Taiwan tycoon says he opposes independence, after China fines his firm

TAIPEI • The billionaire chairman of a Taiwanese conglomerate said yesterday he does not support independence from China after Beijing fined his company in an apparent warning to it and other businesses to toe the Chinese line on sovereignty claims.

China took aim last week at Taiwan's Far Eastern Group, which has interests ranging from hotels to petrochemicals, for a series of problems, from tax to fire safety, with fines totalling 474 million yuan (S$102 million).

While China has not directly said the company is guilty of supporting independence for the Chinese-claimed island, government statements on the fines have warned Taiwanese firms that they could not expect to operate in China and support independence.

In an open letter to Taiwan's United Daily News, Far Eastern chairman Douglas Hsu said that "under the current political atmosphere in Taiwan" certain public opinions put "a sense of guilt" on Taiwanese firms investing in China, which was unnecessary. In recent years, many opinion polls have shown that most Taiwanese support maintaining the current status quo across the Taiwan Strait, he said.

"Like most Taiwanese, I hope that cross-strait relations 'maintain the status quo'. I have always opposed Taiwan independence," he said.

Mr Hsu, who is worth US$2.4 billion (S$3.3 billion) according to Forbes, also said while Taiwanese companies were unable to resolve the political difficulties, they have always hoped for peace and "normal exchanges and interactions".

China last month said that it would hold those who support the island's formal independence, including companies, criminally liable.

Asked to comment on Mr Hsu's remarks and if he had been forced into making them by Beijing, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters that China was "always rude and unreasonable, and does not understand democracy, plurality or respect".

REUTERS