Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chen Ming-tong (
During a meeting of the Home and Nations Committee yesterday, 46 KMT legislators, including Lee Chi-chu (
The amendment proposes that the government not be permitted to bar Taiwanese businesspeople from investing in mass produced items in China because to do so would violate international treaties.
Lee said the amendment would benefit Taiwan's semiconductor, liquid-crystal-display panel, packaging and petrochemical industries.
But Chen told the committee meeting that the government had considered international treaties, national defense and the economy when it barred investments in those industries in China.
"I don't think it is really a thorough proposal if legislators who proposed this amendment simply considered international treaties as the only factor," he said.
"The amendment would have widespread impact. We need to be meticulous about it," he said.
He said government polls over the past three years had showed that more than 50 percent of the respondents expect the government to tighten restrictions on China-bound investments. Only around 30 percent of respondents thought the restrictions should be loosened.
"Judging from these surveys, most people think it is necessary for the government to tighten regulations on investments, otherwise core industries or major high-tech processes will be moved from Taiwan to China," he said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator David Huang (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuo Jung-chung (
Lee said that although Taiwan's information technology industries faced massive competition from their international counterparts, they had been hindered by the restrictions on China-bound investment, which had reduced their competitiveness.
"It is essential, therefore, to allow those items," Lee said.
The committee chairman, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Tsai Hau (
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