■ AUTOMOBILES
SAIC watching GM’s IPO
SAIC Motor Corp (上海汽車工業) said it’s “closely watching” the initial public offering (IPO) of General Motors Co after Reuters reported the Chinese firm was in talks to buy a stake in the US automaker. The US Treasury holds a 61 percent stake in GM following a US$50 billion taxpayer bailout for the Detroit-based carmaker, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June last year. SAIC, GM’s partner in China, was in talks to buy a stake in the carmaker, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. GM’s IPO will likely be open to overseas investors as the US Treasury seeks to pare its stake in the firm.
■ENERGY
BP spill fund paying out
BP said payouts to people affected by its Gulf of Mexico oil spill had dramatically increased since it surrendered authority for dispensing funds to an independent administrator. BP said the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the US$20 billion fund it set up to compensate fishermen, hoteliers and retailers whose business was hit by the spill, had paid out 19,000 claims totaling more than US$240 million. The total cost of the spill response has hit US$9.5 billion, BP said in a statement late on Sunday.
■ ECONOMY
UK loans, money supply dip
Lending to UK businesses fell for the fifth month running in July and home loan approvals dropped to their lowest in more than a year, data showed, fueling concerns about the country’s economic recovery. Separately, the Bank of England said M4 broad money supply fell 0.2 percent on the month last month, but up 1.8 percent on the year — the weakest annual growth rate since monthly records began in July 1983. The bank’s Trends in Lending report yesterday showed the net monthly flow of lending contracted by £2.5 billion (US$3.9 billion) in July, following a £3.2 billion decline in June. Net lending to businesses was down 5.7 percent on the year, compared with a fall of 7.9 percent in June and the smallest fall since August last year.
■ REAL ESTATE
England, Wales prices drop
Property asking prices in England and Wales fell for a third consecutive month this month and have lost half the gains they made in the first six months of the year, a survey showed yesterday. Property Web site Rightmove, which claims to capture 90 percent of all homes put up for sale across England and Wales, said asking prices fell 1.1 percent this month, following drops of 1.7 percent last month and 0.6 percent in July. The annual rate of growth slipped to 2.6 percent from 4.3 percent. Rightmove’s findings chime with other polls showing house prices have fallen in recent months amid rising supply and nervousness ahead of big government spending cuts.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Broccoli join bid for MGM
The Broccoli family, producers of the James Bond movies and co-owners of the franchise with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc (MGM), are involved in Sahara India Pariwar’s US$2 billion bid to buy the debt-laden studio, a person with knowledge of the offer said. Barbara Broccoli and her stepbrother, Michael Wilson, are part of the Sahara India offer and would receive an undisclosed equity stake in MGM if it succeeds, said the person, who sought anonymity because the discussions are private. It wasn’t clear whether Broccoli and Wilson would have a management role in the Los Angeles-based studio, the person said.
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