The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) struck a nerve with the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) because of an editorial in the latest edition of its monthly magazine, in which the chamber used unusually harsh language to criticize the government's cross-strait policies.
The editorial in the August issue of Taiwan Business Topics, titled "Conferences don't lead," accused the ruling party of succumbing to the TSU and sidelining important cross-strait issues, which it said would only "weaken Taiwan's competitiveness."
The editorial also expressed AmCham's disappointment at the government's failure to reach a consensus during the two-day Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development in July.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUN-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Politics got in the way when the tiny TSU held the meeting agenda hostage to the party's ideological bias against closer economic ties with China," the editorial read.
It went on to say that the TSU, as a pan-green ally, "commands more influence with the government than the number of its supporters warrants, and the party's `spiritual leader,' former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), still has a following because of his past contributions to building Taiwan's democracy."
In September 1996, then-president Lee proposed a "no haste, be patient" policy as a guideline for Taiwanese investments in China, citing national security.
"But on purely economic grounds, Lee and the TSU are off base," AmCham said.
Without the ability to tap fully into the regional and global business activity that flows through China, Taiwan will be just another medium-sized market of limited interest to international corporations, the editorial read.
"By deferring to the TSU and failing to adopt further opening to China through expanded industrial investment and the opening of banking connections, the government is weakening, not safeguarding, Taiwan's competitiveness," it concluded.
In response, the TSU lashed out at AmCham, saying the organization's interests were not the same as Taiwan's.
"If the American Chamber of Commerce has illusions about the Chinese market and thinks that Taiwan's investment in China is not enough, it can go to the market by itself and does not need to drag Taiwan along into its nightmare," TSU legislative caucus whip Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) said at a press conference held with other TSU legislators yesterday.
Liao said that the interests of AmCham were not necessarily those of Taiwan, adding that if the US really cares about Taiwan, it would sign a free trade agreement (FTA) and assist Taiwan in joining the UN.
Other TSU officials said it was their party's duty to monitor the government and to raise concerns about the nation's excessive investment in China, because these issues concern Taiwan's sovereignty and future development.
TSU Legislator David Huang (
"The American Chamber of Commerce should not continue guiding the Taiwanese govern-ment's policy and force it to tilt to China. It should not meddle in Taiwan's domestic affairs," Huang said.
"China has 800 missiles targeted at Taiwan and the situation is dangerous for us. We have to play it safe in terms of relaxing restrictions on investment in China," Huang added.
Meanwhile, TSU Secretary-General Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) yesterday said he did not think the opinions of AmCham represent those of the US government, saying "businesspeople have their own considerations."
"Taiwan has way too much investment in China, and we have virtually no insurance policy," Lin said. "It is reasonable for Taiwan to conduct risk management in terms of those sectors that have excess investment in China."
Lin said businesspeople might not care about the sovereignty issue, but that the TSU was concerned about the long-term development of the country and the importance of defending Taiwan's sovereignty.
Lin also said that AmCham overestimates the TSU's influence.
"The TSU does not have so much influence as to force the Cabinet to go along with us. Perhaps [AmCham] has misunderstood the TSU's stance. We are willing to communicate with it," Lin said.
Meanwhile, the head of the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) agreed with his counterparts at AmCham, saying Taiwan had missed a lot of opportunities because of the govern-ment's cross-strait policies.
"Taiwan has lost its last opportunity to move important cross-strait issues forward during last month's economic conference and were increasingly concerned about the marginalization of Taiwan's economy," Guy Wittich, chief executive officer of the ECCT, said during a telephone interview yesterday.
He said ECCT members are upset about the sidelining of relaxation measures relating to Taiwan's normalization of economic relations with China, including direct transportation links and lifting the ceiling on China-bound investments, which is currently capped at 40 percent of a listed company's net worth.
Such issues, which had originally been removed from the agenda due to the TSU's boycott during the preparatory meetings, were listed as "other opinions" which do not ensure effective implementation.
Although he declined to single out any political party or politician for such policy-making, Wittich reiterated that "Taiwan needs to be a part of the region" and that the "national security" reasoning must not be over-used to hinder the nation's development.
The government must clarify where the bottom line is for national security and carefully study what repercussions it might have on businesses, he said.
"If I were a Taiwanese company, I would've also moved to another market" which provides incentives for investments, instead of punishing businesses, he added.
In the meantime, the government sought to quell the row, saying it was willing to listen to any input the business community might offer.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞 昌) said yesterday that the government's China policy is "comprehensive and long range-oriented," including efforts to remove investment obstacles, and that he will seek a consensus to satisfy all parties.
Su said he thanked members of the American, European and Japanese chambers of commerce for making investments based on their confidence in the strength of Taiwan's economy.
"If they have any opinions about our policy, we will respect their views and evaluate their suggestions," Su said.
Sometimes people have differing views about policy issues, he said, but overall and in the long term the government welcomes all investment and is willing to loosen restrictions on it, he said.
"We are open to dialogue with people of different points of view as we do our utmost so that everyone will be satisfied," the premier added.
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