On Monday evening, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party, but would stay on as prime minister until a successor is selected. He had been in office since November 2015. At the end of last year — as a result of an economic downturn and a series of political scandals — his approval rating plummeted to an unprecedented low of 33 percent, leading to intense criticism from within the party. Faced with immense pressure on all sides, Trudeau was left with no choice but to step down.
Like many countries straining under the weight of inflation in the past few years, during Trudeau’s administration, Canada faced new records for inflation. Housing prices in major cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal have soared by as much as 30 to 40 percent in the past few years — a source of great hardship for Canadians. Several years ago, one of my Canadian clients lamented gas prices that were rising for no apparent reason, leaving them at a loss for what to do.
Meanwhile, Trudeau was repeatedly exposed for accepting luxurious vacations from his corporate friends. Close family members were revealed to have accepted thousands of US dollars in “rewards” from the charitable organization WE Charity — which had signed lucrative contracts with Trudeau’s administration — as payment for attending charity events. The payments appeared to be kickbacks. All of this irreparably damaged Trudeau’s reputation.
In contrast, Taiwan has controlled inflation quite well — unlike Canada and the US, where public dissatisfaction has led to the resignation of a prime minister and the return of former US president Donald Trump.
The housing market is quite an intriguing issue. About 15 years ago, a client of mine in Vancouver told me that housing prices had reached sky-high levels thanks to Chinese immigrants. It is quite a relief that the Taiwanese government has imposed restrictions on Chinese investment to protect Taiwan’s real-estate market from Chinese Communist Party influence. Otherwise, the consequences for Taiwan could have been even worse than in Canada.
In light of Trudeau’s resignation, many foreign media outlets took the opportunity to mention Trump — who is to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 — and his threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods. Trump also mocked Trudeau last month, referring to him as the “governor” of the “Great State of Canada” rather than prime minister, implying that Canada is a US state. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as it became clear Trudeau had lost ground in the realm of foreign diplomacy.
Canada is the largest trading partner of the US — the largest economy in the world. Despite this, severe inflation and skyrocketing prices led the public to lose its faith in the government. For Taiwan — the US’ eighth-largest trading partner — this should serve as a cautionary tale. Aside from bolstering ties with the US, economic stability and political integrity are two factors essential to earning the public’s trust.
Fang Fu-chuan is an international trader.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS