Moreover, Western investment in China has dropped sharply this year. But more and more Western investors are questioning whether that huge payday will ever be there, and the corruption and hassles don't seem worth it anymore. At the same time, overseas Chinese from Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia have had to cut back their investments in China because they got hit by the Asian economic crisis. There are roughly 46,000 Taiwanese-funded enterprises operating in China today. I am torn right now.
China is a big market.
But I am living under this cloud of uncertainty with them. I am an industrialist. I have enough problems building plants and finding customers. I can't be worried about missiles flying back and forth. The W.T.O. rules are the lever that China's reformist Prime Minister, Zhu Rongji, wants to use to overcome his domestic opponents and force more openness on China.