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.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations