Don't gut Taiwan for China's sake

The "no haste, be patient" policy is a strategy for the overall economic investments of our country. A "total liberalization" policy focuses on the business investment strategies by individual industries, based on the individual industries' own interests and opportunities. The overall investment strategy of "no haste, be patient," set up during the KMT rule is based on a need to protect the political sovereignty and economic competitiveness of Taiwan.

Security controls are not a strategy unique to Taiwan. Many high-tech and national defense industries in the US are also subjected to government-imposed economic and national-security strategic restrictions. These industries are prohibited from relocating abroad, or relocating manufacturing operations through strategic alliances. Japanese firms do not relocate the manufacturing of high-tech products or products with high added value, so they don't injure Japan's industrial competitiveness.

The political and economic circumstances facing Taiwan do not allow it to abandon the "no haste, be patient" policy. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company president Morris Chang (張忠謀) was right when he said that "sooner or later high-technology wafer manufacturers would invest in China." However, now is not the time.

The "no haste, be patient" strategy does have a time limit. The government should specifically list all the industries banned from investing in China, as well as the conditions for lifting the ban. As for the future of the traditional industries, we must squash the thirst for investing in China. The government must come up with measures to deal with their difficulties, actively guide their transformation and integrate the transportation and storage systems of these industries. These are urgent tasks for our government.

Lee Chang-kuei is the president of the Taipei Times.