Taiwan Shares Fall 1.5 Percent
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan shares fell Wednesday as President Chen Shui-bian confirmed his commitment to scrap guidelines on unification with rival China, a measure likely to anger Beijing.
The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell 100.81 points, or 1.5 percent, to 6,530.70, the lowest closing figure since Jan. 24, when the index closed at 6,451.94.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing still occasionally threatens the use of force if the self-ruled island moves toward formal independence.
China is likely to see Chen's plan to abolish the guidelines, first mentioned last month, as a step in the direction of formal independence.
In a meeting with visiting U.S. Representative Robert Simmons Wednesday, Chen reiterated his plan to scrap the guidelines, describing them as "absurd products of an absurd era."
"President Chen made it very clear today that he's serious about the plan," said Oliver Fang, a sales trader with Yuanta Core Pacific Securities. "That's very bad indeed, and phone calls just arrived in droves (from clients) asking to unwind their positions."
Electronics shares, many of which have been pulling back recently because the first quarter is normally a slow season for the technology sector, dropped 2 percent as a whole.
AU Optronics, Taiwan's largest thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display maker by revenue, fell 3.3 percent to 52.9 New Taiwan dollars. Rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics lost 4.5 percent to NT$48.8.
The index numbered 113 gainers against 960 decliners, and 87 stocks closing unchanged.
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