■TRADE
Geithner voices optimism
Efforts by the US and China to revive the global economy are starting to pay off, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said yesterday. Geithner made his comments at a meeting with President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) wrapping up two days of talks in Beijing. “We’ve already demonstrated the capacity of our two countries to work together on the global stage, to lay a foundation for economic recovery, and I think partly because of the strength of the actions put in place by your government and by [US] President [Barack] Obama we’re starting to see some early signs of stabilization and recovery in the global economy,” Geithner told Hu.
■JAPAN
Economy has hit bottom
The Asian giant’s economy likely bottomed out in the first quarter of this year, but is unlikely to recover until late this year or early next year, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said yesterday. “I think that the economy has hit bottom” in the first quarter until March, he told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. “The economy will maintain this upward trend during and after the April-to-June quarter, and probably return to normal ... around the end of this year or by spring next year.” The country posted its worst growth figure during the January-to-March quarter as GDP shrunk by an annualized 15.2 percent.
■DEFENSE
Saab announces layoffs
Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB yesterday said it would lay off 370 office staff at its Saab Bofors Dynamics unit in Sweden. The company said staff in the central Swedish cities of Karlskoga, Eskilstuna and Linkoping, as well as in southwestern Goteborg would be affected by the layoffs. The redundancies will be implemented between this year and 2011 and are part of a long-term restructuring process, initiated as a result of declining orders from the Swedish armed forces, Saab said.
■COMPUTERS
EMC eyes Data Domain
US computer storage giant EMC Corp offered US$1.8 billion on Monday for Data Domain in a bid to counter a rival offer for the data storage company from NetApp. EMC, in a statement, said it was prepared to offer US$30 per share in cash for Data Domain, which NetApp offered to buy on May 20 for US$1.5 billion, or US$25 per share in a cash and stock deal. “EMC’s all-cash proposal is superior to the proposed NetApp transaction providing Data Domain stockholders greater value and certainty,” EMC said. “EMC’s all-cash offer represents a 20 percent premium to the cash and stock offer made by NetApp,” it said.
■AVIATION
Ryanair announces losses
Leading budget airline Ryanair reported its first annual pre-tax loss yesterday, saying it had gone into the red by 169 million euros (US$239 million) last year following a fuel bill increase of 59 percent. The loss run up by the end of March compared with a profit of 481 million euros in the previous year and came after Ryanair faced record oil prices and a hefty writedown on the value of its investment in rival Irish carrier Aer Lingus. The company said it had written down the value of its 29.8 percent stake in Aer Lingus by a further 222 million euros, after Aer Lingus’ share price fell.
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