Li Mengju: Taiwanese businessmen are increasingly in danger in China | The Epoch Times

[The Epoch Times, November 05, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Zhang Yuanzhang reported in Taipei, Taiwan) The United States and China are moving toward complete decoupling in the economic and trade field. Coupled with the tense geopolitical situation in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwanese businessmen who have been in the business and political circles on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in the past , now in an awkward situation. Li Mengju, who was imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party and restricted from leaving the country for four years, was one of the Taiwanese businessmen affected by such a turbulent environment. After returning to Taiwan, he lamented, “The Chinese Communist Party is really different from what I originally thought.”

Li Mengju disappeared after entering China in August 2019. He was accused by the CCP of “engaging in criminal activities that endanger national security” and was arrested. In 2020, he appeared on CCTV as a “Taiwan spy” and was forced to apologize to the “motherland” and plead guilty. He was detained by the Chinese Communist Party for 1 year and 10 months, and after serving an additional 2 years of “deprivation of political rights”, he finally returned to Taiwan in September this year.

Li Mengju is a pattern of Taiwanese businessmen being persecuted by the CCP, and the situation of Taiwanese businessmen in China is indeed getting more and more embarrassing. Recently, Foxconn, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Group, has been investigated by the Chinese Communist Party due to tax and land issues. The outside world believes that based on the situation in which Far East Group has been made difficult by the Chinese Communist Party, the amount Foxconn will pay to the Chinese Communist Party this time may be as high as tens of billions of yuan (1 yuan). Approximately equal to NT$4).

The CCP most often accuses Taiwanese businessmen of tax evasion and illegal transactions.

“Taiwanese businessmen in China all know one thing: the land, property and talents there belong to the Communist Party.” Li Mengju said in an interview with The Epoch Times that if he wants to obtain more production resources in China, the premise is You must listen to the CCP, otherwise you will be bullied by the CCP. Their most common method is to accuse Taiwanese businessmen of tax evasion, illegal transactions, etc.

He said that in fact, many Taiwanese businessmen who are still in China are taking chances and trying to operate in a low-key manner. “But if they are made things difficult for them, they will only suffer the consequences. They will not dare to say anything when they return to Taiwan.” If in China. There are also production bases. Such Taiwanese businessmen will choose to remain silent. Many people are unwilling to tell the truth, which has also caused Taiwanese society to lack vigilance against operating risks in the Chinese market.

As for the difficulties faced by Foxconn this time by the CCP, Li Mengju believes that the situation is very different because Foxconn is backed by American companies such as Apple, and in recent years, under the US-China trade war, supply chain shifts have occurred. Foxconn has begun to move production capacity to Vietnam, In India and other places, Foxconn seems to be facing a lot of losses in the short term, but in the long term, this is a good opportunity to decouple with the trend.

“The CCP is far more evil than you think”

“The CCP is different from what I originally thought.” Li Mengju said that this was the conclusion he came to after being persecuted by the CCP this time. He also reminded other Taiwanese businessmen that many people say that as long as politics is not discussed in China, there will be no problems. ” But the Chinese Communist Party is far more evil than you think.”

Li Mengju further said that Yu Maochun, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s chief adviser on China policy, once mentioned that “the CCP is not equal to China” and he was very touched by this view. He said that under the rule of the CCP, all Chinese people’s property belongs to the CCP. As long as a reason is found, the CCP can nationalize private assets. Now it is especially targeting successful people with a certain amount of assets. “They will definitely be found by the CCP.” Reason to cut leeks.”

He said that Alibaba founder Jack Ma just made inappropriate remarks, and his group was “commonly prosperous” by the Chinese Communist Party. This is a very iconic incident. Coupled with what happened to Hon Hai this time, “those Taiwanese businessmen who still want to go to China will , Is your career bigger than that of Jack Ma and Hon Hai? Can you avoid getting into trouble?”

“The CCP did not take large-scale attacks on Taiwanese businessmen and foreign capital in the past because they wanted to attract more people to invest in China.” Li Mengju said that now the CCP considers itself the world’s second largest economy and believes that its economic strength can compete with the United States; No matter what the facts are, as long as the CCP believes that Taiwanese businessmen are no longer needed to assist China’s economic development, “it will have no scruples about cutting Taiwanese businessmen off.”

Foxconn’s revelation: Beijing will not be polite to Taiwanese businessmen

This Foxconn incident has inspired everyone. Li Mengju said that even if Taiwanese businessmen and foreign capital can help the CCP create a large amount of foreign exchange, “it will not be polite to you.”

Li Mengju said that from the fact that he was restricted from leaving the country by the CCP and was convicted, he knew better that “the CCP only thinks about its own political interests.” Even though he was not guilty, the CCP also tried every means to convict him. “Anyone can do it.” Become the next me.” Li Mengju said that as far as he knows personally, there are at least more than a hundred Taiwanese businessmen who have similar experiences to him. “Many people are now trapped in China, and they may be imprisoned or restricted from leaving the country.”

He said, “The Taiwan government may be inconvenient to disclose it to the public due to political or economic and trade considerations; but I want to emphasize that this kind of thing is by no means an isolated case and happens all the time. I would like to remind Taiwanese businessmen who still have illusions about the CCP that they must We need to face up to these risks.”

In recent years, China’s economic recovery has been slower than expected due to the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, technology war, and epidemic containment. Li Mengju said that China’s economy will definitely decline in the future, and many foreign investors have sensed that the momentum is wrong and plan to accelerate their withdrawal from the Chinese market. In this case, Taiwanese businessmen must also be more careful.

He said that now China is facing a serious debt problem and huge financial pressure, so Beijing will definitely implement stricter foreign exchange controls and even operate on businessmen in China. “In the future, there will only be more and more cases of companies being nationalized and cut off from their power.”

If the CCP fails to maintain stability and pay Taiwanese businessmen, it will be more dangerous

Li Mengju said that many local governments in China have been unable to pay salaries, and the CCP attaches great importance to stabilizing funds. Once there is a gap in the relevant budget, it will inevitably have to find financial resources, and Taiwanese businessmen will be faced with an even more dangerous situation.

He said that the reason why he stood up in a high-profile manner and reminded Taiwanese society about the risks of going to China was to let the CCP know that these persecutions of foreign businessmen are paying attention to the world and should not be so unscrupulous; at the same time, it also makes Taiwan and the international community have negative views on the CCP. Alert, “There are indeed people who choose not to go to China after learning about my experience.”

Li Mengju said that he was very grateful to the Epoch Times for its willingness to report the true situation in China. The Epoch Times’s report on China was completely free of falsehoods and was not false at all. This courage to report the truth also made him willing to stand up this time. The impetus to condemn the Chinese Communist Party. “The Epoch Times is really spreading the truth, because under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, many of the beautiful surfaces we see are deliberately created illusions.” ◇

Editor in charge: Yuzhen