Former premier and respected economic figure Vincent Siew (
Just exactly what Taiwan's economy needs saving from remains a mystery, but the cab driver -- like thousands of other people around the nation -- seems to believe the often-propagated myth that Taiwan's economy is in serious trouble.
But who can blame them when every day people are bombarded by opposition politicians and media outlets saying things are in such a terrible state. Sunday's Central Daily News online headline is a perfect example: "Ma-Siew ticket promises to lead Taiwan out of economic quagmire."
Repeating a falsehood 1,000 times, however, does not make it true.
Let's put the record straight: Taiwan's economy is not a basket case. Foreign investment in Taiwan remains strong; last year saw a total of 1,846 investment projects, worth US$13.97 billion, a year-on-year increase of 230.39 percent. The stock market, that other great indicator of success for economic experts in Taiwan, is at a seven-year high.
Unemployment, meanwhile, stood at 3.87 percent last month -- a figure comparable with or much lower than most rival economies.
Then look at the GDP, which according to Academia Sinica's latest estimates will grow by up to 4.46 percent this year. This figure is quite acceptable for developed economies like Taiwan, which will never be able to match China's runaway double-digit economic growth.
The opposition, meanwhile, with its talk of direct flights, abolition of the 40 percent investment cap and the three direct links, clearly sees China as a panacea for all of Taiwan's "woes."
But there is one thing these economic harbingers of doom never explain properly. Taiwan has already invested more in China than any other nation in the world, and yet according to them things here are so bad. How exactly then is further large-scale cross-strait investment going to make things better?
Relaxing restrictions on further investment in China will not benefit the nation's blue-collar workers or farmers -- those in Taiwan who are really struggling. Those people struggle because of the steadfast refusal of local companies to pay a decent wage -- as we saw with the recent battle to increase the minimum wage.
It is this and the large-scale flight of industry abroad that has put so many people in dire straits.
The only people who profit from spreading such economic pessimism are the opposition parties and their friends in Beijing who advocate eventual unification, and multinational companies who stand to reduce costs even further through direct transport and cargo links.
This is why the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) time and again comes out in support of relaxing restrictions, as it did in its 2007 Taiwan White Paper.
Amcham, in case people weren't aware, is an organization, to quote its Web site,"dedicated to promoting the interests of international business." It doesn't give a hoot about farmers, single mothers or downtrodden workers.
Taiwan's economy is not perfect, but it is not on the verge of meltdown as the opposition would like us to believe.
The only thing likely to improve people's lives in Taiwan is more investment in Taiwan, not China. And the sooner the cab drivers of Taiwan realize this and see through the opposition's illusion of an economic paradise across the Taiwan Strait the better.
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