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In August 2001, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), a major international investment bank, was removed from the foreign underwriting team that would handle a pending share offering for China Unicom Group Ltd, the second largest telecommunications company in the Chinese Mainland. Only two months earlier, CSFB was designated to deal with the US portion of that offering. However, after the bank hosted overseas investment ''roadshows'' attended by senior government officials from Taiwan (including the Finance Minister), it was officially dropped from the China Unicom underwriter list. The incident provoked criticism from governments in the United States and Taiwan, and widespread activity in investment banking circles as several other banks dropped plans to host roadshows for Taiwan. This case can be used to teach how business decisions may become caught up in political difficulties and how companies need to formulate strategies and policies to address such issues.