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Do not alienate business interests

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) recently said in a speech that believing "Sinicization is precisely globalization" and that "Taiwan's future lies in China" amounts to seriously confused thinking. She said Taiwanese businesspeople who hold these views apparently believe that "China is the friendly motherland which is close to Taiwan and will not attack Taiwan." She accused these businesspeople of ignoring China's military threats and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan.

The implication of Lu's speech was that these businesspeople are betraying the nation, helping an enemy country and departing from the mainstream forces of globalization if they invest in China.

I believe it is essential for us to have a deep understanding of cross-strait economic relations in the age of globalization. We must refute the argument of betrayal in order to give Taiwanese businesspeople their proper place in society.

The nation's future does not necessarily lie in China, but China's development certainly provides an excellent opportunity for Taiwan. Sinicization, of course, is not globalization, but China's opening up is an important part of globalization. Most of the businesspeople investing in China are not "Sinicized." They are taking advantage of China's low production costs.

In the complex international division of labor, developed countries provide Taiwan with important technology allowing local businesspeople to play a key role in the integration of global product supply chains and allowing them to expand into the global market, including China.

In her speech, Lu said she was proud of the nation's economic achievements. Taiwan is among the world's top three countries in the production of more than 40 technology products, ranked as the best in 14 of them. Taiwan achieved this by investing across the Taiwan Strait.

According to my research, when Taiwanese businesspeople, over the past seven or eight years, have increased the production rate of their IT products in China by 1 percent, their global market share increased by an average of almost 0.4 percent.

Investment in China has clearly contributed to the success of Taiwanese businesspeople. It is also the source of Lu's pride in the speech.

Taiwanese businesspeople in China mainly manufacture goods for export to developed countries. In 2001, three quarters of China's IT exports were manufactured by Taiwanese businesspeople.

In the 2000 presidential election, some business leaders -- Chi Mei Group chairman Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍), Continental Engineering president Nita Ing (殷琪), Evergreen Group chairman Chang Jung-fa (張榮發) and chairman and chief executive officer of the Acer Group Stan Shih (施振榮) -- openly showed their support for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Lu. They all have great economic interests in China. How could they have supported pro-independence candidates such as Chen and Lu if they truly believe "China is the friendly motherland?" Like most Taiwanese businesspeople, they invest in China to make money.

In fact, Chinese officials were once enraged with Taiwanese businesspeople such as Hsu for supporting pro-independence candidates, but they held back their hatred for them due to the consideration of economic interests.

While China is trying to win over Taiwanese businesspeople, our government should try to win them back and provide better conditions for investment. Otherwise, Taiwanese businesspeople will be unwilling to return to home. They will also diverge from our government's goal of cultivating localization.

Tung Chen-yuan is an associate research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations.

Translated by Grace Shaw
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