■ AUTOMOBILES
GM's former CEO dies
Roger Smith, who led General Motors Corp (GM) in the 1980s and was the subject of Michael Moore's searing documentary Roger & Me, has died, the automaker said on Friday. He was 82. Smith died on Thursday in the Detroit area after a brief illness that GM did not identify. He was appointed chairman and CEO on Jan. 1, 1981, and led the world's largest automaker until his retirement on July 31, 1990. With Japanese automakers gaining momentum in the US as Smith's tenure began, he responded with GM's first front-wheel-drive midsize cars and formed a controversial joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp to manufacture cars in California. "[Smith] was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change and learn to make it work for us," current GM CEO Rick Wagoner said in a statement.
■ AEROSPACE
Le Gall warns on dumping
The head of the European satellite launch group Arianespace, Jean-Yves Le Gall, warned the US on Friday against Chinese "dumping" in the market and suggested Washington should improve its ovesight. "Today, we see China has re-entered the market for commercial launches, using so-called `ITAR-Free' satellites designed and built without US technology," Le Gall told a space industry luncheon in Washington. "Coupled with cut-rate launch prices, China is working to flood the market with such satellites and I really think Europe and the US must rise together to address these issues which are very, very important," he said.
■ CHINA
Manufacturing expands
Manufacturing expanded at a faster pace last month, a government survey of purchasing managers released yesterday showed. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 55.4 from 53.2 in October, the statistics bureau said in an e-mailed statement. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Of 20 industries surveyed, 19 of them, including clothing producers, transportation equipment manufacturers and energy processors, recorded a PMI of more than 50,the report said. The accelerating PMI reflected "China's rising investment in recent months," a researcher at the State Council Development and Research Center in Beijing said.
■ PHARMACEUTICAL
FDA clears antidepressant
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved long-term use of the antidepressant Cymbalta to help patients avoid a relapse into depression, Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday. Cymbalta, one of Lilly's biggest-selling drugs, was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 to treat serious depression. The new FDA approval supports its use for "maintenance treatment" in adults. Lilly reported that Cymbalta had sales of US$1.3 billion last year, making it the company's fastest-growing drug.
■ COMPUTERS
Investors dump Dell stock
Shares of Dell Inc fell nearly 13 percent on Friday as investors took a pessimistic view on plans to re-ignite the computer maker's fortunes with a strategy that could lower profits in the short term. In Dell's first earnings conference call in more than a year, chief financial officer Don Carty told analysts that restructuring costs would cut into profits as the company seeks more acquisitions and layoffs and that a slower decline in component costs could also have an impact on its bottom line.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last