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TSU opposes lifting cap on China-bound investment

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislators yesterday insisted that the China-bound investment cap of 40 percent of a company's net value should remain in place. The demand came during a preliminary meeting on cross-strait trade ahead of the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

The discussion on lifting the 40 percent investment cap yesterday was met with vehement opposition from the TSU legislators, who insisted that as long as the value of Taiwan's total China-bound investment could not be reduced to below 1 percent of the nation's GDP and 40 percent of total outbound investment, the cap should remain in place.

TSU Legislator Ho Min-hao (何敏豪) said that the increase of Taiwan's outbound investment in China has worsened unemployment and other social problems in Taiwan, and insisted that no further relaxation on such investment should be allowed.

Participants in yesterday's meeting concluded that the government should publish assessment reports on cross-strait trade and the economy every year in order to better monitor the ongoing speed and consequences of the cross-strait economic exchanges.

The assessment report should include the amount of China-bound investment as a percentage of the country's total GDP, and such investment's impact on unemployment and national security problems.

The meeting decided that further relaxation on the export of the nation's agricultural products to China will not be on the agenda at the conference.

As of press time yesterday, participants were divided on expanding cross-strait cargo and passenger charter flights.

Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association chairman Rock Hsu (許勝雄) tried to persuade other participants to reconsider whether to include the expansion of cross-strait cargo flights on the conference agenda.

Hsu said that the Toshiba Corporation in Taiwan planned to ship semi-finished products from its sister companies in Japan and Korea to Taiwan for assembly if the government expanded cross-strait cargo flights.

Hsu said that Taiwanese freight companies are now globally competitive, but that if the ban on cross-strait cargo flights wasn't lifted within the next three years, the competitiveness of the Taiwanese freight firms would be seriously dented.

Current cross-strait charter cargo flights only allow the shipment of Taiwanese production equipment to factories in China, but not the shipment of finished products back to Taiwan.
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