An influential economics academic in China said yesterday that because the people of Taiwan and China are all Chinese, Taiwanese businessmen should be given the same treatment and opportunities as their counterparts in China.
Lin Yifu (
Lin, while accompanying visiting former KMT premier Vincent Siew (
However, he claimed China could achieve in 20 years the point Taiwan has reached at present in terms of per capita income if the country's internal and external conditions are stable and with continuous injections of foreign capital.
Lin, one of the main advisers to Chinese economic reform czar Zhu Rongji (
Lin, who has a Taiwan background, told Siew and his entourage that China is "the best location" for Taiwan businessmen who intend to relocate their operations outside Taiwan.
He speculated that China should become a full member of the WTO this year, making it a golden opportunity now and in ensuing years for investors from around the world, including Taiwan, to begin an investment "gold rush" in China -- the largest country in the world in terms of population.
Lin, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, is a native of Ilan, eastern Taiwan. He hit the front pages of Taiwan's newspapers in 1972 when he transferred from the elite National Taiwan University to study at the Chinese Military Academy in Fengshan, southern Taiwan.
He captured the public's attention again several years later when he "defected" by swimming the short distance from Taiwan's outpost island of Kinmen to China.
He obtained a master's degree from Beijing University in 1982.
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