■REAL ESTATE
Land Lease cutting jobs
Australia’s largest property developer Lend Lease said yesterday it would lose about 1,700 jobs worldwide due to the global financial crisis, the second national company in as many days to flag job cuts. Lend Lease posted a A$600 million (US$388 million) first-half loss compared with a A$251 million profit recorded a year earlier, saying deteriorating economic and market conditions had forced it to reduce its global staff. “There is no doubt that 2009 is challenging as the effects of the global financial crisis continue to be felt,” chief executive Steve McCann said.
■COMPUTERS
Jobs will be back: Apple
Apple’s board of directors on Wednesday assured stockholders at its annual gathering that ailing chief executive Steve Jobs was on track to return to the company’s helm in June as planned. “Nothing has changed,” Apple board member Arthur Levinson replied when a shareholder asked whether Jobs would return to work on schedule. Apple announced on Jan. 14 that Jobs, who turned 54 on Tuesday, will be on a leave of absence until the end of June because his health issues were “more complex” than initially believed.
■SOFTWARE
Microsoft sues TomTom
Microsoft on Wednesday said it is steering Netherlands-based vehicle navigation systems firm TomTom to court for infringing on the software giant’s patented technology. Microsoft filed complaints against TomTom in US district court and with the International Trade Commission, said Horacio Gutierrez, deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing at Microsoft. Patents involved in the case relate to vehicle navigation technology and computer software that Microsoft has licensed to other firms, he said.
■HARDWARE
Cisco cutting 250 jobs
Cisco Systems Inc, the largest maker of networking equipment, cut 250 jobs in San Jose, California, this week, as the company begins a worldwide effort to trim headcount and consolidate offices. Cisco chief executive officer John Chambers said earlier this month the company was always “realigning and restructuring resources” and that 1,500 to 2,000 jobs might be eliminated in the near term. Cisco said then its headcount was 67,318 last quarter.
■AUTOMOBILES
VW has new plans for China
German automaker Volkswagen AG said yesterday that it is launching a new strategy for the China market, aiming to double its sales by upgrading its brand image and improving customer service. “We plan to add or renew at least four models per year and double the number of dealerships to achieve our sales target,” Winfried Vahland, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company’s president for China, said in a statement. Volkswagen reported a new record of 6.23 million vehicles sold last year, up 0.6 percent from the year before. Sales in China rose 12.5 percent to 1.02 million last year, compared with 1.06 million in Germany, Volkswagen’s biggest market.
■INSURANCE
Allianz lost big last year
German insurance giant Allianz yesterday posted a worse-than-expected loss for last year, owing in large part to a huge charge in connection with the sale of its Dresdner Bank subsidiary. Allianz said its net loss amounted to 2.44 billion euros (US$3.1 billion). Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 1.86 billion euro drop. Allianz made a net profit of 7.97 billion euros in 2007.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
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