■AUTOMOBILES
GM mulls selling Saab line
General Motors Co (GM) is talking to BAIC (北京汽車工業), China’s fifth-biggest car maker, about a partial sale of assets associated with its Saab brand, including tooling and technology, two people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Group has made it clear that it has no interest in acquiring Saab’s production hub in Trollhattan, Sweden, according to the people who could not be named because the talks remain private. Under the proposed deal, BAIC, which lacks its own car brand, would set up production in China based on an older generation of Saab vehicles, including the 9-5 and 9-3 models, the people said. BAIC and GM both declined to comment.
■CELLPHONES
RIM expands China market
Research in Motion said yesterday it planned to expand the China market for its BlackBerry smartphone to include consumers and small businesses, amid fierce competition in the world’s biggest mobile market. Research in Motion (RIM) said in a statement it was working with China Mobile (中國移動) to introduce the handset to “professional” individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. It gave no timetable nor did it say how much they would cost. The handset will be customized to China’s home-grown third generation wireless technology, TD-SCDMA, the company said.
■DUBAI
IMF to probe Dubai World
An IMF team will visit Dubai in coming weeks to look closer at the economic impact of the Dubai World debt crisis and actions needed to resolve it, a senior IMF official said on Monday. IMF director for the Middle East and Central Asia Masood Ahmed said the visit was an opportunity for the IMF to update and conclude this year’s assessment of the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock markets were buffeted yesterday by the fallout of Dubai’s debt woes, both posting fresh losses in volatile trade. The Dubai Financial Market index fell 6.39 percent to 1,633.26 points, continuing a downward spiral a day after the market dropped 5.84 percent.
■RESOURCES
Xstrata restructures nickel
Mining group Xstrata is taking a US$1.9 billion charge for restructuring its nickel business after metal prices fell, and is taking further charges of US$545 million for copper smelting operations in Canada and Chile, it said yesterday. “The impairments announced today reflect the structural changes made to our nickel business during 2009, together with the very significant impact of short and medium term currency movements, which have resulted in an exceptional impairment charge against Xstrata’s nickel assets,” chief executive Mick Davis said. The price of nickel has rebounded this year by 75 percent to about US$15,700 per tonne, but is still a fraction of its 2007 peak of US$51,650.
■RETAIL
Tesco sales grow slowly
Tesco PLC, the world’s third largest retailer, yesterday reported a 5.7 percent increase in sales in its third quarter, lower than analysts expected. In the 13 weeks ending on Nov. 28, Tesco said sales excluding gasoline were up 6.6 percent on a constant currency basis. Sales outside the company’s UK base rose 5.4 percent at constant exchange rates and 12 percent at actual exchange rates. Without adjusting for currency fluctuations, Tesco said total group revenue was up 7.7 percent, or 8.8 percent excluding gasoline.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
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