China's recent move of penalising Taiwan's Far Eastern Group's mainland units for supporting Taiwan's leadership is now threatening thousands of Taiwanese companies who promote the island's independence.
Earlier, Far Eastern Group the conglomerate, comprising of nine listed companies with commercial interests spanning construction materials, retail, hotels, energy, and the Internet in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have been accused by Beijing of sponsoring the election campaigns of Su Tseng-chang, the incumbent president in Taiwan, according to the Asia Times.
Further, the Chinese officials and state media urged the Far Eastern Group to cut ties with Taiwan's independence proponents.
However, ruling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan has mentioned that the company did not have a clear political preference as it had donated to politicians from both the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the DPP.
Founded in 1937, the Far Eastern Group was a major textile product maker in Shanghai when the Republic of China (ROC) was the ruling regime on the mainland. When the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the company's founder Hsu Yu-Ziang, Douglas Hsu's father, also moved his businesses to the island.
The group has diversified to many other sectors, including power, construction materials, transportation, telecommunication, retail, and chemicals industries, becoming one of the five major family businesses in Taiwan, according to the Asia Times.
In 1993, the Far Eastern Group started to expand its presence in mainland China starting with the retail businesses in Shanghai. In 1996, it is Far Eastern New Century unit expanded its chemical fibre and textile businesses to Shanghai and Jiangsu
Further, in the recent past, China has started to push aggressive actions against Taiwan or those who promote Taiwan's independence in mainland China.
On the other hand, Chinese President Xi Jinping and United States President Joe Biden held a three-hour virtual meeting on November 16 to decrease the escalating tensions in the region including the Taiwan Strait .
( With inputs from ANI )
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