Taiwan should try to include copyright issues as part of an investment protection pact with China, in an effort to protect Taiwanese companies in partnerships with Chinese firms in the cultural and creative sector, experts said yesterday.
Lee Yun-jie (李允傑), an adviser to the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation, said that the biggest issues for Taiwanese businesspeople working with their Chinese counterparts in the sector are copyright protection and funds.
Although Taiwan and China have signed an agreement on intellectual property rights protection, Taiwan should seek to include the issue in the investment protection pact to better protect Taiwanese in the field, he said.
Cross-strait cooperation in the cultural and creative industry looks promising because Taiwan has creative talent and soft power, while China has funds and a vast market, he said.
“We must propose the issues [in the negotiations on the investment pact]. Of course we have the right to make proposals,” said Tu Tze-chen (杜紫宸), head of the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s Knowledge-based Economy and Competitiveness Research Center.
Meanwhile, he said, the media is “the least likely” area to attract Taiwanese investment in China, given the strict media controls there. Taiwanese investors in China are more likely to have a chance of success in the fields of advertising, 3D animation and Internet games development, he added.
The comments were made as Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) is preparing to lead a delegation on a visit to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou on Monday to look at China’s cultural and creative industry.
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