MAC boss derides KMT proposal

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) voiced disapproval yesterday at a proposal from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to loosen restrictions on high-tech items that are mass produced in China.

During a meeting of the Home and Nations Committee yesterday, 46 KMT legislators, including Lee Chi-chu (李紀珠) and Joanna Lei (雷倩), proposed amending Article 35 of the Statute Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).

The amendment proposes that the government not be permitted to bar Taiwanese businesspeople from investing in mass produced items in China because to do so would violate international treaties.

Lee said the amendment would benefit Taiwan's semiconductor, liquid-crystal-display panel, packaging and petrochemical industries.

But Chen told the committee meeting that the government had considered international treaties, national defense and the economy when it barred investments in those industries in China.

"I don't think it is really a thorough proposal if legislators who proposed this amendment simply considered international treaties as the only factor," he said.

"The amendment would have widespread impact. We need to be meticulous about it," he said.

He said government polls over the past three years had showed that more than 50 percent of the respondents expect the government to tighten restrictions on China-bound investments. Only around 30 percent of respondents thought the restrictions should be loosened.

"Judging from these surveys, most people think it is necessary for the government to tighten regulations on investments, otherwise core industries or major high-tech processes will be moved from Taiwan to China," he said.

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator David Huang (黃適卓) said the proposal sought to infringe upon the Executive Yuan's authority through legislation.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuo Jung-chung (郭榮宗) said it did not make sense to allow high-tech industries to invest in China when that country has nearly 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Lee said that although Taiwan's information technology industries faced massive competition from their international counterparts, they had been hindered by the restrictions on China-bound investment, which had reduced their competitiveness.

"It is essential, therefore, to allow those items," Lee said.

The committee chairman, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Tsai Hau (蔡豪), decided that industry representatives should be invited to a meeting on Thursday to give their opinions on the amendment.