Wu Ying-jung, vice chairman and secretary-general of the SEF, confirmed the return of Steven Wu, general manager of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s operation in Beijing, named Shin Kong Place.

Wu said although Shin Kong Mitsukoshi kept a low profile toward dealing with Beijing authorities over the management dispute concerning its Beijing operation, the SEF still took the initiative to show concern for the safety, security and property of Taiwanese operating in mainland China.

The SEF called Chen Kuo-yuan, secretary-general of the Taiwanese enterprises association in Beijing, to learn more about the dispute, and Chen replied later that it was purely just a case involving the embezzlement of company assets, and that Wu was kept in Beijing to help Chinese police with the investigation of the case.

Local press reported Saturday that Wu, who is leading a group of Taiwanese staff operating the Shin Kong Place in Beijing, had been forbidden to leave China earlier this week, just before he was scheduled to return to Taipei for a business conference.

The report said Wu has been barred by Chinese authorities from leaving Beijing.

It said Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, which invested NT$12 billion (US$363 million) in the store, is trying to resolve a dispute over management issues with its mainland partner, Beijing Hualian Group.

The report cited sources as saying that the dispute erupted when Beijing Hualian Group suspected problems involving construction payments and doubted the Taiwanese company’s management rights during a board meeting last week.

Beijing Hualian Group, which hopes that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi will “only be an investor,” assigned some 200 security guards to “take over” the store launched in April and verbally fired all Taiwanese executives, it said.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, Taiwan’s largest retailer, is appealing to relevant Chinese authorities over the dispute.

Wu, who has opened seven outlets within as many years in Taiwan for Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, owns half of the stocks in Shin Kong Place in Beijing, which has capital of 750 million yuan (US$99.19 million).

The store has made significant profits since it opened in April this year, with its revenue growing by 12 percent per month, but a dispute over its ownership broke out between Wu and Ji Xiao-an, Wu’s Chinese partner and chairman of Shin Kong Place, who has tried to get rid of Wu and his Taiwan staff, claiming that they accept bribes while running the store, according to local press reports.

Also yesterday, presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang said he regretted that Shin Kong’s Wu was barred from leaving China and that he would actively promote legislation of laws to safeguard the interests of Taiwanese enterprises operating in mainland China and other countries after he wins the 2008 presidential race.

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