Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. founder and Presidential Adviser Hsu Wen-long (
"Taiwan independence will only lead Taiwan to war and drag people to disaster," Hsu said in an open letter published on the front page of the Economic Daily News today, only hours before a mass rally was to take place against China's new "Anti-Secession Law."
"In the 2000 presidential election, I supported Chen Shui- bian (陳水扁), but supporting Chen doesn't mean I support Taiwan independence," said Hsu, the sixth-richest man in Taiwan according to Forbes magazine.
Hsu retired as Chi Mei chairman last June. He remains on the board.
Taiwan's second-largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions named Vice Chairman Liao Chin-hsiang (廖錦祥) to replace him.
"I believe Taiwan and the mainland belong to one China, and people across the Strait are all sisters," Hsu said in the open letter.
"We don't play `Taiwan independence,' and because we don't, Chi Mei's development on the mainland will definitely blossom," Hsu said.
Human Chain
The protest yesterday was organized by the Taiwan Democratic Alliance for Peace.
The rally may be the biggest since last year's presidential election campaign, when as many as 1 million people linked arms in a human chain across the country to protest missiles aimed at Taiwan.
On Friday, Chi Mei shares rose NT$1, or 2.3 percent, to NT$45.10.
The shares fell to a 15-week low last June after a report in People's Daily, the mouthpiece for the ruling Chinese Communist Party, criticized Hsu for his pro-independence views and said investments from Taiwan businessmen who share those views weren't welcome in China.
In today's letter, Hsu said he offered twice this year to resign as an adviser to Chen because he has no interest in Taiwan politics. He didn't say if Chen had accepted his resignation.
Old Threats
Attempts to tie allegiance to the communists' "one-China policy" with China investment opportunities isn't new.
In March 2001 China's trade minister warned Taiwan businesses to toe Beijing's line on reunification if they wanted to operate factories in China.
Hsu founded the Chi Mei Group in 1953 with a plastics factory and later expanded into petrochemicals, electronics, frozen foods and health care.
The conglomerate employs more than 10,000 people and had sales of more than US$3 billion in 2002, the year Chi Mei Optoelectronics went public.
Three petrochemical plants and a shipping unit operate in China, according to the company Web site.
China is Taiwan's biggest export market and the most popular destination for offshore investment.
The Presidential Office yesterday gave a subdued response to Hsu's comments.
"Since Taiwan is a democratic country, it's natural that there are diverse opinions," Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday.
In a response to Hsu's statement, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said that he can understand why Hsu made such a remark and that the incident only reflects the fact that the Chinese government is beginning to pressure China-based Taiwanese businesspeople.
"As his friend, I can understand why he says such a thing," Lee said.
"He does it at the expense of his own reputation and for the sake of over 100,000 people working for him in China, because he doesn't have any other choice."
Lee added that Hsu did not inform him in advance of his retirement announcement but instead learned the news from the media.
While Hsu has business investment in China, Lee said that Hsu is now beginning to see the negative impact of such a business venture.
"I take pity on what has happened to him because some of his factories and companies based in China have been forced to shut down by the Chinese government," Lee said.
Lee called on the public to realize that Hsu made his retirement announcement about a year ago under pressure from China.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS