The protection of Taiwanese businessmen in China should be based on formal bilateral negotiations between Taiwan and China rather than through unilaterally enacted statutes, officials at the Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會, MAC) said yesterday.
MAC declared its position on the recently released new measures -- a supplement to a law on the "Protection of Investment of Taiwanese Compatriots," being enacted retroactively from Dec. 5 -- intended to better protect Taiwanese investors in China.
The new measures permit Taiwanese investors to apply for loans from Chinese banks and to receive the same tax incentives as Chinese entrepreneurs. "The new measures are enacted unilaterally by Chinese authorities," said Lin Chung-bin (林中斌), deputy director of the Mainland Affairs Council.
"However, the fundamental resolutions should be based on bilateral dialogue on these issues, which has been unilaterally installed by China," Lin added.
According to MAC officials, Chinese authorities released the statute in a bid to appease and lure more Taiwanese investors following the decrease in Taiwanese investment in China over the past few years.
MAC officials see an urgent need to resume bilateral negotiations on extending protection of Taiwanese investors, particularly with regard to their personal safety, citing the figures released by Straits Exchange Foundation (海基會 SEF).
According to the Foundation, it has handled 555 cases regarding cross-trait trade and investment disputes, with 225 cases involving personal safety, resulting in the death of 39 Taiwanese investors. Additionally, the figures to the end of 1998 showed 33 had been reported missing, 48 intimidated, 32 kidnapped and 59 deprived of personal freedom.
Officials at MAC also called for dialogue with China to discuss the arbitration and settlement of disputes and the protection of intellectual property rights.
Meanwhile, some Taiwanese investors in China said the new regulations could only be effective in extending protection to Taiwanese investors when they obey and respect the laws of China. Admitting that cases of Taiwanese investors being arrested or detained are frequently heard in China, one former investor in China Sam Ho (何語), said that much trouble could have been avoided if Taiwanese businessmen were more disciplined and cautious about their own conduct.
"There are cases showing that the disputes Taiwanese businessmen have faced were a result of their ignorance of rules and regulations in China, instead counting on guanxi (關係 personal contacts)," Ho said.
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