A group yesterday warned of the political repercussions of China International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC, 中國中信) becoming the third-largest shareholder of Taiwan’s CTBC Financial Holding Co Ltd (中信金控), saying that, if the deal goes through, it would be more serious than the media monopoly attempt orchestrated by the Want Want China Times Group (旺旺中時) in 2012.
The Economic Democracy Union gave a presentation for CTBC Financial investors, urging them to protest CITIC’s proposed investment at the general meeting of CTBC Financial shareholders scheduled for next Monday.
If the deal goes through, CITIC would hold a 3.8 percent stake in CTBC Financial, becoming its third-largest shareholder and enabling it to influence the firm’s management, the union said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The union’s convener and lawyer-activist, Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強), said CITIC’s investment is the first case of Chinese investment in Taiwan’s financial industry, which could be considered the “Want Want China Times’ media monopolization attempt of the financial industry.”
However, while Want Want China Times is a Taiwanese firm “heavily influenced” by Beijing, CITIC is a corporation controlled by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Lai said.
“Its establishment was personally endorsed by Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) in 1979. It was founded by then-Chinese vice president Rong Yiren (榮毅仁), who was frequently referred to as the ‘Red Capitalist,’ and its current chairman is Chang Zhenming (常振明), a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference member and secretary of the CITIC Group party committee,” Lai said.
CITIC topped the 1989 democratic movement in China’s list of top 10 “official profiteers” (guandao, 官倒), according to the union.
“It is a corporation closely affiliated with the Chinese national security, intelligence and military apparatuses,” the union said.
According to the union, CITIC’s strategic actions to date include, but are not restricted to: working with Japanese businesses to establish the China Orient Leasing Co Ltd (中國東方租賃公司) in 1980, when China needed foreign investment to “reform and open up” its market; obtaining a 10 percent stake in Australia’s Portland Aluminum Shelter in 1988 to expand to the aerospace and arms industries through Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Ltd (亞洲衛星控股); and signing a contract in 1995 with Iran for cooperation on building the Tehran Metro to secure a stable source of oil for China during the first Gulf War.
Most recently, in 2013 CITIC pulled its ads from independent media outlets in Hong Kong due to political motives, the union said.
“Chinese media have reported that CITIC is to acquire [shares of] Taiwan’s ‘greatest privately owned bank.’ We can let the public judge whether that is to be considered part of the Chinese government’s strategic plans,” the union said.
Lai said that repercussions would be felt on four fronts: The erosion of press freedom, the abuse of personal information, the exploitation of a loophole in the nation’s Joint Credit Information Center and political intervention in loan reviews.
Press freedom might be compromised by the withdrawal of advertisements, as CTBC Group has a marketing budget of as much as NT$2.98 billion (US$95.9 million), and, as CTBC Bank is the nation’s biggest credit card-issuing bank, it exposes millions of Taiwanese to abuse of their personal information, the union said.
The Joint Credit Information Center “monopolizes the records of interactions between Taiwanese, businesses and banks, and the operation relies on the self-discipline of its members [bank] with no clear legal regulations and effective external supervision,” the union said.
The center has not dared approve the membership of several Chinese banks, but CITIC, if it secures a seat on CTBC Financial’s board, would be able to obtain information from the center through CTBC Bank, the union said.
“Ads could be pulled, and so could the money,” Lai said.
The union urged the CTBC shareholders to protest CITIC’s investment, and, should their opposition go unheeded, a demonstration would be staged to pressure the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission to veto the investment.
If the deal goes through, the union plans to demand the Financial Supervisory Commission block CITIC’s representatives from becoming CTBC Financial board members to “safeguard democracy.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique