■ECONOMY
Japan warns on job cuts
The government called on business leaders yesterday to think twice before laying off workers, a day after electronics giant Panasonic Corp said it would shed 15,000 jobs worldwide. “We hope labor adjustment will be done in a cautious manner from the viewpoint that jobs support the economy,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters. “Employment creates salaries, and these are the basis of everyday life,” he said. Previous government calls on businesses to spare workers have fallen on deaf ears. The approval rate of Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Cabinet has plummeted partly because of concerns over his handling of the economy.
■MEDIA
Bloomberg to cut 100 jobs
Bloomberg LP said on Wednesday it would cut about 100 jobs in the US and possibly others in Europe and Japan as part of a restructuring meant to prop up its broadcast operations. These are the first layoffs for the financial information company started in 1981 by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is now New York’s mayor. The company said it was reorganizing its radio and television operations to become a global, round-the-clock business network, and the cuts are needed to position the Bloomberg Television network for growth and allow for programming changes.
■SEMICONDUCTORS
Hynix posts 5th quarter loss
South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s second-largest computer memory chipmaker, yesterday reported a fifth straight quarterly loss owing to steep falls in prices amid a global recession. The net loss was 1.33 trillion won (US$960 million) in the October-to-December period compared with a 462 billion won deficit a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Fourth-quarter sales dropped 18 percent year-on-year to 1.51 trillion won and the company posted an operating loss of 782 billion won. For the full year, Hynix swung to a net loss of 4.38 trillion won from a profit of 364 billion won a year earlier, the first annual net loss in five years.
■ETWORKING
Cisco reports solid results
US computer networking giant Cisco reported a solid quarterly performance on Wednesday, but warned that the global economic downturn would take its toll in the current quarter and layoffs would not be ruled out. Cisco reported a net profit of US$1.5 billion for the October-to-December quarter of its fiscal year, down 27 percent from the U$2.1 billion during the same period a year ago but better than Wall Street analysts’ expectations. Revenue fell 7.5 percent to US$9.1 billion in the quarter, the San Jose, California-based maker of switches and routers said. In a conference call with analysts and reporters, Cisco chairman and chief executive John Chambers said he expected revenue to fall by between 15 percent and 20 percent this quarter, more than forecast by analysts.
■INSURANCE
Buffett raises investment
Swiss Reinsurance Co says it will receive a 3 billion Swiss francs (US$2.6 billion) capital injection from US investor Warren Buffett. Buffett already holds 3 percent of Swiss Re stock. Swiss Re says it may also seek a further SF2 billion on the capital markets. The move comes as the Zurich-based company warns investors to expect a net loss of SF1 billion last year. CEO Jacques Aigrain said in a statement yesterday that he was disappointed with the full-year results.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft