■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 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