standards and corrupt state-business relations.^67 A serious state-society
confrontation arose from the seventh naphtha cracker project (Binnan Project)
in the Qigu area, discussed in Chapters 7 and 8.
An investigation of the economic sectors in which Taiwan’s businessmen
invest shows the potential for the ‘race to the bottom’. Table 6.3 presents a
sectoral analysis:
Table 6.3 Taiwanese investment in mainland China by sectors
(1991–2005)
Sectors % by amount
Electronic and electric appliances 34.79
Basic metals and metal products 9.20
Chemicals 6.69
Plastic products 6.01
Food and beverage processing 4.21
Textile 3.35
Non-metallic minerals 4.92
Transport equipment 3.73
Machinery equipment 3.46
Precision instruments 5.45
Agriculture, forestry, fishery, and animal husbandry industry 0.46
Services 3.48
Others 14.25
Total 100
Notes: Unit = %. Figures include laggard reports and approvals. The figures do not add up to the
total shown due to rounding up.
Sources: Investment Commission, MOEA, ROC. Also see http://www.mac.gov.tw/big5/
statistic/em/157/12.pdf.
The electronics industry, as well as chemicals, plastics, and equipment
manufacturing, all have the potential to produce pollution and damage
ecosystems, certainly in the immediate environment of the facilities. There is
increasing evidence of this environmental risk from Taiwanese enterprises in
mainland China. According to a survey conducted in Zhangzhou, Fujian
Province, very few Taiwanese corporations pay attention to pollution monitor-
ing and management. Most Taiwanese companies have contributed various
degrees of water, air, and solid waste pollution to the local environment.
Mainland Chinese academics have called for strict regulations of Taiwanese
companies that move highly-polluting industries from Taiwan to China.^68
Business organizations and biodiversity conservation 153