Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu Thursday called on local firms to relocate some of their investments in rival China to Latin America to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket, REPORTED DPA. Lu said it was dangerous for Taiwanese investors to focus so much on the Chinese market, given the hostility of China and its constant military threats against the island. "At present, 71 per cent of our eggs have been put into the Chinese basket, which would seriously limit the prospect of our development in the future," she told industrialists at a seminar in Hsinchu Science Park, the island's high-tech hub based in northern Taiwan. Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still considers the island an integral part of the mainland that must be brought back to its fold, by force if necessary. Lu urged businessmen to avoid being "trapped by the Chinese authorities" and instead relocate some of their investments to the Dominican Republic and to Taiwan's other Latin American allies. "Taiwan has a number of allies in Central and South America, which is a brand new world for Taiwanese investors," she said. Due to growing diplomatic squeeze from China, Taiwan is able to maintain diplomatic ties with just 24 nations, mostly in Latin America, Africa and Pacific island region. Chen Cheng-chung, secretary-general of the International Cooperation and Development Fund, said Taiwan had earmarked 250 million dollars for investment in Latin America under a "co-prosperity" project aimed at encouraging Taiwanese firms to invest there. He said Taiwan was expected to complete the second round of bilateral talks in September with the Dominican Republic on a free trade agreement, which should greatly benefit local firms investing in the country. Foreign Minister James Huang also revealed that President Chen Shui-bian will visit four Central and South American allies on August 20. He said that Chen plans to visit Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Saint Lucia, and attend the Central American leaders' summit in Honduras.
