Trade security management would be strengthened to counter economic threats and integration tactics from China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report submitted to the Legislative Yuan.
The council said it would reinforce its consultation services for Taiwanese businesses in China to improve the nation’s economic autonomy, security and resilience.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to pressure Taiwan in the military, political, economic and trade domains, and has ramped up its “united front” propaganda against the nation, the report said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
For example, China on June 21 announced the 22 guidelines imposing criminal punishments on “‘diehard’ Taiwanese independence separatists,” severely threatening the security of Taiwanese who travel to China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said.
The report added that with China’s prior amendments to the National Security Law, the Counter-Espionage Law and the Law on Guarding State Secrets, Taiwanese businesses investing in China are facing serious risks.
The 22 guidelines have brought a chilling effect — Taiwanese operating in China dare not talk about politics for fear of being reported as Taiwanese independence supporters by hostile industry peers or competitors. At the same time, overseas companies investing in China have begun avoiding sending their Taiwanese employees to China, an official who is familiar with Taiwanese businesses in China said on condition of anonymity.
Due to the ongoing economic downturn in China, some Taiwanese businesses are disinvesting, they said.
The council report said it would review cross-strait economic policies and regulations, and enhance consultation services for Taiwanese companies in China, helping them diversify into other businesses or return to and invest in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the report denounced China for imprisoning Taiwanese for alleged national security contraventions.
Many Taiwanese travelers to China were detained and interrogated, with their personal belongings, including mobile phones and computers, being inspected, it said.
While China is attempting to assert jurisdiction over Taiwan, crackdown on freedom of speech and impose its political values on Taiwanese, Taiwan would continue to urge China to refrain from unfairly detaining Taiwanese for political purposes and allow them to return to Taiwan, the report said.
China implemented the policy to ramp up its so-called “cross-strait integrated development” plan and is attempting to drive a wedge into Taiwan society using “united front” tactics, it said.
Officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office have secretly met with Taiwanese talents on multiple occasions to tout business-friendly policies and developmental opportunities in China, luring them to work, invest or start a business there, the report said.
Overall, Beijing has been facilitating cross-strait exchanges across multiple fields, using a carrot-and-stick approach — harshly punishing Taiwanese independence supporters while encouraging bilateral exchanges with those who toe the CCP’s line, it added.
The report also discussed the elevated geopolitical and cross-strait uncertainties and challenges to economic integration, saying that in response to the rise of “friend shoring” — the redirecting of supply chains to friendly countries — and economic and trade pressure from China, the government has sought to sign bilateral trade agreements such as the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, and join regional trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The government continues to promote its New Southbound Policy to maintain economic and trade cooperation with important member states of the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to improve the nation’s autonomy, security and resilience, the report said.
The government would continue to monitor China’s actions against Taiwan and the changing geopolitical situation in China and the broader region, the report said, adding that Taiwan would choose dialogue over confrontation and exchanges over containment in its pursuit of cross-strait peace and coexistence.
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