These are not areas that Chinese businesses excel in. The majority of Chinese businesses are labor intensive. Not only do these businesses fail to complement Taiwanese businesses, they can also be used by Chinese authorities to gain control over Taiwanese businesses as well as access to Taiwanese experience in technology, research and development and management. Chinese businesses could then use this knowledge to challenge Taiwanese businesses.
A large number of Chinese businesses are owned by the government and therefore could obtain official authorization to use the nation’s foreign exchange reserves. China recently bought out many businesses around the world through takeovers and mergers, especially of companies involved in raw materials and commodities. This has not only raised costs, but also affected the pace of the global economic recovery, with most nations speaking out and warning against the consequences of China’s actions.
Only the Ma administration is almost on its knees begging for large amounts of Chinese investment, thus paving the way for China to buy out all of Taiwan’s major businesses, control Taiwan’s economy and push real estate prices up, making it difficult for the ordinary citizen to afford housings.
Even worse, Chinese businesses could make use of the investment opening to take part in Taiwan’s build-operate-transfer infrastructure projects. Because they will be politically motivated government-owned companies, they will be able to undercut the competition by submitting low bids and then use these projects as bargaining chips to control Taiwanese businesses. Businesses that heed Beijing’s call will benefit, while those who don’t will be left out and may even go broke. Unification methods based on economic benefits will expand into the media and political sectors and create a lot of distorted praise about China. When this happens, Taiwan will become an economic colony of China.
China has used the same methods to control Hong Kong for years. Statistics show that Hong Kong has more than 2,700 Chinese-invested businesses, with an estimated value of US$220 billion. They are mostly concentrated in the banking, insurance and travel industries — industries where Hong Kong once excelled and where Chinese investment now account for more than 20 percent.
With Taiwan going through the toughest times of the worst global financial crisis in a century, it will be much easier for Chinese businesses to gain control over Taiwan than it was for them to gain control over Hong Kong — more so because the Ma administration has opened the doors wide open and happily welcomed Chinese investment. It may already be too late to stop Taiwan from becoming an economic colony of China.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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