Growing tensions across the Taiwan Strait will not likely impact the close economic relationship between the two sides, local business leaders said yesterday.
Taiwanese companies have been distancing themselves from politics since China increased its rhetoric against "pro-independence" businesspeople, but business leaders said the threats should have little impact on their bottom line.
"We don't need to panic too much as no Taiwanese business-people [operating in China] ever said they support independence, as Beijing has accused," Kao Chin-yen (
"The two sides should maintain a peaceful relationship and work together to make money for the next 50 years," Kao told reporters after attending a meeting held by the non-profit Third Wednesday Club.
Beijing said last month that it doesn't welcome Taiwanese businesspeople who make money in China and then go back home to support Taiwan's independence.
The cross-strait relationship was further strained yesterday as China's Vice Minister of Commerce Ma Xiuhong (馬秀紅) reiterated Beijing's position,though she noted that the legal rights of Taiwanese businesses in China will be protected.
"We have not said that we will restrict anybody's investment," Ma said. "But one thing's for sure -- we will not welcome those Taiwanese businessmen who are resolutely in support of Taiwan independence or undertake separatist activities."
On Tuesday, the new chairman of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, Frank Liao (
Shareholders approved the appointment of Liao to replace Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍) to head the world's fourth-biggest flat-panel-display maker, after Hsu was singled out by Beijing as unwelcome.
Tony Cheng (
But China's harsh tone has appeared to stop all talk of political issues in Taiwanese business circles across the Strait, Cheng said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (
Once China chokes off investment, they will lose a huge amount of imports and force Taiwanese companies to leave the market, Ho said.
For the first quarter of this year, Taiwan's exports to China were US$9.994 billion, a 28.1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to ministry statistics.
Chen Lee-in (
Cheng, however, said Taiwanese businesspeople -- who no longer hold an ace in the Chinese market amid an influx of foreign investment there -- need to be cautious about political pressure.
"Many were saying that local governments in China will ignore the political stance and open their arms to Taiwanese enterprises" Cheng said. "But the thing is, they have excluded Taiwanese investment from the priority list since many large multinational corporations are vying to enter the market."
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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