■AUTOMOBILES
GM may go bankrupt: report
The US Treasury Department has told General Motors (GM) to make all necessary preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing by June 1, even though the troubled automaker insists it can restructure its business on its own, the New York Times reported late on Sunday. Citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the plans,” the newspaper said the instructions had been conveyed by members of President Barack Obama’s automotive task force, who spent last week in meetings and on conference calls with GM in Detroit and Washington. The talks are expected to continue this week, the report said, adding that the goal is to prepare GM for a fast “surgical” bankruptcy. The automaker already has been granted US$13.4 billion in federal aid, and its managers are insisting the company’s image should not be damaged.
■TELECOMS
BT to cut 10,000 jobs
British telecoms operator BT will cut 10,000 jobs when it reveals its preliminary results next month, reports said on Sunday. BT will also make a £1.5 billion (US$2.2 billion) writedown in its under-fire Global Services division and slash its dividend by about 60 percent, the Daily Telegraph’s Web site said. The job losses, which the report said will be in addition to the 10,000 job cuts BT made last year, are expected to be spread across the company’s 160,000-strong global work force.
■TELECOMS
SK in US$150m loan talks
SK Telecom Co, South Korea’s largest mobile-phone operator, is in talks with banks to raise up to US$150 million for working capital from a three-year loan, a person with direct knowledge of the transaction said. Lenders that committed about US$100 million to the so-called club loan include Calyon and DBS Group Holdings Ltd, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private. Seoul-based SK Telecom, which has investments in the US, China and Vietnam, said on Thursday it planned to enter overseas markets and roll out new services to offset slowing growth at home.
■PHARMACEUTICALS
Express to buy NextRx units
Express Scripts Inc has agreed to buy WellPoint Inc’s NextRx subsidiaries for US$4.68 billion, the companies said in a statement. NextRx subsidiaries provide pharmacy benefits management services to about 25 million Americans and manage more than 265 million adjusted prescriptions annually. The companies said the deal includes a 10-year contract for Express Scripts to provide services to WellPoint, the largest US health insurer by membership, which will retain control of medical policy, formulary and integrated disease management in the subsidiaries.
■OIL
Prices slide below US$52
Oil prices fell below US$52 a barrel yesterday in Asia after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it expected global crude demand to drop this year amid the worst worldwide recession in decades. Benchmark crude for delivery next month fell US$0.40 to US$51.84 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Thursday rose US$2.86 to settle at US$52.24 a barrel. Trading was closed on Friday for the Lenten holiday. The Paris-based IEA, an energy policy adviser comprising 28 countries, said on Friday that demand this year will likely fall by 1 million barrels a day to 83.4 million barrels, or 2.8 percent lower than last year.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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