■ Auto Market
GM names new executive
General Motors Corp said yesterday it has named a top executive from its European operations to replace Philip Murtaugh as its president for China, a day after it announced Murtaugh's resignation. Although most recently vice president for GM Europe, Murtaugh's successor Kevin Wale previously spent 15 years heading GM's operations in the Asia-Pacific region, the company said in a statement. Wale's earlier time in Asia "laid the groundwork for our current presence," Troy Clarke, president of GM Asia Pacific, said in a statement. "We are excited to have him back." Wale, an Australian, was also chairman of GM's Vauxhall Motor Co and head of GM's operations in Britain.
■ Mergers
EU approves MGM deal
The EU's antitrust office yesterday said it approved the acquisition of the famed film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc by a consortium led by Sony Corp, arguing it would not seriously affect competition in Europe. In a deal valued at nearly US$5 billion, Sony and Comcast Corp will allow MGM to operate as a separate private business, with Sony Pictures distributing MGM's films and television shows as well as MGM's valuable library of more than 4,000 films. MGM owns the rights to the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky movies. Comcast will use Sony Pictures' and MGM's catalog of films and TV programs to feed its nascent video-on-demand service. "The transaction would neither create nor strengthen a dominant position or otherwise impede effective competition" in the 25-nation EU market, the European Commission said in a statement.
■ Conglomerates
GS Group starts operations
A new South Korean conglomerate was born yesterday as the GS Group, a spin off from the LG Group, officially began operations with its 15 affiliates focusing on energy and distribution. Chairman Huh Chang-Soo said at a launch ceremony that the new group would put the priority on enhancing corporate transparency and increasing shareholders' value rather than expanding market share. With GS Holdings as its flagship company, former LG affiliates such as LG-Caltex Oil, LG Mart and LG Home Shopping now fall under GS and were renamed accordingly with GS replacing LG in their titles. GS Group hopes to achieve sales of 24 trillion won (US$23.4 billion) this year, following revenues of 22 trillion won last year. With the new group's assets estimated at 16.1 trillion won as of the end of 2003, GS ranks as the nation's seventh-largest conglomerate, excluding public corporations.
■ Aviation
Continental pilots ratify deal
Continental Airlines pilots on Wednesday ratified a 45-month contract designed to save the financially strapped airliner US$200 million a year, the pilots union said. About 58 percent of those who voted agreed to ratify the contract, the union said. The ratification is contingent on the acceptance of unions representing flight attendants, mechanics and dispatchers of their contracts negotiated with the Houston, Texas-based carrier as part of the cost-saving plan. Continental said it would issue stock options for approximately 10 million shares of common stock in connection with the pay and benefit reductions. The shares represent approximately 15 percent of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Continental.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from