■ Automobiles
Hyundai chief faces arrest
South Korean prosecutors requested an arrest warrant yesterday for Hyundai Motor Co chairman Chung Mong-koo amid a bribery and slush fund scandal that has rocked the country's largest automaker. Prosecution spokesman Kang Chan-woo said that the arrest warrant was requested for Chung, who is suspected of embezzling about 100 billion won (US$106 million) in company money to create the slush fund and of breach of trust for allegedly incurring about 300 billion won of damages against the company. The request for the warrant is subject to approval by a court, which will question Chung before deciding, Kang said. The maximum sentence if charged and convicted would be life imprisonment, he said. "It is very shocking," said Jake Jang, a Hyundai spokesman. "Hyundai executives are all in a panic. The absence of chairman Chung is enormous and its ramifications are beyond description."
■ Investment
M&A in China on the rise
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by foreign firms in China should rise sharply in the next five years despite misunderstandings that can lead to failure, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said. "Merged or acquired companies in China often fail because an acquirer does not understand the operating environment in China, nor appreciate the importance of cultural integration issues," EIU said in a statement received in Singapore late on Wednesday. "But neither of these obstacles will slow the sizzling pace of merger and acquisition activity involving China." Of 231 business executives EIU surveyed worldwide, 65 percent said foreign acquisition of stakes in Chinese companies "is set to rise over the next five years," the statement said. About half of those surveyed said that at the same time, Chinese firms will also be completing for mergers and acquisitions with fellow Chinese companies as well as with foreign entities.
■ Manufacturing
New plant completed
LG.Philips LCD Co completed construction of one of the world's largest plants producing liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels yesterday, the company said. The world's top flat panel maker said it invested 5.3 trillion won (US$5.6 billion) over the past three years to build the plant in Paju, some 30km north of Seoul. The plant will churn out 90,000 flat panels for LCD TVs every year, the company said in a press statement. "The new LCD plant will create more than 90,000 jobs and spark production worth a total of 15.3 trillion won," the company said.
■ Media
MediaNews buys papers
MediaNews Group has expanded its US newspaper empire with the purchase of Silicon Valley's San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, the company announced on Wednesday. The Colorado-based MediaNews will also take ownership of the Monterey County Herald in California and the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota under the terms of a billion-dollar deal financed with the help of the Hearst Corp, which owns San Francisco's largest-circulation daily newspaper, the Chronicle, and its popular SFgate.com Web site. The price paid for the four papers was 11.5 times their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortizaion, MediaNews said. If the deal clears, the company will climb from seventh to fourth among US newspaper firms in terms of circulation.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
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