■AUTOMOBILES
GM may go bankrupt: report
The US Treasury Department has told General Motors (GM) to make all necessary preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing by June 1, even though the troubled automaker insists it can restructure its business on its own, the New York Times reported late on Sunday. Citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the plans,” the newspaper said the instructions had been conveyed by members of President Barack Obama’s automotive task force, who spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with GM in Detroit and Washington. The talks are expected to continue this week, the report said, adding that the goal is to prepare GM for a fast “surgical” bankruptcy. The automaker already has been granted US$13.4 billion in federal aid, and its managers are insisting the company’s image should not be damaged.
■TELECOMS
BT to cut 10,000 jobs
British telecoms operator BT will cut 10,000 jobs when it reveals its preliminary results next month, reports said on Sunday. BT will also make a £1.5 billion (US$2.2 billion) writedown in its under-fire Global Services division and slash its dividend by about 60 percent, the Daily Telegraph’s Web site said. The job losses, which the report said will be in addition to the 10,000 job cuts BT made last year, are expected to be spread across the company’s 160,000-strong global work force.
■TELECOMS
SK in US$150m loan talks
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s largest mobile-phone operator, is in talks with banks to raise up to US$150 million for working capital from a three-year loan, a person with direct knowledge of the transaction said. Lenders that committed about US$100 million to the so-called club loan include Calyon and DBS Group Holdings Ltd, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. Seoul-based SK Telecom, which has investments in the US, China and Vietnam, said on Thursday it planned to enter overseas markets and roll out new services to offset slowing growth at home.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Express to buy NextRx units
Express Scripts Inc has agreed to buy WellPoint Inc’s NextRx subsidiaries for US$4.68 billion, the companies said in a statement. NextRx subsidiaries provide pharmacy benefits management services to about 25 million Americans and manage more than 265 million adjusted prescriptions annually. The companies said the deal includes a 10-year contract for Express Scripts to provide services to WellPoint, the largest US health insurer by membership, which will retain control of medical policy, formulary and integrated disease management in the subsidiaries.
■OIL
Prices slide below US$52
Oil prices fell below US$52 a barrel yesterday in Asia after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it expected global crude demand to drop this year amid the worst worldwide recession in decades. Benchmark crude for delivery next month fell US$0.40 to US$51.84 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Thursday rose US$2.86 to settle at US$52.24 a barrel. Trading was closed on Friday for the Lenten holiday. The Paris-based IEA, an energy policy adviser comprising 28 countries, said on Friday that demand this year will likely fall by 1 million barrels a day to 83.4 million barrels, or 2.8 percent lower than last year.
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
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,
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
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2