A top Chinese official tried to reassure Taiwanese business executives that they are welcome across the strait just as the People’s Liberation Army ended military drills around the island.
(Bloomberg) — A top Chinese official tried to reassure Taiwanese business executives that they are welcome across the strait just as the People’s Liberation Army ended military drills around the island.
Wang Huning, the No. 4 official in China’s ruling Communist Party, pledged “efforts will be made to ensure that Taiwan compatriots and their businesses are willing to invest on the mainland, integrate into the development of the mainland and prosper on the mainland,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday.
Read: Taiwan Sees China’s Drills as Similar to Pelosi Visit Reaction
China “is committed to safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said in his remarks to a group of businessmen led by Liu Chao-shiuan in Beijing, while adding that efforts to pursue independence wouldn’t be tolerated.
Liu briefly served as premier when Taiwan was led by Ma Ying-jeou, who just wrapped up the first trip across the strait by a former leader of the democracy.
China responded to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a stop in the US last week with large-scale military drills that included an aircraft carrier. Taiwan detected 91 PLA aircraft and 12 warships in its surroundings as of 6 p.m. Monday.
A record 54 of those flights crossed the median line in the strait and entered Taiwan’s sensitive air-defense identification zone. China sent 49 warplanes across that line after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last year, part of unprecedented drills that included sending missiles overhead.
More: US, Philippines Follow Taiwan Drills With Biggest Exercises Yet
The US Defense Department was closely monitoring Beijing’s actions around Taiwan, the Pentagon said.
China has vowed to someday bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary, though it also tries to attract business and students from the democracy. In 2021, it rolled out measures to entice Taiwanese agricultural firms, including allowing them to sell bonds on the mainland.
Still, Taiwan companies can face difficulties on the mainland for political reasons. Last summer, China announced it was suspending imports of some fish, fruit and sand used in construction after Pelosi became the first sitting House speaker to visit Taipei in 25 years. Some of those shipments were restarted earlier this year.
Taiwanese businesses have significantly reduced their new investments in China in recent years as they diversify manufacturing locations. Investments in China approved by the government in Taipei fell to just over $5 billion in 2022, less than half the amount a decade earlier.
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