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Forum warns of overdependence on PRC economy

Academics at a forum in Taipei yesterday said overdependence on China economically could endanger economic and national security.

Jiang Huang-zhi (姜皇池), associate professor of law at National Taiwan University, said Boston College professor Robert Ross had warned in 2005 that China purchased approximately 40 percent of Taiwan’s exports and that more than half of Taiwan’s foreign investment had gone there since 2002.

“Without firing a shot, China could cause chaos in Taiwan,” Jiang quoted Ross as saying.

Jiang told the forum, hosted by the Taiwan New Century Foundation, that he was concerned that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “impetuous economic exchanges with China are making Taiwan more vulnerable to China’s threat.”

He said other US analysts were also concerned that Taiwan’s economic dependence on China could mean that the US would not be able to help Taiwan in the case of China moving to annex it.

Considering the threat of Chinese aggression, Jiang said a small country such as Taiwan should develop strong links with strategic partners such as the US and Japan.

Cross-strait exchanges could create the impression that problems between Taiwan and China are a domestic matter and prevent the international community from intervening, he said.

Wang To-far (王塗發), professor of economics at National Taipei University, estimated that the arrival of Chinese tourists would only bring around US$260 million annually, representing a rise in GDP growth of between 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points.

Wang said that the nation was opening itself to risks such as epidemics, illegal immigrants and crime.

China is dealing with serious domestic problems such as unemployment, environmental degradation and potential economic bubbles, Soochow University political science professor Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said, warning that in the event of a crisis across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan could be hit hard because of its close economic links to China.
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