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No timetable for Chinese currency exchange system

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou, right, yesterday presents a bottle of rice wine as a gift to Sony Corp president Ryoji Chubachi during a 30-minute meeting between the two at the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) headquarters in downtown Taipei. PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES

President-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) office appeared to be backtracking on Ma’s previous remarks on allowing Chinese yuan exchanges in Taiwan by the end of this year, saying yesterday that the office, while hoping to allow currency exchange for yuan in Taiwan as soon as possible, did not have a timetable in mind.

“It is imperative that we make the Renminbi convertible [with the New Taiwan dollar]. We will deal with the issue after assuming office. Basically, we do not have a timetable, but we hope [the currency exchange] will begin as soon as possible,” Ma spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said when approached for comment. “We hope [the exchange] will be launched soon after thorough planning.”

Lo made the comments after he was approached for comments about a Reuters interview with Ma published on Wednesday which quoted Ma as saying that he wanted to boost Chinese tourism to Taiwan and make the yuan convertible with the NT dollar.

The story quoted Ma as saying that the currency exchange mechanism would be launched by the end of this year.

The report also quoted Ma as saying that the policy would come in handy when a large number of Chinese tourists arrive in Taiwan with the Chinese currency.

Asked if the exchange would be limited to specific locations, Lo said that people should not focus on that question for the moment.

“The important thing is to provide [Chinese tourists] with a convenient currency exchange mechanism to solve the possible currency exchange problems that could result from the arrival of Chinese tourists,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ma met Sony president Ryoji Chubachi yesterday, welcoming Chubachi’s offer to increase investment in the company’s research and development department in Taiwan.

Addressing the media after meeting with Chubachi at Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) headquarters for one hour, Ma said Chubachi had also expressed his intention to increase Sony’s procurement in Taiwan.

Ma said that Taiwan and Japan could also form a “strategic alliance” if both countries were to develop the Chinese market together.

“Businesses in Japan and Taiwan have been very close and the relationships have been healthy over the decades,” Ma said.

“We look forward to maintaining and expanding this relationship,” he said.
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