China firms distancing from Pelosi visit

After visiting the island last week by a high-profile U.S. official, companies in China are rushing to distance themselves from the geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, from a Chinese soy sauce maker to an Asia-focused asset manager.

China claims Taiwan is its territory, and the visit of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei last week has sparked a wave of Chinese nationalism and military drills, in defiance of Beijing's warnings.

On Saturday, Foshan Haitian Flavoring and Food Co Ltd, 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 company said on its Weibo account that it would manage its employees better, because it said that the inappropriate content is against Haitian culture, does not match with Haitian values, and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.

According to a statement by Asia-focused asset manager Matthews International Capital Management, the company was criticized by Beijing-backed Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao as being founded by Pelosi, but it 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.

Matthews, whose main owners include Paul Matthews, Mark Headley, Mizuho Financial Group Inc and Royal Bank of Canada, are working with media outlets to take prompt corrective action, according to the latest misreporting and false statements about our firm.

In a separate case, Taiwanese chip maker United Microelectronics Corp UMC distanced itself from its founder Robert Tsao, who pledged to donate NT $3 billion US $100 million to Taiwan bolster its defences after his comments were pilloried by Chinese social media users.

UMC said that Mr Tsao retired from UMC more than 10 years ago. He has nothing to do with UMC. Chinese state media warned that companies should consider their access to the world's second largest economy with regard to the Taiwan situation and Pelosi, who has been sanctioned by China after her visit.

The military drills on Monday in the seas and airspace around Taiwan have been announced by China's military, a day after the end of its largest ever exercises, confirming the fears of security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would continue to exert pressure on Taiwan's defences.