Republic of China

President Tsai Ing-wen Calls on Beijing to Treat Taiwan as a Sovereign State

By Hsia Hsiao-hwa and Chung Kuang-cheng 

President Tsai Ing-wen talks during a graduation ceremony for the Investigation Bureau agents in New Taipei City, Taiwan, December 26 , 2019. 

President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday that the democratic island would only deal with China on an equal footing, and would continue to insist on its freedom, democracy and sovereignty in the face of a growing threat from Beijing.
In her 2020 New Year's Address on Jan. 1, President Tsai called on China to recognize the existence of the Republic of China, founded after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 and relocated to Taiwan after Chiang Kai-shek lost the civil war to Mao Zedong's communists in 1949.
She said China has used diplomatic offensives, military threats, interference and infiltration to try to force the island to compromise its sovereignty.
But President Tsai said Taiwan would never agree to becoming part of the communist People's Republic of China.

"Democracy and authoritarianism cannot coexist within the same country," President Tsai said.

"Hong Kong's people have shown us that 'one country, two systems' is absolutely not viable," she said, in a reference to the separate legal framework and maintenance of traditional freedoms promised to Hong Kong ahead of the 1997 handover, a distinction that has been gradually eroding in the face of political pressure from Beijing.
"China must face the reality of the Republic of China's existence, ... respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy, and handle cross-strait differences peacefully, on a basis of equality," she said.
"We must be aware that China is infiltrating all facets of Taiwanese society to sow division," President Tsai warned. 

"We must establish democratic defense mechanisms to prevent infiltration."

She said the Anti-Infiltration Law passed by Taiwan's Legislative Yuan on Tuesday was aimed at protecting its freedom and democracy, not hampering genuine economic and cultural exchange across the Taiwan Strait.
"Taiwan's democracy and freedom cannot be undermined," President Tsai said.

China stepping up 'United Front' work
The Anti-Infiltration Law was passed following repeated warnings from Taiwan's national security agencies that China is pouring in backdoor resources and stepping up "United Front" propaganda work to boost support for the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT), or nationalist party ahead of the Jan. 11 general election.
The new law forbids any organizations or individuals sponsored by China from providing political contributions, campaigning, lobbying, or disseminating fake news meant to interfere in elections.
Lawmakers in the U.S. and Australia have enacted similar legislation to prevent foreign interference and to monitor Chinese influence.
The bill, which passed by 67 votes to zero despite opposition criticism, was fast-tracked by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after the KMT nominated at-large candidates for the legislature with close ties to China's Communist Party, including retired Taiwan generals.
Professor Tung Li-wen of the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said President Tsai's tougher line on Beijing had come after Chinese dictator Xi Jinping's Jan. 2, 2019 speech insisting that Taiwan "unify" with China under "one country, two systems," and refusing to rule out the use of force to annex the country.
"I think President Tsai Ing-wen is very disappointed in Beijing and in Xi Jinping," Tung said.
"Back in the 2016 election, President Tsai was talking about preserving the status quo in cross-straits relations, and was hoping for dialogue with Beijing."
He said her hand had been forced by the uncompromising tone of Xi's Jan. 2 "Letter to our Taiwan Compatriots" speech.
"This made President Tsai Ing-wen feel that there was no way to back down, and that she had to state Taiwan's bottom line very clearly," Tung said.
"[Her speech] comes against this background."
President Tsai looks set to win a second term when the country goes to the polls on Jan. 11.

Media control
Prosecutors in December detained 10 people, including a former KMT staffer, on suspicion of falsifying documents to bring thousands of mainland Chinese to Taiwan, including some who were collecting intelligence.
Concerns have also been raised about Beijing's influence over Taiwanese media groups, many of which are owned by corporations with ties to China.
Support for the pro-China KMT, the party that fled to Taiwan after losing control of China in 1949 and still wants it to be part of a "unified" China some day, is at a new low ahead of next month's election.
The Global Views Research annual public opinion survey said the violent suppression of Hong Kong's anti-government protests had sparked growing fears for Taiwan's national security and democracy, although an internal power struggle in the party had contributed.
Currently, only 4.5 percent of Taiwanese support the idea of "unification" with China.
President Tsai has been a vocal supporter of Hong Kong protesters' aspirations for full democracy, and against the use of police violence and political prosecutions to target protesters, and told a recent presidential election debate that China is the biggest threat to Taiwan's way of life.
Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the Republic of China under the KMT as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal.
It has never been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China.
Taiwan began a transition to democracy following the death of President Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996.

