The public outrage in Taiwan over an ad that implied Taiwan goods are substandard by the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, and the passage of a resolution by Taiwan's Legislative Yuan that urged suspension of sales of the whisky for one year as punishment for the ad would seem to suggest that Taiwanese do care about their country's image. But, the overflow of counterfeit goods, which is becoming an increasingly sore spot in Taiwan's relationship with important trade partners such as the US, would seem to suggest the opposite.
In fact, it was revealed this week that pirated DVDs of the latest James Bond movie Die Another Day are already hot-selling items in night markets. Worse yet, reportedly the pirates were so brazen as to run the line "come get me, if you can, [Minister of Justice] Chen Ding-nan (
Surely Taiwanese consumers must know that Taiwan's reputation as a haven for counterfeiting isn't exactly facilitating a positive international image of their country. Yet, counterfeit goods continue to do enormously well.
The reason may be that, as much as Taiwanese care about the image of their country in the international community, any such concern fades in the face of a good bargain. So, money saved from buying pirated CDs and DVDs in night markets at a price less than one-tenth of the sale price of non-pirated copies must mean much more than the international image of Taiwan to many Taiwanese. If that is the case, then the image of this country isn't worth much after all.
Theft of intellectual property is of course not a problem unique to Taiwan. What is unique and almost fascinating about the case, is the way that many purchasers of pirated goods openly claim, in a righteous attitude, that they are doing nothing wrong. During recent negotiations with the Board of Foreign Trade, it must have been an eye-opener for the American side to see so many college students, many of whom were from top universities, protesting against US pressure on the Taiwan government to clean up unauthorized copying of foreign textbooks on campus.
One argument purchasers of pirated goods often raise is that they don't want to pay an arm and a leg for so-so CDs and DVDs, and that it is the movie industry's own fault for not being unable to produce something more marketable. This begs the question, why don't they simply refuse to buy these so-so CDs and DVDs and let the laws of supply and demand work? Their argument falls on its face because top-selling movies and albums on the legal market also happen to be top sellers on the pirated market.
Then there are those who respond by mixing the issues, labeling American pressure to crack down on piracy as foreign oppression, they find justification for refusing to comply with intellectual property rights (IPR) laws.
On Tuesday, during a meeting with US Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, President Chen Shui-bian (
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS