Officials in China have inspected factories in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces set up by Taiwan’s Foxconn, plus subsidiary businesses on the mainland for what state media says is a tax and land-use audit.
Officials from China’s natural resources department also conducted on-site investigations on the land use of Foxconn enterprises in Henan and Hubei provinces, the nationalist tabloid the Global Times reported.
Foxconn did not immediately respond for comment outside of regular business hours.
Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean of the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times in an interview that the tax audit and land use investigations conducted by the relevant departments stemmed from any enterprise suspected of violating laws and regulations and was a normal procedure.
“Foxconn’s subsidiaries are obliged to actively cooperate with audits and investigations, and if there are indeed violations of laws and regulations, they should admit mistakes and accept penalties and step up rectification,” Zhang said.
Observers say Taiwanese companies have sometimes faced pressure at times when cross-strait relations are strained, and officials want them to push peace and unity.
