Taipei businesses forced to rethink mainland links
As Taipei moves to tighten supervision of cross-strait economic exchanges, bankers and business leaders are warning that companies might be forced to minimise their ties with China or retreat from it altogether.
Under a new regulatory framework announced on Wednesday, large investments in China or those involving "sensitive technology" will only be considered for government approval on a case-by-case basis. Companies will have to negotiate on issues such as how much money they plan to invest in Taiwan to "counter-balance" their expansion plans for China.
In addition, the government is trying to force individuals to disclose their interests and is demanding that the offshore business units of the island's banks file detailed reports on loans made to Taiwanese companies active in China. The government is also leaving in place a cap on China investments by Taiwanese companies of 40 per cent of a local company's net worth.
The controls will affect a large portion of Taiwanese business - more than half of the island's cumulative outward foreign direct investment is in China - leading analysts to predict a backlash. "An increasing number of Taiwanese companies will take their mainland businesses public in Hong Kong," predicts an international banker in Taipei.
This has already started. Foxconn International, the handset manufacturing arm of Hon Hai, the world's largest electronics manufacturing services group, which has most of its manufacturing in China, staged a Hong Kong float early last year.
Uni-President, Taiwan's largest food conglomerate, is planning a Hong Kong IPO early next year.
"Every time we make an investment we have to calculate how much we have still left under the 40 per cent rule," says Mandy Hsieh, chief financial officer at President's China holding in Shanghai.
"A Hong Kong listing can solve funding problems and indirectly help solve the problems with the 40 per cent rule," says Frank Huang, senior vice-president of the Taiwanese Business Development, China, at HSBC in Shanghai.
But as government pressure mounts, companies are starting to think about even more drastic steps.
"The government is using political means to interfere in the economy," says Hector Yeh, president of the Taiwanese Business Association in Shanghai. "But this has not worked in the past, and it will not work now. They will only push us to pull our Taiwan businesses up by the roots."
Mr Yeh's own businessis a good example: he now concentrates on running Shanghai Long Fong Foods, a successful mainland-based manufacturer and distributor of frozen foods, and has closed his Taiwan business.
For listed companies, such a move is more complicated but not impossible. Robert Tsao, former chairman of United Microelectronics, threatened last year todelist the giant chipmaker from the Taiwan Stock Exchange if authorities continued to put pressure on it over alleged illegal investments in China.
Other rules are hurting the island's banks, such as a ban on establishing branches in China that is driving corporate customers into the arms of Chinese and multinational rivals.
Mr Huang says Taiwanese-owned companies make up one-third of corporate loans outstanding in HSBC's portfolio in China. A total of 12 foreign banks in China now have Taiwan desks - up from just four in 2002.
台企难题：要大陆还是要台湾？
随着台湾采取措施收紧对海峡两岸经济交流的监控，银行家和商界领袖警告称，台湾企业可能被迫尽量减少其与中国大陆之间的联系，或者完全撤离大陆。
根据上周三颁布的一项新规定，台湾企业在大陆的大额投资或涉及“敏感技术”的投资项目，将由政府逐一审批。企业将不得不就它们计划在台湾投资多少等问题与政府进行协商，以“平衡”它们在大陆的扩张计划。
此外，台湾当局正试图强制个人披露权益细节，同时要求：台湾各银行的离岸业务部门，应就发放给那些在大陆有业务的台湾公司的贷款，提交详细报告。台湾政府还给当地企业在大陆的投资设定了上限，即不得超过公司资本净值的40%。
这些控制措施将影响台湾企业的很大一部分业务――台湾累计对外投资的一半以上集中在大陆地区――分析人士因而预计，这将引发反弹。一位驻台北的国际银行家预计，越来越多的台湾企业将把它们的大陆业务拿到香港上市。
这种情况已开始出现。台湾鸿海集团(Hon Hai)手机业务子公司富士康国际控股 (Foxconn International)，于去年初在香港上市。鸿海集团是全球最大的电子制造业服务集团，其大部分制造业务集中在大陆。
台湾最大的食品企业集团统一企业(Uni-President)，计划于明年初在香港进行首次公开发行。
在上海的统一大陆控股公司首席财务官谢玲玲(Mandy Hsieh)称：“我们每次要进行投资时，都必须计算一下，根据在大陆投资比例不得高于公司净值40%的规定，我们还能够投资多少。”
汇丰(HSBC)在上海负责台湾业务发展的副总裁黄丰志(Frank Huang,)表示：“在香港上市可解决融资问题，同时间接地有助于解决40%的上限所带来的问题。”
但随着台湾政府不断加压，台湾企业开始考虑更为彻底的做法。
“（台湾）政府正在利用政治手段干预经济，”上海台商投资企业协会会长叶惠德(Hector Yeh)表示。“但这种做法过去没起到过作用，现在也不会起作用。它只能迫使我们把业务彻底撤离台湾。”
叶惠德自己的企业就是一个很好的例子：他现在集中精力打理上海国福龙凤食品股份有限公司(Shanghai Long Fong Foods)，并关闭了在台湾的业务。龙凤食品公司总部位于大陆，是一家成功的速冻食品制造及分销商。
对于上市公司而言，采取这种行动的复杂程度较高，但并非没有可能。联华电子(United Microelectronics)前任董事长曹兴诚(Robert Tsao)去年曾威胁，如果台湾当局继续以所谓“在大陆非法投资”为名向联华电子施加压力，这家芯片制造业巨擘将从台湾证交所(TSE)退市。
另外一些条款正对台湾的银行造成伤害。例如，有一条规定禁止台湾银行在大陆设立分支机构，这种做法正把企业客户推向大陆及跨国竞争对手的怀抱。
黄丰志表示，汇丰在华的资产组合中，台资企业占据了三分之一的企业贷款。目前，共有12家在华外资银行设有负责台湾业务的部门，而2002年的时候只有4家。
