Companies in China distance themselves from Taiwan amid Pelosi backlash

Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food Co

08/08/2022 12:25

By Eduardo Baptista
    BEIJING, Aug 8 (Reuters) - From a Chinese soy sauce maker to
an Asia-focused asset manager, companies in China are rushing to
distance themselves from geopolitical tensions over Taiwan
following last week's visit to the island by a high-profile U.S.
official.
    China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and the
visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to
Taipei last week - in defiance of Beijing's warnings - has
sparked a wave of Chinese nationalism and huge military drills.
    Chinese social media users have targeted companies and
celebrities they see as unpatriotic or supportive of Taiwan's
independence with strong criticism - such as candy brand
Snickers, whose owner apologised last week for a product launch
that was seen as suggesting Taiwan is a country.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZH0U3
    On Saturday, Foshan Haitian Flavoring and Food Co Ltd
 603288.SS , China's largest soy sauce maker by sales, issued a
lengthy apology, saying it had fired an unidentified employee
who attracted social media attention with a private post that
celebrated Pelosi's visit.    
    "The inappropriate content published seriously goes against
Haitian's culture, does not match with Haitian's values, and has
hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, producing a negative
societal influence," the company said on its Weibo account,
promising it would manage its employees better. 
    Another business, Asia-focused asset manager Matthews
International Capital Management, issued a clarification on
Monday after it was described by Beijing-backed Hong Kong
newspaper Ta Kung Pao as being founded by Pelosi's husband,
saying such allegations were "factually incorrect". 
    It said on its website that it was founded by Paul Matthews,
not Paul Pelosi, and also did not have any current ownership or
business ties with William Hambrecht, who is a friend and
political supporter of Pelosi, contrary to media reports. 
    "We take the recent misreporting and false statements about
our firm very seriously and are working with media outlets to
take prompt corrective action," Matthews, whose main owners
include Paul Matthews, Mark Headley, Mizuho Financial Group Inc
and Royal Bank of Canada, said on Monday.
    In a separate case, Taiwanese chip maker United
Microelectronics Corp (UMC)  6615.T , distanced itself from its
founder Robert Tsao, who last week pledged to donate NT$3
billion (US$100 million) to help Taiwan bolster its defences,
after his comments were pilloried 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 that
companies should consider their access to the world's second
largest economy with respect to the Taiwan situation and Pelosi,
who has, along with her immediate family, been sanctioned by
China after her visit. 
    "It can be expected that if any ties of interest with China
can be found in the business activities of Pelosi and her
immediate family members, they will definitely be cut off,"
state-backed Global Times newspaper said in an editorial over
the weekend. 
    China's military announced fresh military drills on Monday
in the seas and airspace around Taiwan - a day after the
scheduled end of its largest ever exercises, confirming the
fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would
continue to maintain pressure on Taiwan's defences.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZK06O

 (Reporting by Eduardo Baptista, Samuel Shen, Sarah Wu
Editing by Brenda Goh and Mark Potter)
 ((Eduardo.MonteiroBaptista@thomsonreuters.com;))