Rio Tinto has ‘advanced China’s plans for Taiwan’
In reclassifying the island, the mining giant has been accused of backing China’s ambition to absorb it
RIO Tinto has been accused of playing to Beijing’s “thirst to make China ‘greater’” after classifying Taiwan as part of wider China in its accounts.
The FTSE 100 mining giant quietly changed its designation of the selfgoverning island state in its latest set of accounts.
Revenues from Taiwan were formerly grouped under the designation “Asia excluding China and Japan”.
However, Rio Tinto now accounts for Taiwanese earnings under the heading “Greater China”. Including Taiwan as part of “Greater China” is not uncommon among multinational corporations, describing mainland China along with Hong Kong and Macau.
The timing of the reclassification, however, is politically charged given escalating tensions in the region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to “reunify” Taiwan with China, prompting US President Joe Biden to pledge that the US would defend the territory from any invasion.
Taiwan joined the World Trade Organisation as a separate customs territory at the start of 2002.
China is Rio Tinto’s biggest market, accounting for 52.7pc of its sales, or $36bn (£30bn), in 2021. State-backed Chinalco is also Rio Tinto’s largest shareholder, owning 14.59pc of the company, which is close to a 14.99pc limit on its investment put in place by the Australian government in 2008.
Representatives for Taiwan accused Rio Tinto of bowing to Beijing’s agenda and urged the company to reverse the accounting change. A spokesman for the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, Taiwan’s diplomatic mission here, told The Sunday Telegraph: “Rio Tinto, a multinational company, should have been aware that Taiwan as a market is not part of the China market, and that this is reflected in the World Trade Organisation.
“If adjustment of this kind was purely for company accounting purposes, one can hardly see any realistic professionalism in it.
“On the other hand, if the inclusion of Taiwan into ‘Greater China’ is meant to suffice some of the company’s Chinese stakeholders’ thirst to make China ‘greater’, this is to be only of paper value. We urge Rio Tinto to move Taiwan back to the category of ‘Asia’.”
The China Research Group, a body of Conservative MPs set up to look at the rise of China, also criticised the decision. Alicia Kearns, who chairs the group and the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: “We know Beijing enlists corporate entities to undermine Taiwan’s status as a flourishing selfgoverning entity. While predictable, it’s disappointing to see global corporations surreptitiously cave to the Chinese government’s demands and advance its ambitions to absorb Taiwan.”
Rio Tinto declined to comment. The company’s latest annual report says: “Consolidated sales revenue by destination has been adjusted to classify Taiwan and China together as ‘Greater China’; previously Taiwan was included in Asia (excluding Greater China and Japan).”
On Thursday, the US approved the potential sale of $619m of weapons to Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles will help “defend the airspace to deal with threats and provocations from the Communist military”.