The Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone, a venture in China’s Fujian Province to deepen cross-strait interaction, is not as simple as it looks, Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) said on Tuesday.
The Chinese government has recently been using the zone to promote its “united front” message, with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) saying he had high hopes the facility would promote closer cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.
Zone chairperson Gong Qinggai (龔清概) said the facility would be “open to all” and that it welcomed all types of Taiwanese firms to invest and work there, making Pingtan a “home for citizens across the Strait.”
Chinese media say the zone, which is on Pingtan Island, 68 nautical miles (125km) from Hsinchu, would host high-tech companies, factories and other industrial businesses, while incorporating information technology, finance and banking, logistics and other tertiary sectors of a modern economy.
Annual salaries being offered by companies in the zone range from 200,000 yuan (US$31,590) to 2 million yuan, in addition to perks such as rent-free accommodation to encourage Taiwanese professionals to work there and expedite its development, the Central News Agency reported yesterday.
During a meeting of the legislature on Tuesday, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) asked Chen whether Taiwan’s proposed Free Economic Model Zone would be able to trump what China was offering.
Lin said the Chinese government was investing 100 million yuan daily to build up the zone in Fujian and claims it would give certain plots of land to Taiwanese firms or agencies as well as giving them autonomy in those areas, although none of the profits generated there can be repatriated.
Taiwan’s proposed Free Economic Model Zone, based on South Korea’s Incheon Free Economic Zone, intends to turn a selected location into a hub for logistics, international business and economic development to stimulate the local economy and increase Taiwan’s competitive edge internationally.
The Free Economic Model Zone is different from Pingtan in that the zone would only have “economic concerns,” Chen told Lin, adding that he doubted the veracity of China’s claims.
Pingtan County was only given special status last year and although special customs control measures are said to have been implemented, the whole island is only 300km2, with a population of 390,000 people, Chen said.
The island has a long way to go in terms of basic infrastructure, he said.
The Chinese “have ulterior motives and [their] zone isn’t as simple as it looks,” Chen said.
As for the prospective locations of the Free Economic Model Zone in Taiwan, Chen said that while it was not exclusively tailored for Greater Kaohsiung, the special municipality had potential as a candidate.
Chen promised that during the planning of the Free Economic Model Zone, the government would seek to increase manpower, logistics and financing, adding that it would benefit Taiwan more if some legal amendments were made.
The degree to which Taiwan would open up to foreign labor and logistics would have to be discussed, he said, adding that residents of Greater Kaohsiung would not like it if Chinese workers were allowed to come to Taiwan.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
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