The Country of Living Dangerously

Doing business in China is fraught with danger for staff

by Tony Boyd

Business in China is not always straightforward.

The shock arrest and detention of 18 employees of Crown Resorts in China has provided a chilling reminder that doing business in the Middle Kingdom can be fraught with danger.
Understanding how business is done in China will becoming increasingly important for Australian investors, boards of directors and management in the years ahead.
China's emerging middle class will, according to the McKinsey Global Institute, account for half of the increase in global consumption between now and 2030.
A growing number of Australian companies will inevitably offer their services in China alongside those already trying to make profits in the country.
Australian public companies with significant operations in China include BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, Seven Group Holdings, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Banking Group, Blackmores and Murray Goulburn.
Strangely enough, Crown does not have an office in China.
There are also many private Australian companies with operations in the country. 

It is these companies which tend to be the most vulnerable when it comes to testing the boundaries of the law in China.

Unethical revenue
One Australian with a business in China told Chanticleer that he was always really conscious of the temptation to secure increased revenue through methods that were not illegal but were not ethical.
In one case the businessman pitched for a contract with a major Chinese firm. 

When the business was offered to him it was on the condition that he establish a new joint venture with employees of the Chinese company.
The idea was that he would win a long-term contract but only through a new corporate structure which would ensure a percentage of all revenue was shared with his new joint-venture partners who happened to be the same people offering him the contract.
"I always said: 'If this goes badly you will be reprimanded and I will be in jail. I don't think that's a fair trade.'"
He said this attitude cost him plenty of deals.
Outside observers can often be left confused by China's approach to enforcing its laws. 

But those who observe others breaking the law in China should not jump to the conclusion that it is acceptable to do the same.
The gaming industry in Macau, which is a dependent Chinese territory, is prime example of an industry that operates at the boundaries of the law and, in some cases, outside it.
A recent report by analysts from Japanese broker Nomura highlighted the many ways in which Chinese visitors to Macau manage to get around laws covering the movement of money and the types of betting allowed in the Macau casinos.

No basic rights
The Crown incident is a brutal reminder that employees of multinationals arrested while working in China, as well as a range of other Asian countries including Japan, do not have access to basic human rights.
As of Friday, none of the Crown Resorts employees arrested a week ago had been charged. 

The employees include three Australian nationals headed by Jason O'Connor, who is executive general manager in charge of international VIP services.
In China, people accused of breaking the law can remain in jail for weeks without being charged. 

This facilitates ill-treatment and plays into the hands of authorities trying to extract confessions.
Crown has refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding the arrest of its employees.
Gaming billionaire and controlling shareholder of Crown James Packer issued a statement on Tuesday stressing that Crown would do everything it could to support its employees.
"As the major shareholder of Crown Resorts, I am deeply concerned for the welfare of those Crown employees detained in China," he said.
"I have sought regular updates on this issue and have asked Crown to do everything possible to contact our employees and to support their families, as we await further details from Chinese authorities.
"I am respectful, that these detentions have occurred in another country and are therefore subject to their sovereign rules and investigative processes."
But commentators on China's approach to law enforcement this week questioned Crown's management of the risks facing its employees, who were selling packages to VIP high rollers.

'Skirting the edge'
Dan Harris, an attorney at American law firm Harris Moure, said in a blog published this week that "many foreign companies have sales people and executives in China who market products or services in China that are illegal in China, with offshore and foreign casinos just one example".
He said examples of activities that were widely legal elsewhere and illegal in China included gambling, certain types of education services, certain types of internet services, certain types of communication services and many publishing services.
Harris said Chinese lawyers at his firm were constantly being asked to provide legal risk assessments to companies that "may be skirting the edge in China".
"One of their most common questions is 'should I go to China'. Our most common answer – by far – is no, because we simply cannot quantify the risks of their getting detained, nor really can anyone," he said.
"The thing that gets to me about all of this though is how so many companies either have no clue about their risks or wilfully choose to ignore them.
"One of our China lawyers loves to tell of how he met an expat bragging in a bar about his China business and when our lawyer told him that what he was doing was flat out illegal, the response was that the Chinese government didn't care and actually wanted this sort of business in China, the written laws be damned.
"And everyone else at that table joined in on this sentiment. Just a few years later this person was arrested and convicted and served substantial time in a Chinese prison."
Harris, who stressed that his firm had never acted for Crown, updated his opinions in relation to Crown later in the week with the following comment: "Once again, if you are doing anything that involves China and is viewed as illegal by China, don't go to China."