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Chinese ad listing
local banks as ‘on the island’ attacked
By Lee Yu-hsin and Jason Pan / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Full-page advertisements placed
by the China Construction Bank to announce the issuing of an offshore yuan bond,
named "Bao Dao" bonds, appear yesterday on the front pages of the United
Daily News, China Times and other Chinese-language business dailies.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
lawmakers yesterday accused local banks of going along with the downgrading of
the nation’s sovereign status to that of a Chinese island province in full-page
advertisements run by China’s China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) on the front
page of several Chinese-language newspapers yesterday.
Several local banks — including the state-run Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) — were
listed along with Chinese banks in the ads congratulating China Construction
Bank Corp under a big-character headline that included the term daonei
(島內), or “on the island.”
The ads congratulated China Construction Bank Corp for issuing an offshore yuan
bond, named “Bao Dao bonds” (寶島債).
“Today [Taiwan] is called daonei, tomorrow it will be called a special
district and then be called the Taiwan province [of China] in the future,”
Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) said.
It would appear from the language used in the ad that President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) “[in Beijing’s eyes] is not even a chief executive [of special
administrative region], but the mere head of an island,” Gao said.
Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) criticized the Ma administration for “allowing
China’s banks to come and take cash from us, while Taiwan’s state banks help
them count the money.”
Since Ma took office in 2008, his large-scale opening up to China has led to
huge capital outflows from Taiwan, Yeh said.
As of the second quarter of this year, Taiwanese listed companies have invested
a total of NT$1.58 trillion (US$53.50 billion) in China, Yeh said.
Gao said the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and
the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) prohibits advertisements promoting China’s
political agenda, therefore China Construction Bank Corp should be fined for
breaking the law.
The lawmaker also demanded that the Taiwanese state-run banks explain their
participation in the ads.
The Bank of Taiwan said later yesterday that it was not involved with the
Chinese banks trading in the Bao Dao bonds in Taiwan and it did not know why its
name had been included in the advertisement.
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