Taiwan's VIA: Politics, business don't mix

By Alex Frew McMillan
CNN in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China (CNN) -- Politics and business should not cross over. That's the verdict from Wenchi Chen, president and CEO of Taiwan-based VIA Technologies, after events at this week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai.

The week-long economic gathering has landed a black eye as the political brawl between China and Taiwan rages on.

The Taiwanese delegation pulled out of this week's APEC talks on Friday after China refused to admit Taiwan's head delegate, Li Yuan-zu, saying he was too political.

"I don't think that politics should be a part of it, because it never helps," Chen said. "On the other hand, we're not in a perfect world."

Chen should know. VIA is involved in a heated dispute of its own with the U.S. chipmaker Intel.

But the VIA CEO doesn't expect the American delegates to tackle his cross-border legal fight, even though they could probably help resolve it. Business can handle its own issues, he said.

Taiwan blames China, which blames Taiwan

Taiwan said China, as host, would have to bear the responsibility of the collapse. The island state, which China sees as a renegade province, said Li was the right person to talk terrorism on its behalf, as senior adviser to Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian.

As it is, Taiwan will not send a representative to this weekend's Leader's Summit, which is drawing U.S. President George W. Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Chen lamented the political furore that led to the boycott.

He implied that it was futile for both sides to blame each other and that they should have left politics at the door.

A note of resignation

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China was hoping to use the APEC summit as a coming out party for Shanghai and its runaway economy, still likely to post growth of 7.6 percent this year.

But the mood has soured over Taiwan. Both the American and Chinese leaders say the island's status is the biggest difference between the two countries.

Chen, who was listening to Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech to CEOs on APEC's sidelines, sounded resigned to such issues coming up.

Taiwan and China broke ties in 1949 after a civil war, with China repeatedly trying to block Taiwan from being recognized at a nation at global events like this.

Chen is waging his own fight without diplomatic assistance. VIA is locked in a bitter patent-infringement battle with Intel, the world's largest chipmaker.

Intel blames VIA, which blames Intel

After Intel slapped VIA with a suit, VIA responded with a tit-for-tat lawsuit. VIA sees that as self-defense against a company it supplied.

"If they didn't sue us, we will try to cooperate with them as much as we can," Chen said, saying the world needed more cooperation among competitors.

He stopped to thank Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina for her support. HP continues to be a VIA partner, using its chip sets.

Chen said the U.S. delegation could have helped him in his fight with Intel. But he has not approached the delegates, he said, because it makes sense for Bush to focus on terrorism.

"The terror attacks of course are a much bigger issue," he said.

VIA is happy to fight its trade battle with Intel on its own.

"We trust that justice will prevail," Chen said.

A higher power

Chen, a Christian started to sound a little like a politician himself as he stumped for his cause saying it wasn't just the courts that would see his company through.

"We've got an even more important partner -- we believe that the Almighty supports us," he explained, adding that prayer and belief will lead his company to victory. "We believe it's God's will."

He said he was also praying for Bush and the United States in their time of need.

Besides the Taiwan-China spat, the policy issues surrounding the fight against terrorism and the U.S. retaliation against the September 11 attacks have threatened to dominate the proceedings at APEC.

Bush spent most of Friday rallying support from his APEC counterparts, meeting China's Jiang and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung face to face to confirm their support of his anti-terrorism coalition.