By our own hand
While we see a bit of a trade war brewing between China and the US, Taiwanese should be more aware of the pernicious war that local electronics companies are waging against us — and with our government’s connivance.
You can buy almost any first-line Japanese brand in the US for up to 45 percent less than the retail price here in Taiwan.
And now, with Hon Hai’s takeover of Sony’s production and distribution network in the Americas, the same Taiwanese companies that are soaking local consumers will be offering those cheap prices directly to Americans, while laughing as they pocket extra cash from us for the same products.
This is all supposedly in aid of Taiwan’s competitiveness! With exorbitant foreign brand import surcharges, the government is forcing us to buy inferior Taiwanese sets as a subsidy for the manufacturers.
Of course, the artificially inflated prices of Japanese brands pull the prices of these junk sets much higher than they are worth.
But don’t worry. Nothing will change. Do we Taiwanese love to be victims, even at the hands of our own? Obviously so.
JOHN HANNA
Taoyuan
A lasting legacy
Put all political bickering aside: The Taiwanese can be proud of the way they hosted both the Deaflympics in Taipei and the World Games in Kaohsiung, presenting their country to the world in the best way possible.
As a reporter, I was fortunate to attend both events, marvel at the opening ceremonies, enjoy the atmosphere at the competitions and talk to a lot of German athletes and officials.
Everybody agreed that Taiwan easily surpassed their expectations and that they had never experienced a World Games or Deaflympics on this scale before. Everyone singled out the friendliness of the people, especially the volunteers, and the amazing amount of manpower that went into the events. For the first time, they said, the World Games or the Deaflympics could be compared to the Olympics.
True, media coverage (in Germany as well as the West in general) was a far cry from that of the Olympics, and virtually no major TV station or newspaper sent correspondents to Taiwan. That is not Taiwan’s fault; it is always like this with the World Games and the Deaflympics.
Still, like many colleagues, I was able to publish several radio, TV and newspaper reports and, of course, it can be said that these events increased Taiwan’s international visibility.
But most importantly, the two events brought thousands of people from all over the world to Kaohsiung and Taipei who otherwise would never have thought of visiting Taiwan. And not just athletes.
In Kaohsiung, for example, I met couples from Belgium and the UK whose daughters were competing at the World Games. Had it not been for the Games, they might have spent their holidays in Europe, America or Australia — certainly not in Taiwan.
Many of the foreign visitors decided to spend an extra week or two here traveling around the country. All of them will return home and spread the word, doing far more for Taiwan’s image abroad than any political campaign ever could.
That will be the real, lasting legacy of this glorious summer of Taiwanese sports.
KLAUS BARDENHAGEN
Taipei
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