The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday it would set up a communication network with Taiwanese businessmen in Hong Kong and Macau to effectively regulate the way they direct their investments.
The measure came after Taiwan's investments in Hong Kong soared by nearly 300 percent last year, as a result of a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China, the council said.
Rejecting China's proposal to sign a CEPA with Taiwan, the council regarded the pact as part of China's strategy to achieve unification with Taiwan through trade.
Last year, Taiwan poured US$640 million in investments into Hong Kong, a 283.86 percent increase compared with the amount in 2002, said Chang Yung-shan (
This happened because local, Chinese and overseas investors may set up new manufacturing operations in Hong Kong, in order for the products to qualify under CEPA rules of origin, according to which they would not be subject to tariffs in the Chinese market, Chang said.
Taiwanese businesses monthly investments in Hong Kong and vice versa from January to October last year were largely the same in terms of volume, but investments in Hong Kong sharply increased in November and December, the council said.
According to the council, this coincided with the Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department's announcement of the application procedures for a Certificate of Hong Kong Origin on Nov. 14 last year.
Most investments from Taiwan went to Hong Kong's financial and insurance sectors, with electrical and electronics products the next most popular, the council said.
"Hong Kong's financial system is sound but China's is poor. We are discussing with the CEPA how to effectively regulate Taiwanese investments in Hong Kong," Chang said.
"The pact could only work under the `one country, two systems' formula," he said.
Analyzing political developments in Hong Kong, Chang said China has been increasingly emphasizing the "one country" part of the formula.
The "two systems" part is under threat as China tries to wrest control of Hong Kong's democracy, he said.
Hong Kong investments in Taiwan dropped by 32.33 percent last year, amounting to only US$44 million. Hong Kong businessmen invested mainly in Taiwan's retail industry and electrical and electronics products, Chang said.
The overall trade volume between Taiwan and Hong Kong last year was US$30.1 billion, a 7.79 percent decrease compared with 2002, he said.
The volume of trade between Taiwan and China via Hong Kong amounted to US$12.7 billion from January to November last year, a 15.95 percent increase compared with the same period in 2002.
Taiwanese products exported to China via Hong Kong reached US$10.77 billion from January to November last year, an increase of 14.32 percent compared to 2002.
The value of Chinese products exported to Taiwan amounted to US$1.95 billion between January and November last year, a 25.85 percent increase from the same period in 2002, the council said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A pro-Russia hacker group has launched a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the Taiwanese government in retaliation for President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments suggesting that China should have a territorial dispute with Russia, an information security company said today. The hacker group, NoName057, recently launched an HTTPs flood attack called “DDoSia” targeting Taiwanese government and financial units, Radware told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). Local tax bureaus in New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu and Taoyuan were mentioned by the hackers. Only the Hsinchu Local Tax Bureau site appeared to be down earlier in the day, but was back
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS