The political standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has forced most Taiwanese businesses operating in China to count on their personal relations, instead of their government's influence, to settle business disputes, a business leader said yesterday, citing a survey released Sunday.
In the absence of inter-governmental agreements signed between Taiwan and China, and with no official representative in the communist nation, Tai-wanese businesspeople are required to strengthen their risk-control management mechanisms when doing business in China, said Frank Huang (黃崇仁), chairman of the Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會).
"Despite the `Go West' fever, [people should remember] there are risks of conducting business there, regardless of the type or scale of the investment," said Huang, who also chairs Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
Huang's remark was made in response to a survey which was released on Sunday regarding constant cross-strait business disputes by the Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工總).
The survey showed that 66.1 percent of 293 Taiwanese businessmen in China urged Taiwan's government to sign an investment-protection agreement with the Chinese authorities, while 57.9 percent called on the government to establish an official trade representative office.
Huang said that until the sensitive political problems between the two nations are resolved, businessmen are on their own and will have to bear risks alone or look for support from various private associations.
According to the survey, 57.7 percent of Taiwanese businessmen exercised personal influence to settle disputes, 35.1 percent went to Taiwanese business groups for advice, while 31.7 percent sought mediations.
In fact, measures to safeguard Taiwanese businessmen have been discussed by two non-governmental organizations -- Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (
But the organization's proposals came to an impasse following the disruption of dialogue between the two groups, an official at the Mainland Affairs Council, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"We have been concerned about the safety of Taiwanese businesspeople's lives and property, and we have proposed various protection measures," the official said.
"But we can't do anything now, since the only channel of negotiation has been suspended," he said.
Setting up a representative office in China, however, is deemed "especially difficult," as Beijing claims that such a move is not in accordance with the "One China" policy, he said.
"We hope business groups in various big cities in China can provide proper assistance to those in trouble before the advent of an official mechanism," he said.
The survey also indicated that in addition to a protection mechanism, the normalization of cross-strait transportation is urgently needed to increase efficiency among Taiwanese businesspeople.
But Huang does not expect any progress to be made before the presidential election is held next March.
"The three-links issue is always stained with political intrigue, which makes it hard to discuss before the election," Huang said.
"We hope the two agencies are able to resume cross-strait talks as soon as the election ends," Huang said.
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