Taiwan’s trade competitiveness has fallen for four consecutive years, according to the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei 2017 Survey on Global Trade Environments and Growth Potential in Key and Emerging Markets, published today.
Out of the 54 countries surveyed, Taiwan is still in the “A list” of “highly recommended” countries in which to trade, although this year Taiwan has fallen to the bottom of the grouping. According to a report by the association, there are three key reasons for the decline: the competitiveness of emerging markets, Taiwan’s low salary environment — which has lead to a talent gap — and an over reliance on the Chinese market.
Taiwan has slipped in all of the survey’s rankings. It is now ranked 13th for competitiveness, while the US pushed Singapore out of last year’s position at the top. Singapore and Germany took second and third place, respectively. On trade liberalization, Taiwan was ranked 18th, with the US, Singapore and the Netherlands taking the top three spots. Taiwan is now ranked 20th for trade convenience and speed, with Singapore, the US and Germany taking first, second and third place.
Graphic: TT
According to the report, the UK’s Oxford Economics forecasts that by 2021 Taiwan will have the most acute brain drain headache of any country in the world.
This article was first published on Feb. 22.
(CNA, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo: CNA
照片：中央社
台灣貿易競爭力連四年下滑。台北進出口公會今發布二０一七年全球重要暨新興市場貿易環境與發展潛力調查報告。
報告指出，台灣雖然位居五十四個貿易地區的A級「極力推薦」區，不過已經是這個等級的最後一名，而導致衰退的三大主因分別為：新興市場競爭力、長期低薪環境人才斷層以及貿易高度依賴中國。
台灣排名全數下滑：國家競爭力排名第十三，美國擠下去年第一名新加坡奪冠，新加坡及德國分居二、三名；貿易自由度台灣排名第十八，前三名為美國、新加坡及荷蘭；貿易便捷度，台灣排名第二十名，前三名為新加坡、美國及德國。
報告指出，根據英國牛津經濟研院發表國際人才報告指出，二０二一年台灣將是全球人才流失最嚴重的國家。(中央社/本文已於二月二十二日刊登)
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
A: Who else is on Billboard’s list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century?” B: No. 15 to 6 are: Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Usher, Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Britney Spears. A: I can’t believe that Adele’s only at No. 10. B: No. 5 to 1 are: Lady Gaga, Drake, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Beyonce. A: Well, they surely deserve the honor. A: 《告示牌》雜誌的「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」，還有誰上榜啊？ B: 第15至6名是：麥莉希拉、大賈斯汀、妮姬米娜、阿姆、亞瑟小子、愛黛兒、亞莉安娜、小賈斯汀、肯伊威斯特、小甜甜布蘭妮。 A: 真不敢相信愛黛兒只排第10名。 B: 第5至1名是：女神卡卡、德瑞克、蕾哈娜、泰勒絲、碧昂絲。 A: 這幾位真是實至名歸！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
A: The 21st Century is now entering its 25th year. B: So Billboard has released a list: “The 25 greatest pop stars of the 21st Century.” A: Who are the greatest pop singers? B: No. 25 to 16 are: Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Lil Wayne, Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, Shakira and Jay-Z. A: Wow, my favorite K-pop supergroup BTS has made it to the list. A: 21世紀正在邁入第25個年頭了。 B: 《告示牌》雜誌特別公布：「21世紀最偉大的25位流行歌手」。 A: 最偉大的歌手有哪些？ B: 第25至16名是：凱蒂佩芮、紅髮艾德、壞痞兔、1世代、小韋恩、火星人布魯諾、防彈少年團（BTS）、威肯、夏奇拉、Jay-Z。 A: 哇，我最愛的韓流天團BTS也上榜了！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張聖恩）
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
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