■Automakers
Small Cadi sold in Japan
General Motors Corp will start selling its new baby-size Cadillac in Japan next month in an effort to challenge domestic makers in the highly competitive entry-level luxury segment, company officials said yesterday. The Cadillac CTS will roll into Japanese showrooms March 8 and start at Japanese Yen 4.95 million (US$42,000) for a model that includes a navigation system, CD player and side air bags as standard features. The CTS starts at US$35,000 in the US but does not include all the features of the Japanese version, which will come in both right-hand and left-hand drive models. Japanese people have generally favored Mercedes and BMW models over the Cadillac because of a severe image problem American cars have suffered here as poor quality gas-guzzlers. Only some 600 Cadillacs were sold in Japan last year.
■ Asian economy
Vietnam to be highlighted
Government and business leaders from the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US will gather in Hanoi next week at a conference examining Vietnam's role in the Asian economy, organizers said yesterday. Former top US diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile and Robert Madelin, director of the European Commission's trade department, are due to speak at the March 5 through March 7 meeting. Organized by the Asia Society, the conference will study the implications of the US-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement which came into force in December 2001 and the Mekong region's emergence as a key player in the Asian economy. The New York-headquartered organisation said other topics would include the communist nation's continuing transition to a market economy, the development of its private sector and its efforts to attract foreign investment.
■ Car systems
Toyota to supply Fuji
Toyota Motor Corp, the world's third-largest automaker, will supply Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd with its G-Book in-car navigation and Internet access system, the companies said in a release. The agreement will help Toyota and Fuji, maker of Subaru cars, cut development costs. Toyota will start supplying the systems for Fuji Heavy's domestic models nest year, the companies said. The release didn't provide financial details. Automakers are starting to fit their vehicles with electronic information terminals to generate monthly subscription fees. Toyota plans to use its system to increase sales in Japan and win more customers from its biggest domestic rivals, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co. Toyota's G-Book system offers drivers access to digital maps, roadside help services and e-mail.
■ Record labels
EMI in talks with Warner
EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, is in talks to acquire a majority stake in AOL Time Warner Inc's Warner Music, which would create a company with 22 percent of new releases in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks. An agreement could be worth as much as US$4 billion, but the talks are preliminary and may break down, the newspaper said. EMI's stable of artists includes Norah Jones, a winner of eight Grammy awards, and Robbie Williams, the former boy-band singer who signed a new contract last October worth US$125 million.
Agencies
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
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