AmCham defends stance on criticism from TSU and Lee

The editorial in AmCham’s latest issue of TOPICS magazine criticizing the TSU’s opposition to closer economic ties with the mainland yesterday infuriated TSU politicians, who warned the chamber against interfering in Taiwan’s internal politics.

The editorial even provoked comments from former President Lee Teng-hui according to local news reports.

Vuylsteke said the chamber’s stance on closer ties with China was similar to views held by the majority of the public. He warned that too much economic isolation would make Taiwan a nation similar to North Korea or Burma.

Vuylsteke also dismissed TSU claims that AmCham was meddling in Taiwan’s internal affairs.

“If we are meddling, it is what the government wants, it is called ‘investment’”, Vuylsteke said.

The editorial entitled “Conferences Don’t Lead” said the TSU held the recent Sustaining Taiwan Economic Development conference “hostage to its ideological bias against closer economic ties with China”.

“As a pan-green ally, the TSU commands more influence with the government than the number of its supporters warrants,” the TOPICS magazine editorial said.

The editorial also said on purely economic grounds, TSU spiritual leader Lee Teng-hui and his party “were off base”.

The magazine accused the government of “deferring to the TSU” at the conference and failing to adopt further opening to China through expanded industrial investment and the opening of banking connections.

“The government is weakening, not safeguarding Taiwan competitiveness,” the editorial said.

Former President Lee Teng-hui responded by saying his followers did not need to listen to Americans and the TSU would follow its own path.

“You don’t have to listen to what Americans say,” Lee was quoted by CNA as saying.

“All AmCham wants to do is business,” he said.

TSU law maker Jimmy Lo said the U.S should not “cross the line”.

“This is an internal Taiwanese political problem and not an international matter,” he was quoted by the United Daily News as saying.

Some analysts put Taiwan investment in China as high as US$100 billion. TSU chairman Su Chin-chiang said Taiwan’s investment in China as a proportion of its GDP was the highest in the world.

“If AmCham thinks Taiwan should continue to liberalize investment in China, it should lead the way and increase more of its own investments there,” he said.

Su also appealed to the U.S. to support Taiwan’s bid to become a de jure nation. Otherwise, he said, China would only use military and economic tactics to threaten Taiwan.

“Taiwan’s cross-strait economic and trade policies must put national security and the people’s interests first,” Su said.

“If the U.S. was like Taiwan and facing a huge threat from a strong enemy nation, would it really propose liberalizing trade and economic ties with that nation?” Su said.

In response to Lee’s remarks quoted that all AmCham wanted to do was business, Vuylsteke said that was also true of the majority of the Taiwan public.

“As far as I know, that is what Taiwan has been interested in doing for the last fifty years... traditionally it is one of the world’s strongest trading countries,” he said.

The AmCham director said Taiwan historically was outward-looking and aggressively traded with other countries.

“The Taiwan people are the most entrepreneurial in the region,” he said.

Vuylsteke said poor countries such as Burma and North Korea were the best examples of “stand alone economies”.

“The idea of a bunker mentality on economics, that we don’t need to be linked to China or the world...is contrary to Taiwan’s experience and core fundamentals,” he said.

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