ABSTRACT
Chinese investment in Taiwan’s economy, particularly in Taiwan’s high-tech industries, was a controversial topic in the Ma Ying-jiu era. The Taiwanese government lifted the ban on such investment in 2009 and then opened further sectors up, in succession, for Chinese investors over the next seven years. Today, almost the entire manufacturing sector and half the service sector are accessible to Chinese investors. The author focuses on Chinese investment in Taiwan’s high-tech sector, which constitutes the backbone of Taiwan’s export economy and is most important for profit generation through industrial innovation. Furthermore, the Taiwanese IT sector has substantial security ramifications for Taiwan, so that Chinese investment here is a very sensitive issue. Investment figures have been low up to now due to Taiwan’s strict investment regulation regime (which targets Chinese investment in particular), but Lee makes clear that the high-tech sector is nevertheless interesting for Chinese companies because of the quality of Taiwan’s human capital and R&D capabilities. In other words, Chinese investors are primarily interested in making good use of Taiwan’s innovation resources.
