Energy Giant Moves Quietly to Erase Taiwan

Taiwanese flags at the Ministry of National Defense of Taiwan in Taipei, Taiwan, on Dec. 26, 2022. (Ann Wang/Reuters)

A British-Australian energy giant has chosen to erase Taiwan from its financial statements, deciding instead to list all revenue from the autonomous region as from “Greater China.”

Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be united with mainland China by any means necessary.

Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest metal and mining corporations, made the decision to merge Taiwanese revenue data with those of Greater China in its 2022 Full Year Data Report (pdf).

“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),” the report said. “This change has resulted in a decrease in 2021 revenue attributable to Asia (excluding Greater China and Japan) of: 2.5 percent and US$1,570 million.”

Previously, Taiwanese revenues were classified as part of Other Asian Regions in the annual reports.

The Epoch Times reached out to Rio Tinto to confirm that the change was correct and to comment on the reason behind the decision. However, a spokesperson for the company only noted that the change was in its latest full-year account from 2022 and did not provide remarks on the reasoning for the change.

The company, which was founded in 1873 and is domiciled in both the UK and Australia, is the world’s second-biggest mining and metal corporation and one of the world’s primary suppliers of iron ore, uranium, Lithium bauxite, aluminium, diamonds, salt and borates.

Currently, Rio Tinto runs mining operations in Australia, Canada, Iceland, Madagascar, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.

In 2020, the company was listed by Forbes as being the world’s 114th largest public company, and according to the 2022 full-year accounts, it earned $13.3 billion.

China Makes Taiwan Ambitions Clear

The decision from the mining giant to amalgamate the two territories comes as the CCP’s leader Xi Jinping has made clear his intentions to reunify the two territories by 2027.

CIA Director William Burns said on Feb. 3 that the CIA was aware “as a matter of intelligence” that Xi has ordered his military to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027.

“Our assessment at CIA is that I wouldn’t underestimate President Xi’s ambitions with regard to Taiwan,” Burns said at an event at Georgetown University in Washington.

Chinese incursions into Taiwanese territory have occurred virtually daily as the CCP has increased military pressure on the self-ruled island. Recently, Taiwan’s military detected 23 Chinese aircraft and four vessels on Feb. 2, with 17 of the aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu previously noted on Jan. 18 that China is “more likely” to make a move against Taiwan in 2027 as he believed that Xi might see aggression against Taiwan as a way to leave a legacy from his third term in office.

“In 2027, Xi Jinping is likely to go into his fourth term. And if in his previous three terms, he cannot claim any achievement during his office, he might need to think about something else for him to claim as his achievement or his legacy,” Wu said in an interview with Sky News.

Chinese Regime Tied to Rio Tinto

While the change was surprising for many investors, Rio Tinto has significant ties to the CCP, with more than 54 percent of its revenue being generated in China in 2022. CCP state-owned mining business Chinalco is also the company’s largest shareholder holding just over 14 percent ownership.

This is the largest stake Chinalco can obtain in Rio Tinto, given a ruling from Australia’s Foreign Investment and Review Board which declared that any Chinese stake of 15 percent or higher would be illegal.

The ruling followed Chinalco’s attempt to purchase a greater share of Rio Tinto in 2008 during the Global Financial Crisis.

The next largest shareholder in the company is investment company Blackrock which, via three different investing funds, holds around eight percent of the Anglo-Australian mining giant.

The Epoch Times reached out to Blackrock for comment on the change in recognition of Taiwan but was told by Vice President Christopher M. Berger that the company has a firm policy of not commenting on specific companies.

The change in how Rio Tinto accounts for Taiwanese revenues comes one year after China expert and former Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton became the company’s chairman.

Barton was ambassador during 2019-2021 and oversaw the negotiations for the release of two Canadian citizens who had been held in China on charges of espionage.

Aldagra Fredly contributed to this report.