The heads of three major US banks on Wednesday pledged that they would withdraw from the Chinese market if Washington imposed sanctions on Beijing in response to an invasion of Taiwan.
JP Morgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser told lawmakers at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services in Washington that the three banks would follow the guidance of the US government to exit China if necessary.
The three bankers made the pledge after US Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer asked the three if they would pull their investments out of China should the Chinese Communist Party follow through on its threat to invade Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
The US lawmaker spoke of Beijing’s continual threats toward Taiwan and its military exercises around Taiwan last month.
Citing the military actions of Russia against Ukraine, Luetkemeyer said there was a great risk in investing in “volatile nations with dictatorial governments” as financial institutions have played a significant role in supporting these regimes’ economies.
Moynihan said Bank of America had followed the government’s guidance to “work with China” in the past few decades, but if the US position changed, “we’ll immediately change it as we did in Russia.”
Dimon and Fraser agreed with Moynihan’s comments on following the government’s lead.
“We very much hope it doesn’t happen,” Fraser added.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the security situation across the Taiwan Strait has drawn increasing interest in the international community.
Fears over a possible invasion of Taiwan have been growing, in particular after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a 19-hour visit to Taipei early last month, which China strongly opposed.
Pelosi’s visit prompted China to launch several days of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.
In a prerecorded interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, US President Joe Biden told host Scott Pelley that the US would defend Taiwan “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS