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
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