geez guys you are freaking me out. just got back from ko samui, next week i am going to tackle this whole RTW thing ...

problem solved. I just spoke to both CX Taiwan and MPC about my itinerary as posted: TPE-HKG-DEL-HKG-NRT-HKG-LHR ............ JFK-HKG-TPE.

No problem, both said, the rule being that ' in the continent of origin ', you can have a maximum of two STOPOVERS, but unlimited segments. I pointed out that "unlimited segments" is probably no the exact wording of the rules ... i have found no reference to this in the rules, but by now I have been assured by two different people at Cathay in Taipei and the MPC in Hong Kong that my itinerary is legal. Maybe somebody finds the pertinent rule, I am not gonna invest more time in this. MPC said if they'd actually enforce 'four segments' in Asia, nobody would by RTW tickets ex Taipei.
Well. I have recorded the conversation with MPC and CX, so in case they don't let me on a flight, I play them the tape.