■ 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-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