■ Labor
Seoul orders end to strike
Using rarely invoked powers, the South Korean government yesterday ordered an end to a 25-day strike by unionized pilots at Asiana Airlines, the country's second-biggest carrier, the Labor Ministry said. The government's intervention forces the pilots to stop the strike for 30 days. The government action came after hopes were raised for a last-minute resolution, with the union and management suddenly resuming broken off negotiations earlier in the day. Those talks failed to reach a breakthrough, the ministry said. Asiana has been forced to cancel over 2,000 domestic and more than 130 international flights since the strike began July 17. About 90 percent of its cargo flights have been suspended. The strike has been costly for the airline and companies it works closely with such as travel agencies, importers and exporters, resulting in estimated losses of 353 billion won (US$348 million) through Sunday.
■ Computers
Lenovo reports rising profit
In its first earnings report since buying IBM Corp's PC business, Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) said yesterday that its net profit rose 6 percent in the April-June quarter to HK$357 million (US$45.8 million). The figure compared to HK$337 million in the first quarter last year. Lenovo said its overall PC business remained profitable despite taking on IBM's money-losing unit, with global sales totalling HK$18.3 billion. Lenovo chief executive Steve Ward said the PC operations acquired from IBM in April are performing better than they did under IBM. Overall revenue more than tripled in the fiscal first quarter to HK$19.6 billion from HK$5.88 billion. Hong Kong-listed Lenovo had earlier predicted the IBM deal would quadruple its sales. Lenovo said in a statement it was "generating faster-than-expected benefits from the synergies anticipated from the acquisition."
■ Aerospace
EU backs merger plan
The European Commission has given its green light to plans by US aerospace and defense firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co to merge their rocket launch services. The firms will form a joint venture known as United Launch Alliance, to combine the testing and launching operations of Lockheed Martin's Atlas and Boeing's Delta rockets. The EU head office said late on Tuesday that the deal posed no competition concerns in the European market. The two firms will maintain separate engineering and design programs and will still produce their two rockets separately. The merger comes after a downturn in the rocket business. Each firm will control 50 percent of the venture, which is expected to generate between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion in annual revenue.
■ Acquisitions
Ripplewood ups Maytag bid
In a last-ditch effort to outbid Maytag's much larger Whirlpool, a consortium of investors led by the private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings indicated on Tuesday night that it might be willing to raise its offer to about US$15.65 a share, or US$1.3 billion, according to executives close to the negotiations. Ripplewood made the indication to Maytag's board a day after Whirlpool submitted a bid of US$20 a share, or US$1.62 billion in cash and stock. Maytag's board had until 2pm yesterday to decide which bid to accept if neither suitor formally adjusts its offer.
‘TOO TIRED’: The former mayor’s political party said that he had been questioned for nearly 19 hours, so he declined to be questioned at night, as he felt exhausted Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was arrested early yesterday morning after being questioned by prosecutors over his alleged role in a corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The arrest was made after Ko refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors’ office, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Prosecutors were worried that he would collude with others involved in the case to make false statements if they allowed him to leave, so they issued an order to arrest him, the office said. Ko yesterday sought a court
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
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