Chen Ching-chih (
Chen's answer, however, is disappointing. He cites Samsung's lackluster image in the late 1990s; if so, how could the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in Taiwan be blamed for the obscurity of otherwise successful Taiwanese firms? The Democratic Progressive Party has ruled for five years now, but Chen cites no examples of the government following in the KMT's footsteps by tying the hands of companies.
The real answer may provoke less intrigue. LG, for example, won a spot on Interbrand's short list. The company, which used to go by the decidedly unsexy name of Lucky Goldstar, spent hundreds of millions of dollars to reinvent their brand in the mid-1990s. They are now merely enjoying the fruit of their investment. Acer, for its part, has all but retreated from the US market. When it had an opportunity to expand into consumer electronics, it instead spun off a new company with a new name, fracturing its brand identity.
Meanwhile, stellar international successes -- companies such as Quanta, Asustek and Taiwan Semiconductor -- all make money manufacturing products for consumer companies. Since the end product doesn't bear their names (indeed, firms that produce consumer products often switch suppliers anyway), no one should expect these "brands" to generate much revenue of their own accord. It should be no wonder, then, that companies like Formosa Plastics Group never make it onto lists of big global brands.
Andy Wang
Los Angeles, California
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US