On July 28, Chinese financial supervisory agencies made a surprise raid on Taiwanese bank branch offices in China for "illegally attracting business without the necessary licenses." The banks must be condemned for also breaking Taiwanese law by engaging in financial business in China. They are just like rats that, in their greed, bite through a food bag and spill all its contents out on the floor. They have increased the nation's capital outflow. Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) should take action and punish them severely.
Ever since Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
In fact, Taiwan's economy has smoothly been transformed from a handicraft, mechanical and automated industry to the digital age. Taiwan has developed into a leading player in the electronics industry, and is rapidly developing in areas of precision technologies. Taiwan has already won a leading international role as a manufacturer of computers, digital cameras and other advanced products, a clear indication that it has already developed an excellent knowledge-based environment that is ideal for research and development. In addition, development within traditional industries, brand creation and developing sales channels has proved very successful in consolidating traditional industries in Taiwan. Giant, Taiwan's bicycle manufacturer, and La New, a shoe manufacturer, are outstanding examples of this process. It is clear from this that if only the director of the enterprise operates effectively, there is no reason why Taiwanese products cannot be sold all over the world.
Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) said in a recent publication that Taiwan's experience of economic development is similar to that of Switzerland and Finland. Many of the problems those two countries faced were the result of having vastly more powerful neighbors. But as long as they could navigate international trends, and worked hard at upgrading their industries and developing a "knowledge economy," they could still become highly competitive commercial nations with a high standard of living. Taiwan's economic development has never relied on China, and there is no reason why it should start now.
China bedazzled Taiwanese businesses with its cheap land and labor, as well as its vast domestic market. These advantages, however, are disappearing as it moves into a new stage of development. Taiwanese businesspeople cannot safely and steadily promote their business in China due to slack law enforcement and various political factors. Beijing's recent moves to put down "green" businesses provide such an example. Thus, the unexpected management costs are getting higher when investing in China.
The successful stories of many traditional businesses in Taiwan show that restructuring and innovation are key to maintaining a successful business. Since Taiwan has developed a sound investment environment, Taiwanese businesses should follow such a trend, returning to Taiwan like mature salmon returning to their spawning grounds. Placing their priority in upgrading their businesses, they should beware of being misled by malicious banks and digging a hole from which they can not escape.
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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