From a Chinese soy sauce maker to an Asia-focused asset manager, companies in China are scrambling to distance themselves from geopolitical tensions in Taiwan after last week’s visit to the island of a high American official.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last week, defying Beijing’s warnings, has sparked a wave of Chinese nationalism and major exercises military
Chinese social media users have targeted companies and celebrities they deem unpatriotic or support Taiwan independence with strong criticism, including candy brand Snickers, whose owner apologized last week for a product launch that was deemed to suggest that Taiwan is a country.
On Saturday, Foshan Haitian Flavoring and Food Co Ltd, China’s largest soy sauce maker by sales, issued a lengthy apology, saying it had fired an unidentified employee who drew attention on social media with a private post celebrating Pelosi’s visit.
“The posted inappropriate content seriously goes against Haitian culture, does not match Haitian values, and has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, producing a negative social influence,” the company said on its Weibo account, promising to handle better your employees. .
Another business, Asia-focused asset manager Matthews International Capital Management, issued a clarification on Monday after Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao described it as founded by Pelosi’s husband, saying these allegations were “factually incorrect”.
It said on its website that it was founded by Paul Matthews, not Paul Pelosi, and that it also had no current ownership or business ties to William Hambrecht, who is a friend and political supporter of Pelosi, contrary to media reports.
“We take misreporting and misrepresentations about our company very seriously and are working with the media to take swift corrective action,” said Matthews, whose principal owners include Paul Matthews, Mark Headley, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Royal Bank of Canada. Monday.
In a separate case, Taiwanese chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) distanced itself from its founder Robert Tsao, who last week pledged NT$3 billion (US$100 million) to help Taiwan to strengthen its defenses, after his comments were criticized by Chinese social media users.
In a statement, UMC said: “Mr. Tsao retired from UMC more than 10 years ago. He has nothing to do with UMC.”
Chinese state media have issued warnings, saying companies should consider their access to the world’s second-largest economy in light of the situation in Taiwan and
Pelosi, who, along with her immediate family, has been sanctioned by China following her visit.
“It can be expected that if links of interest to China are found in the business activities of Pelosi and her immediate family members, they will definitely be cut off,” the state-backed Global Times newspaper said in an editorial during the weekend.
China’s military announced new military exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan on Monday, a day after the scheduled end of its largest-ever drills, confirming fears by some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing continue to keep pressure on Taiwan’s defenses.