Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and government officials appeared unaware yesterday of the huge outflow of Taiwanese capital to China in recent years when Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers confronted them with statistics from the central bank.
“I am really surprised. I will have the Ministry of Economic Affairs look into it,” Wu said in response to legislators Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮), Kuo Wen-chen (郭玟成) and Wang Sing-nan (王幸男), who cited central bank statistics on remittances to and from China.
The statistics estimated capital outflow from Taiwan to China at about US$145 billion since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008.
“During the six years between 2002 and 2007 under the previous DPP administration, capital outflow was about US$200 billion,” Kuo said. “How come the capital outflow was nearly US$150 billion in the two years of the KMT administration?”
Kuo said remittances from China to Taiwan were just over US$10 billion, while Wang said the percentage of companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange that have operations in China has soared to more than 70 percent since May 2008, with a total investment of more than US$500 billion.
The rapid growth of Taiwanese investment in China was shown by the fact that more than 85 percent of Taiwanese capital investment overseas from January to May this year went to China, Chai said.
The trio urged the government to draw up policies to direct businesses to diversify their investments in China, saying economic overreliance on China would force Taiwan into a disadvantageous position in negotiations with Beijing.
When asked by Kuo whether he was aware of the situation, Wu said: “Over the last 20 years, official statistics put the figure for Taiwanese investments in China at between US$70 billion and US$80 billion, while it was estimated unofficially at more than US$200 billion.”
Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said the statistics provided by the lawmakers were not inconsistent with statistics compiled by his ministry’s Investment Commission.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
The nation’s usually punctual high-speed rail system yesterday was hit by major disruptions after all scheduled services were canceled and replaced with three hourly trains offering only non-reserved seating, affecting more than 200,000 passengers. Preliminary findings indicate the disruption was caused by a faulty power module in a track switch control cabinet, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) said, adding that as a full system inspection could only be conducted after operations end for the day, a decision on whether normal service would resume today would be announced before the first train departs. During a routine inspection early yesterday, a switch signal abnormality
RSS