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 (
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS