In his explanations to Sky News Arabia, the jurist Ayman Talaat does not rule out qualifying the Taiwanese economy as “untrustworthy” if the multinationals continue to demand “unfair guarantees”.
The concern stems from the fact that the multinationals, after having increased the level of tension between China on the one hand, and Taiwan and the United States on the other hand, write “unfair” clauses in investment agreements in Taiwan to guarantee the recovery of their money and the value of their assets in the event of a conflict, according to what was monitored by the Nikkei Asia newspaper specializing in the economy in Asia.
These clauses are due to the companies’ fear that if Beijing takes control of Taiwan, Washington will impose sanctions on assets in Chinese-controlled Taiwan.
He studied Ukraine and force majeure
At this point, the companies want to say they have learned the lesson of the Ukraine war that has been raging since February 2022, after the sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and Great Britain on Russia .
Although commercial contracts generally include a “force majeure” clause which exempts both parties from their obligations in the event of the occurrence of a catastrophic event preventing them from fulfilling them, some contract clauses in Taiwan stipulate that the assets built are under the protection of the island, and Taiwan is required to ensure their safety in the event of an emergency.
Loss of trustworthy
In this regard, legal expert Ayman Talaat says that companies started last year to ask for the inclusion of provisions dealing with a possible conflict scenario in Taiwan or a regional escalation that could affect business, such as the severance of supply chains and the force majeure clause.
These clauses “can be a great injustice to Taiwan, especially since the force majeure clause makes things open and unruly, and one of the parties can interpret the force majeure situation according to its whims, and it can be manipulated in court,” Talaat describes.
The legal expert expects this to be reflected in the presentation of Taiwan’s economy in a weak and threatening manner. Because these are clauses that mean “he has become unreliable”.
Taiwan ranks as the 16th largest trading economy in the world and has extensive trade relations with countries around the world. Especially in the technology and semiconductor industries.
And Taiwan is considered by China to be part of its territory, and while Washington accuses it of supporting Taiwanese “separatists”, it confirms its willingness to invade the island at any time to prevent its secession.
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