influenced by a variety of cultures, Taiwan has seen a range of clothing styles during different periods of its history.

To the untrained eye, the traditional costumes of the island's aborigines may seem of a piece and, in a way, they are. The weaving process was almost identical throughout the tribes. A squared-cloth system of weaving, involving a horizontal loom with a strap, was used to produce individual pieces, which were then sewn together to create beautiful patchworks. However, colors, patterns and decorations (including shells and beads) varied considerably from tribe to tribe. The Atayal, for example, whose women are expert weavers, favored red as it was said to be in tune with nature and ward off evil. The Paiwan, whose clothing is perhaps the most eye-catching, preferred dark blues and black with intricate patterns and ostentatious adornments.

Kuala Lumpur — Malaysia's Diverse and Ambitious Capital

By any stretch of the imagination, Kuala Lumpur is a major world city. The Malaysian capital is one of the most visited destinations, with 9.2 million people bringing in an estimated US$7.8 billion in 2013.

Kuala Lumpur is far from the country's oldest city, having been a relatively insignificant tin-mining town just 150 years ago. It wasn't until 1972 that city status was conferred on KL, as it is known to locals. Two years later, the city was devolved from Selangor Province and declared a Federal Territory. This was partly in response to the call for increased economic opportunity following the race riots of 1969, which targeted ethnic Chinese.

資料來源：biz互動英語報

Taiwan's Big Trade-off?

Despite the signing of the ECFA pact in 2010, disquiet over the implications of cross-strait trade liberalization has continued to simmer. Tensions only grew with the inking of the cross-strait agreement on trade in services, which extends the scope of investment areas on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The issue is close to boiling point with the bill stalled in the Legislature and political infighting threatening to scupper the deal.

Most recently, the flap over the attempted removal of Wang Jin-pyng of the ruling Kuomintang from his post as legislative speaker is said to have caused unease in Bejing. There have even been reports of PRC officials contacting Wang in private to gauge the state of play. However, the real cause is the opposition Democratic Progressive Party's refusal to accept the deal without a clauseby- clause review. As ever in the arena of Taiwanese politics, the motives for this stance are questionable, with some analysts insisting that the Greens are just engaging in political grandstanding. DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang's withdrawal from a televised debate in mid-September elicited further sneers of cynicism from KMT lawmakers, who said it showed the opposition didn't have a leg to stand on.

Critiquing the Lean Machine

If you've not heard about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and her effortsto revolutionize the way women tackle gender inequality, then you need to start “leaning in” as her book advises.

Having outlined her ideas on how women unwittingly hold themselves back in an earlier TED talk, Sandberg presented a fully fledged manifesto with “Lean In.” Women, she contends, are habitually bad at asserting themselves, and this is manifested in their voices, body language and fear of speaking out. However, critics have argued that Sandberg is making women the scapegoat for what should be viewed as an institutional problem.