China's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation yesterday slammed as baseless reports that Beijing had forced a plant owned by Chi Mei Corp (奇美) to close down over a controversial Japanese comic book.
"Nothing of that sort ever took place," Shi Guangsheng (石廣生) said yesterday during a press conference in Beijing.
The minister, however, used the opportunity to attack Shi Wen-long (許文龍), chief of Chi Mei and widely known for his support of Taiwanese independence, because of various comments he was quoted as making in the comic book On Taiwan (台灣論).
In the comic, Shi Wen-long was quoted as suggesting that all Taiwanese comfort women volunteered to work as prostitutes for Japanese troops during World War II.
He later retracted his comments and apologized for implying that all women could have voluntarily accepted such work.
"[This idea] deserves the severest condemnation from Chinese around the globe," minister Shi said.
The minister, however, said China would not take any legal action against Shi Wen-long, adding that Taiwanese investors are entitled to proper legal protection.
Still, the unattributed rumor has started other fires that the Taiwan government has been busy trying to put out.
One was that the government would be forced to rescind its review of relaxing the "no haste, be patient" policy that restricts China-bound investment.
Others feared that if the rumors were true that cross-strait relations would be influenced.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), fielding questions from opposition lawmakers, emphasized yesterday that the Cabinet's plan to relax the no haste, be patient policy "remains unchanged."
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said her council would go ahead and wrap up its review of the "no haste, be patient" report by the end of this month, unaffected by the rumors surrounding the comic book.
The MAC, which is responsible for formulating the country's policy towards China, indicated earlier that the Cabinet is likely to unveil a policy reform package in May.
Leading local industrialists have lobbied for more liberal rules that allow hard-pressed sectors to seek what they tag as a "second boom" in China where production costs are much lower.
Over the weekend a DPP lawmaker Trong Chai (蔡同榮)accused pro-China politicians in Taiwan of originally spreading the false rumors about the plant, alleging that they had called on China to "teach individuals who support independence a lesson."
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