Taiwan's exports could fall 20 percent if China, its main trading partner and political rival, imposes economic sanctions to prevent the island from formally splitting with the mainland, a newspaper report said on Monday. China's parliament passed an anti-secession law that sanctioned the use of non-peaceful means against Taiwan if the self-ruled democratic island of 23 million people pushed for formal independence. Analysts said non-peaceful means could include an embargo, as well as military force.
More than US$25 billion worth of Taiwan exports would likely be affected by a Chinese embargo, especially in the metals and plastics sectors, the Economic Daily News quoted an internal report from the Economics Ministry as saying.
A ministry official said he was unaware of the figures and declined to comment further.
However, the newspaper report also said the economics ministry thought the chances of China slapping a trade embargo on Taiwan were slim, since the Asian giant is a World Trade Organisation member.