■ENERGY
Mirant and RRI merging
Energy providers Mirant Corp and RRI Energy Inc said on Sunday they were combining in a US$1.61 billion stock-swap deal, renaming the company and creating a utility powerhouse that will become one of the US’ largest independent power producers. The combined company, which will have a market capitalization of about US$3.1 billion, will be called GenOn Energy. It will bring together roughly 24,650 megawatts of electric generating capacity, operations from coast to coast and have total revenue of US$4.13 billion, based on last year’s figures. GenOn will be led by Mirant chairman and CEO Edward Muller until 2013, when he will retire and the top post will be taken by Mark Jacobs, RRI Energy’s current president and CEO. Jacobs will serve as GenOn’s president, chief operating officer and a director until that time.
■AUTOMOBILES
GM China sales may top 2m
General Motors Co (GM) said yesterday demand in China was so strong that annual sales could top 2 million vehicles this year — four years ahead of schedule — and could exceed 3 million by 2015. “We already have an incredible focus on China and we’re going to put as much energy as we can on China,” said Kevin Wale, president and managing director for GM China Group. GM’s China sales jumped 68 percent last month over a year earlier to a monthly record of 230,048 vehicles, propelling a 71 percent surge in first-quarter sales to 623,546 units. In the lackluster US market, GM’s sales last month were 188,546, 20 percent lower than China’s.
■JAPAN
Economy recovering: official
Finance Minister Naoto Kan said yesterday the nation was making a solid recovery but faced problems from deflation and debt. “In the seven months of the Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama administration, you cannot deny the fact that the fiscal and economic situation is improving if you look at the results,” Kan said in a speech at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, but added that deflation and the government’s growing debt posed threats to the economy. Kan, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said the administration needed not only to fulfill campaign promises but also to develop a long-term growth strategy.
■SOFTWARE
Adobe launches new suite
Pent-up demand is expected to boost sales of the newest installment of Adobe’s Creative Suite, the company’s flagship software package aimed at professional designers and developers that was to be launched yesterday. Bad timing hurt sales of the previous version, which was launched in the heart of the financial crisis of 2008. The latest update aims to make it easier for its users to include interactive elements in their designs. It also includes the Web analytics services of Omniture, which Adobe Systems bought last fall for US$1.8 billion.
■CONGLOMERATES
LG Group going green
LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate, plans to invest 20 trillion won (US$18 billion) by 2020 to cut the group’s greenhouse-gas emissions and develop energy-saving products. The investment will help reduce emissions by 50 million tonnes a year by 2020, Seoul-based LG said in a statement yesterday, without giving its current output of gases including carbon dioxide blamed for global warming. South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest polluter, plans to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2020.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
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