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Editorial: Time to rethink trade ties with China

A 200 page report on China released by a US Congressional commission on Monday proves that concerns over Beijing's economic threat to Taiwan over the past years were well-founded. China is indeed launching an economic offensive to accomplish unification.

The report by the US-China Security Review Commission, a panel mandated by the US Congress, confirms that Beijing is pressuring Taiwanese businesses doing or intending to do business in China to support its policies. This conclusion corresponds with those drawn before by Taiwanese but which have always been dispelled by the pro-unification camp as paranoia on the part of independence groups.

Taiwanese businessmen know only too well how practiced Beijing is at making good on its threats.

So, for example, when Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) recently condemned the prevalence of tax evasion in China, suggesting that a new crackdown on tax evasion was taking place in China, that was enough to make Taiwanese businessmen in China lose sleep. For they know perfectly well that in China they are essentially helpless cash cows at the disposal of the Chinese government. After all, if even business tycoons such as Formosa Plastics Group Chairman Wang Yung-ching (王永慶) and Evergreen Group founder Chang Jung-fa (張榮發) must bow to Beijing in order to do business in China, what would make others think they are immune?

Moreover, unlike foreign firms, which can at least turn to their governments for help in time of crisis, Taiwanese businesses are on their own, because Beijing couldn't care less about the Taiwan government's views.

Even more worrisome for Taiwan is the commission's remarks on the economic means through which China may in the future escalate its unification assault. According to the report, China may limit or sever Taiwan's trade with and investments in China, freeze Taiwan's assets in China, or even forcibly expel the large number of Taiwanese living there. Perhaps onlookers are truly capable of seeing the game better than the players.

Many people in Taiwan refuse to even seriously consider these scenarios. But didn't they also refuse to believe that Beijing would go so far as to pressure Taiwanese businessmen in China to parrot Beijing's tune? What do they have to say now?

The commission-report further pointed out that the US has been a major contributor, through trade and investment, to China's rise as an economic power, which in turn raises serious national security concerns for Washington. If even a country as wealthy and powerful as the US holds such concern about China, Taiwan would be a fool to not feel at least as discomfited, if not more.

Even more interesting is that the commission recommended tougher economic policies toward China to curb the problem, such as tightening the access of Chinese firms to American capital markets, restricting China's US imports and increasing reporting requirements for American companies doing business in China.

The US is a country in which businesses enjoy paramount economic freedom and strong influence. If this kind of voice is beginning to surface in the US, it only seems rational for Taiwan, which is much more vulnerable to China than the US, to adopt protective measures for cross-strait investment. Under the circumstances, why is Taiwan's government being severely criticized by the opposition camp over such measures?

Hopefully, the commission's report will help the people of Taiwan re-examine the cross-strait relationship from another perspective.
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