The government should use all means at its disposal to stem the flow of high-tech investment to China, according to a report out of the National Security Bureau (
The Bureau issued an analysis of their conclusion in a top secret report titled, An Analysis on how the Chinese Communist Party Attracts Taiwanese High Tech Investment for the Suzhou Industrial Park.
According to Chinese-language media, the report implores government officials to curb high-tech investment, saying 74 Taiwan tech firms have already invested NT$20 billion (US$841 million) in the Suzhou (蘇州) Park, which sits just outside of Shanghai.
One official said the report emphasizes high-tech firms due to fears that once they are heavily invested, these firms will become political puppets of Beijing.
"The `no haste, be patient' investment policy has nothing to do with the small and medium-sized companies in Taiwan, only with big investors," said a government official on condition of anonymity.
Formosa Plastics Group Chair-man Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) is a prime example. On public television last week, he implored people in Taiwan to "calmly accept the `one China' principle," while repeating his call to lift all curbs on investment across the Strait.
The "no haste" policy stopped Wang from investing US$6 billion in 1992 to build a chemical complex in China's Fujian Province.
Laws in Taiwan currently limit single investments to only US$50 million for China-bound projects, and ban certain high-tech investments and infrastructure projects. These measures have had little effect on companies who skirt the law by setting up holding companies and transferring investment money directly from overseas accounts into China.
Last year, China's information technology production value topped US$25.5 billion, beating Taiwan for the first time, with Taiwanese firms based in China accounting for an estimated 72 percent of that figure.
"I think people are really getting too emotional about [this issue] because nobody, including the government, is sitting down to discuss this matter rationally. How much money has gone over to China? How much impact will it have on industry here? You have to go over it sector by sector, item by item and ask the businessmen who intend to go or have already gone to talk about this issue in front of the public," said Andrew Yang (
According to the National Security Bureau report, officials in Suzhou are actively developing industry "clusters" which include the entire spectrum of each industry. From downstream component makers like computer motherboard and monitor producers to PC cases and mouse makers, China has slowly won over the computer industry.
Now, Chinese officials are targeting the semiconductor industry, and have won a few victories with investments pledged by Winston Wang (
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Cambricon Technologies Corp (寒武紀科技) plunged almost 9 percent after warning investors about a doubling in its share price over just a month, a record gain that helped fuel a US$1 trillion Chinese market rally. Cambricon triggered the selloff with a Thursday filing in which it dispelled talk about nonexistent products in the pipeline, reminded investors it labors under US sanctions, and stressed the difficulties of ascending the technology ladder. The Shanghai-listed company’s stock dived by the most since April in early yesterday trading, while the market stood largely unchanged. The litany of warnings underscores growing scrutiny of
RSS