Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said yesterday that a local Chinese government had “unreasonably” offered a large subsidy to encourage Taiwanese businesses to return to Taiwan.
Lo said she had received information from China-based Taiwanese businesspeople that the Dongguan City Government had offered Taiwanese businesses in the city a 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) subsidy to encourage them to invest in Taiwan.
“What could the Dongguan City Government’s motive be? Why did it decide to offer a cash reward to encourage China-based Taiwanese businesses to return to the Taiwanese market?” she said.
Lo said the offer applied only to companies headquartered in Dongguan and whose annual turnover was more than NT$1 billion (US$3 million). At least 20 Taiwanese businesses had expressed interest in the subsidy, she said.
Lo said she suspected the Dongguan offer was aimed at bringing the companies’ capital back to China after they pool their resources in Taiwan.
She said she had shared her concerns with Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Sean Chen (陳沖), but the commission had not given her a response.
“The commission should take the problem seriously and require that the China-based businesses that re-enter the Taiwanese market keep the capital they pool in Taiwan here,” she said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said yesterday it was obvious that Dongguan was looking to get more Taiwanese capital and called on the government to prevent such a move.
Financial Supervisory Commission Vice Chairwoman Lee Chi-chu (李紀珠) and Chief Secretary Lu Ting-chien (盧廷劼) told the Taipei Times that they were unaware of Lo’s tip and refused to comment on her allegations.
Calls to secretaries of the FSC chairman’s office and the Securities and Futures Bureau were unanswered as of press time.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG AND JOYCE HUANG
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT: A new committee would investigate a backlog of US weapons sales to Taiwan, said its chairman, US Representative Mike Gallagher The US should formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, and end its outdated and counterproductive “one China” policy, US Representative Tom Tiffany and 18 other US lawmakers wrote in a petition. “It is time to change the status quo and recognize the reality denied by the US government for decades: Taiwan is an independent nation,” Tiffany told the Epoch Times. “As our long-standing and valued partner, correctly acknowledging their independence from communist China is long overdue.” The resolution also asks the administration of US President Joe Biden to support Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and to negotiate a bilateral free-trade
The Pentagon is preparing for US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan later this year, Punchbowl News reported on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks. US administration officials anticipate McCarthy would visit Taiwan some time in the spring, the report said. McCarthy had previously pledged to visit Taiwan if he became House speaker. He was elected speaker earlier this month. He had also said that he would have liked to join then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delegation when she visited Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi’s 19-hour visit to Taipei marked the first time in 25 years
Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-yu (周婕妤) was crowned the Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Champion after shutting out British pool titan Allison Fisher 9-0 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the organizers said on Sunday. Following the championship win at Harrah’s Resort and Casino Atlantic City, Chou pocketed US$30,000 and became the first female competitor to hold both the 9-ball and 10-ball world titles since Briton Kelly Fisher in 2012. Chou, 36, won the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria in September last year after clinching a silver medal at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, in July. “I’m very excited and it’s like
JOINT OPERATIONS: Participating in the IMET program, which offers professional training and education to military personnel, would boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities The US government is appropriating funding to help Taiwan participate in its International Military Education & Training (IMET) program to enhance interoperability and capabilities for joint operations of the Taiwanse and US militaries. The funding for Taiwan’s participation in the program is mentioned in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023, a US$1.7 trillion spending bill funding the US federal government for the fiscal year 2023. It covers funding for military support for Ukraine, defense spending and regions affected by natural disasters. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that IMET is an important US
RSS