■ Computers
IBM to combine units
International Business Machines Corp, the world's largest computer maker, plans to combine its business that makes server computers and data-storage networks with its unit that makes computer chips. The combination will be effective today and no jobs will be cut, IBM spokesman Edward Barbini said in an interview. The units employ about 21,000 workers. The server and data-storage business will continue to be run by William Zeitler, and John Kelly will continue to be in charge of the chip unit. Both will continue to report directly to chief executive Sam Palmisano. "This is about driving competitive advantage in the server business," Barbini said. IBM has been trying to improve the performance of its chip-making unit.
■ Labor
Koreans mad over foreigner
Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), the six-largest lender in South Korea, named a US financial expert yesterday as its new president, triggering protests from unionists, bank officials said. KEB said Columbia University associate professor Robert Fallon was named president at a shareholders meeting at the bank's headquarters here. Fallon, 57, has some 26 years of business experience in the financial industry, having worked for Chase Manhattan Bank, JP Morgan, Bankers Trust and Citibank, mostly in Japan. He becomes the second foreigner to head a leading bank in South Korea after Korea First Bank. The meeting was briefly suspended because of protests from about 50 workers from the bank's ailing card unit, KEB Credit Service, KEB officials said, adding Fallon did not take part in the meeting.
■ Automobiles
Honda has Fit for America
Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co will start selling a 1.3-liter-class subcompact in the US as early as this year to fend off its South Korean rivals, a news report said yesterday. The model will be based on the Fit, which is highly popular in Japan, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, without citing sources. The company expects annual sales of 50,000, the Nihon Keizai said. Priced at around US$10,000 for the lowest-end model, the vehicle will be cheaper than Honda Civic which is priced between US$13,000 and US$20,000 for models with 1,300-2,000 cubic centimeter engines, the Nihon Keizai said. Honda is considering exporting the subcompact vehicles from Japan. The company, however, may produce the vehicles in Brazil if the dollar continues to trade below ?110 and makes exports from Japan less profitable or even loss making, the Nihon Keizai said.
■ Electronics
Philips' profits up 246%
LG Philips LCD Inc recorded net profit of 1 trillion won (US$853 million) last year, a 246 percent increase from 2002, the Korea Economic Daily reported yesterday. Sales last year at the joint venture between LG Electronics Inc and Royal Philips Electronics NV rose 70 percent to 6 trillion won, the daily said, quoting industry sources. A spokesman of LG Philips LCD said the company would not release the data on last year's performance until LG Electronics publicizes its own results early next month. LG Electronics, which has a 50 percent stake in LG Philips LCD, now stands to count 500 billion won in profits from its investment in the flat panel display maker. LG Elect-ronics is expected to report about 900 billion won in net profit for including the 500 billion won in earnings from LG Philips, the report said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,