With Beijing cracking down on "pro-green" Taiwanese businesspeople and entertainers, it has become clear that it is trying to realize political concessions via economic sanctions. This should be a cause for concern in political and business circles.
At a conference last Sunday, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) spoke the truth about Beijing's mentality -- it abhors the democracy and freedom that Taiwan enjoys. The reason is simple: a free, democratic Taiwan is like a mirror that reflects the ugly face of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Given this contrast, it is only natural that China should see Taiwan as an enemy and seek to destroy it.
Both the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administrations have failed to implement the "no haste, be patient" policy Lee advocated eight years ago. As a result, many businesspeople brushed off the warnings and rushed to invest in China. But many of the ill consequences that Lee predicted would happen have come to pass.
For example, Lee predicted that by investing in China to expand production, Taiwanese business-people would eventually get caught up in a price war which would destroy their profit margins.
Second, Lee said, the outflow of industry to China would result in a sharp fall in the domestic demand for labor, raising Taiwan's unemployment rate. He also said that China would endeavor to achieve political ends through economic means by keeping the political affiliations of individual companies under tight control -- as the recent Chi Mei incident illustrates.
It is a matter of some regret that, according to figures released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there has been a significant annual increase in Taiwanese investment in China since the DPP came to power in 2000. In 2002, Taiwan overtook Japan to become China's second-biggest source of foreign investment. This increase is largely a result of the Chen administration's "active opening, effective management" (
Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, and since that time its fledgling democracy has been retreating to such an extent that 500,000 people took to the streets in protest last July. With many Hong Kong businesspeople relocating factories and transferring investment to China, academics based at Hong Kong Polytechnic University have indicated that personal income in Hong Kong has fallen to 1995 levels and that unemployment rose to an all-time high of 8.8 percent in May last year. Is Taiwan heeding their discomfort?
Beijing sees Taiwanese businesses as weapons in the campaign for unification. Those who do not obey are regarded as "poisonous weeds" to be rooted out. This means that not only are businesspeople expected to give their money to China, they are also expected to forego their ability to think critically.
Can our government, which professes with its every breath to love Taiwan, continue to allow factories and money to be relocated to China? It is an absurdity that the DPP government is lending support to its enemies in this economic war, and it is no surprise that Lee has been forced to reprimand the administration.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to