Taipei [Taiwan], October 26 : Taiwan's Vice President Lai Ching-te has said China should not put pressure on Taiwanese companies during an election or else they will move production elsewhere, Voice of America (VOA) reported.
Lai was responding to the Foxconn investigation by China.
He said China should "cherish and treasure" Taiwanese companies that are helping it to develop economically.
"During an election, China does not need to put pressure on Taiwanese companies," Lai said, adding that if Taiwanese companies lose confidence in China, they will move production elsewhere.
Chinese tax and natural resources authorities in multiple provinces searched Foxconn's facilities on Sunday, as first reported by China's state-owned Global Times.
This comes as Foxconn's founder, Terry Gou, is expected to qualify to run in Taiwan's January 2024 presidential elections as an independent candidate. Taiwan is a self-governing island that China claims as its own territory.
Foxconn, among the world's largest contract manufacturers, doesn't make anything under its own name. Apple is a key client of the company, which is registered as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. and employs hundreds of thousands of people in its operations throughout China.
China has not disclosed the content or results of the inspections at Foxconn.
Analysts see China's probe as an attempt to intervene in Taiwan's elections by forcing Gou out of the upcoming elections for fear that he will drain votes away from pro-Beijing candidates with a better chance of winning.
Gou has in the past blamed hostility toward China by Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the rising tensions between the two countries.
Gou officially announced his candidacy on August 28. The next day, former deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China Wang Zaixi publicly said Gou's candidacy would further divide the parties opposing the DPP, which could eventually "let Lai Ching-te take advantage."
Gou must gather close to 300,000 voter signatures by November 2 to qualify as an independent candidate, according to election regulations. The Central Election Commission will review the signatures and announce the results by November 14, as per VOA.
Assistant research fellow with the Division of Chinese Politics, Military and Warfighting Concepts at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei Liang Shu-yuan believes that China has repeatedly made clear its dissatisfaction with Gou and is using the Foxconn investigations to "suppress" Gou.
Liang told VOA Mandarin, "Imposing punitive measures such as fines to collapse [Foxconn] is never a positive development for the Chinese government. If the probe has a limited economic impact, we can view it as sending a clear political message: They [China] don't want Terry Gou to keep running."
According to VOA, China has a history of attempting to influence Taiwan's politics by cracking down on Taiwanese businessmen.
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