On Tuesday, a group of Taiwanese businessmen who have been defrauded, conned and swindled in China established an association to advocate their rights and rights of others who have shared similar fates. More than 50 businessmen attended the opening ceremony, but according to the new association, they were just a small fraction of the tens of thousands who have fallen prey to what is supposed to be the new land of fortune.
The plight of Taiwanese businesspeople in China is nothing new. The question is, what exactly is being done about it, or more precisely what is the government doing about it? It is the duty of any government to protect the properties, interests and rights of their overseas citizens. One prime example is the way the US government has been vigorously looking after the business and financial interests of US citizens and companies, from demanding the protection of American intellectual property rights (IPR), to expressions of concern about the possible termination of GE's contract should the government decide to cease construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Sadly, since this country is not formally recognized by most countries, many of which are more than willing to cave into China, the government is often subjected to discriminatory or downright demeaning treatment. Being weak is sad enough. But to be weak and rich is an open invitation to get ripped off.
Despite the linguistic and cultural similarities, China is perhaps the worst place for Taiwanese businesspeople, especially those with small and mid-size firms, to invest. The situation is somewhat better with respect to giant firms, which have more financial prowess as well as the connections to protect themselves.
First, in developed countries governed by the rule of law, Taiwanese businesses can seek redress and remedies via legal channels and mechanisms. Moreover, with transparent and consistent rules and regulations, there is much more predictability in doing businesses in such places. China, by contrast, is a country governed by lawless men. The field is completely cleared each time a new person comes to power, putting their cronies in key positions. Nothing that was agreed on previously counts for anything when there is a new leader.
Aggravating the problem is the cross-strait situation. China is not just any country. It is the country that continues to claim Taiwan as a province and one that might have to be forced or disciplined into accepting its place at some point in the future. Under the circumstances, China has ample incentive to trample Taiwanese business interests.
The most bizarre response to the launch of the new association was probably made by Chang Rong-Kung (
At the very least, the new association can raise the awareness of the potential risks and dangers of investing in China. This is much more useful than what is being proposed by Chang and the KMT.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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