At a recent news conference in Beijing, Stanley Myers, the president of Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), stated clearly that the organization supports the "one China" principle and that Taiwan is a part of China. It is utterly exasperating in light of this to learn that SEMI has only five members of the association from China, with 144 from Taiwan. So its position, which risked offending Taiwan was, at first, difficult to understand.
But a little probing beneath the surface reveals that Taiwanese are to blame. Most of our SEMI members have factories in China and are, for the most part, already producing more in China than in Taiwan. Because Taiwanese businesses account for more than 70 percent of the value of China's IT hardware and because SEMI enjoys close ties with Taiwanese manufacturers, Beijing pressured the organization to state its political position.
As Taiwanese businesses have invested heavily in China, the cluster effect of Taiwanese investors in the suburbs of Shanghai has gradually broadened. Step by step, China has acquired the chips to target Taiwan or the world politically, economically and militarily.
It is undeniably Taiwanese investors' transformation of China into a global manufacturing hub that has given Beijing the means to restrain Taiwan in the international arena. SEMI was certain that its Taiwanese members who have their bases in China would not dare to register any protest against its statement, much less withdraw. Both Beijing and SEMI already take it for granted that Taiwan is an easy target for Beijing.
The SEMI president's shift of allegiance sends a very clear message. If Taiwan ceases to be the base for our own key manufacturers' operations, any schemes for the nation to become an Asia Pacific center for operations, not to mention those of planning and management, research and development and supply, will come to nothing. Any investments in operations headquarters that we are able to solicit by means of preferential measures will disappear from Taiwan overnight if Beijing shows the slightest displeasure. China is seen as more lucrative because it has clusters of manufacturing plants and more Taiwanese investors. Not only will they wish to pander to Beijing, but few investors will be prepared to forego the profits and business opportunities that they believe will follow if they withdraw from Taiwan and invest in China.
Do those scholars and government officials who advocate "production in China, planning and management in Taiwan" not realize the dangers and the lack of realism in such a policy? No. They have their hearts set on a "Greater China." They use the slogan to mask the trend of "moving westwards" in order to help China to accomplish its goals. Because a large number of Taiwanese investors have left for China, they aim to provide a smoke screen for the adverse effects on Taiwan's economy -- the diminution of domestic investment, the shrinking of wealth, the debts left behind in Taiwan and the increase in unemployment. They encourage the "westward" trend, further anesthetize the Taiwanese people and, finally, blame Taiwan's economic downturn on others.
If our people can learn from the damage done by SEMI to Taiwan, they will understand that no center of planning and management will survive without manufacturing and that no center of research and development can exist without production. They must ignore the treacherous schemes of those who advocate "production in China, management and research in Taiwan." When they do so, Taiwan and its swelling ranks of unemployed will regain optimism about their prospects. Then, Taiwan's economy will promptly haul itself out of the doldrums.
Huang Tien-lin is a national policy adviser to the president.
Translated by Grace Shaw
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
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
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