■ Communication
E-mail favored over phones
Executives in the business world prefer to write messages via e-mail instead of picking up the phone to communicate with colleagues, a global survey said yesterday. The poll of 1,500 executives, including 26 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, found more than 66 percent of them prefer to send e-mails compared with 16 percent who opt for phones, according to the poll by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and American networking giant Cisco Systems. Following e-mail, short message service (SMS) emerged second best. Those who prefer instant messaging (IM) over other means of electronic communications stand out as the most ardent proponents of technology. "A full 81 percent of the respondents said automated communications methods make them more or very productive in the workplace," said the EIU findings published in the Business Times.
■ Automakers
GM executive quits abruptly
Philip Murtaugh, the General Motors executive who turned the company's operations in China into one of GM's few successes in recent years, has unexpectedly resigned from the automaker, citing personal reasons, people with knowledge of his decision said yesterday. GM officials declined to comment on Murtaugh's plans. But his departure coincides with growing competitiveness and reduced profitability for all automakers in the Chinese market, as well as an effort by GM executives in Detroit to unite the company's global operations. Murtaugh, 51, was part of the negotiating team that won Chinese permission in the early 1990's for GM to build a factory in Shanghai, and stayed on, building personal contacts among government and corporate officials.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
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
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