Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. founder and Presidential Adviser Hsu Wen-long (
"Taiwan independence will only lead Taiwan to war and drag people to disaster," Hsu said in an open letter published on the front page of the Economic Daily News today, only hours before a mass rally was to take place against China's new "Anti-Secession Law."
"In the 2000 presidential election, I supported Chen Shui- bian (陳水扁), but supporting Chen doesn't mean I support Taiwan independence," said Hsu, the sixth-richest man in Taiwan according to Forbes magazine.
Hsu retired as Chi Mei chairman last June. He remains on the board.
Taiwan's second-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions named Vice Chairman Liao Chin-hsiang (廖錦祥) to replace him.
"I believe Taiwan and the mainland belong to one China, and people across the Strait are all sisters," Hsu said in the open letter.
"We don't play `Taiwan independence,' and because we don't, Chi Mei's development on the mainland will definitely blossom," Hsu said.
Human Chain
The protest yesterday was organized by the Taiwan Democratic Alliance for Peace.
The rally may be the biggest since last year's presidential election campaign, when as many as 1 million people linked arms in a human chain across the country to protest missiles aimed at Taiwan.
On Friday, Chi Mei shares rose NT$1, or 2.3 percent, to NT$45.10.
The shares fell to a 15-week low last June after a report in People's Daily, the mouthpiece for the ruling Chinese Communist Party, criticized Hsu for his pro-independence views and said investments from Taiwan businessmen who share those views weren't welcome in China.
In today's letter, Hsu said he offered twice this year to resign as an adviser to Chen because he has no interest in Taiwan politics. He didn't say if Chen had accepted his resignation.
Old Threats
Attempts to tie allegiance to the communists' "one-China policy" with China investment opportunities isn't new.
In March 2001 China's trade minister warned Taiwan businesses to toe Beijing's line on reunification if they wanted to operate factories in China.
Hsu founded the Chi Mei Group in 1953 with a plastics factory and later expanded into petrochemicals, electronics, frozen foods and health care.
The conglomerate employs more than 10,000 people and had sales of more than US$3 billion in 2002, the year Chi Mei Optoelectronics went public.
Three petrochemical plants and a shipping unit operate in China, according to the company Web site.
China is Taiwan's biggest export market and the most popular destination for offshore investment.
The Presidential Office yesterday gave a subdued response to Hsu's comments.
"Since Taiwan is a democratic country, it's natural that there are diverse opinions," Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
In a response to Hsu's statement, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said that he can understand why Hsu made such a remark and that the incident only reflects the fact that the Chinese government is beginning to pressure China-based Taiwanese businesspeople.
"As his friend, I can understand why he says such a thing," Lee said.
"He does it at the expense of his own reputation and for the sake of over 100,000 people working for him in China, because he doesn't have any other choice."
Lee added that Hsu did not inform him in advance of his retirement announcement but instead learned the news from the media.
While Hsu has business investment in China, Lee said that Hsu is now beginning to see the negative impact of such a business venture.
"I take pity on what has happened to him because some of his factories and companies based in China have been forced to shut down by the Chinese government," Lee said.
Lee called on the public to realize that Hsu made his retirement announcement about a year ago under pressure from China.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS