The rise of China has brought tremendous pressure on Taiwan’s competitiveness, worrying our next generation about future competition between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
However, I am more confident of the nation’s future after attending a conference in Taipei City on Sept. 6, on the establishment of a cross-strait network on domestic violence prevention. What I really want to say is: Cheer up, my fellow Taiwanese! China is nothing to be afraid of.
The conference was organized by a well-known non-governmental organization, the Garden of Hope Foundation, and sponsored by the Ministry of the Interior’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Committee. Chinese and Hong Kong elites were invited to share their experiences on the subject.
Originally, I had great expectations for their presentations when I came to Taipei. After the presentations and exchange of opinions, I believe that, despite China’s sudden wealth after becoming a world factory in recent years, Taiwan’s potential strength far surpasses China’s.
Here are three examples:
Scientific Training
First, scientific training in Taiwan is solid.
China does have outstanding talent at the top of the pyramid, thanks to its huge population, but its scientific training is far less widespread than in Taiwan. The academic papers published by Chinese academics are mostly long articles filled with cliches and they lack an academic framework.
However, Taiwanese have a sophisticated and strict scientific approach to scholastics and their methodology, while such training still is insufficient in China.
Legal System
Second, Taiwan’s legal system is complete.
Taiwan has passed the test of democracy and the rule of law, and although it is not perfect in all areas, the laws are detailed and accurate, the government system is in order and people’s legal understanding is sufficient.
In China, however, the legal framework and concepts still need time to develop, something that hardly will take place overnight.
Sensitivities
Third, Taiwan’s cultural sensitivities are excellent.
The island has been subject to Dutch and Japanese colonial rule, US aid and the relocation of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) government. So many foreign powers have plowed this land. Influenced by such cultural diversity, Taiwan has developed a unique culture.
This social strength and vitality is the nation’s specific advantages. Culture, which can be called a deep-lying soft power, is likely to be a core competitive arena on the world’s stage in the near future. However, in China, it is unlikely to take shape in the short term, despite the fact that some Chinese people are becoming rich.
Path To Victory
As the Chinese saying goes: “Knowing both one’s own and the enemy’s strength is a sure way to victory.”
Before I began to closely observe the performance of the Chinese elite in person, I felt pressured, as if I were dealing with a giant. However, after comparing the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, I am more aware of Taiwan’s greatest advantages and strengths. I hope I can spread this awareness to all Taiwanese.
Hsu Su-jean is the director of National Cheng Kung University Hospital’s Department of Social Work.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
China’s supreme objective in a war across the Taiwan Strait is to incorporate Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic. It follows, therefore, that international recognition of Taiwan’s de jure independence is a consummation that China’s leaders devoutly wish to avoid. By the same token, an American strategy to deny China that objective would complicate Beijing’s calculus and deter large-scale hostilities. For decades, China has cautioned “independence means war.” The opposite is also true: “war means independence.” A comprehensive strategy of denial would guarantee an outcome of de jure independence for Taiwan in the event of Chinese invasion or
A recent Taipei Times editorial (“A targeted bilingual policy,” March 12, page 8) questioned how the Ministry of Education can justify spending NT$151 million (US$4.74 million) when the spotlighted achievements are English speech competitions and campus tours. It is a fair question, but it focuses on the wrong issue. The problem is not last year’s outcomes failing to meet the bilingual education vision; the issue is that the ministry has abandoned the program that originally justified such a large expenditure. In the early years of Bilingual 2030, the ministry’s K-12 Administration promoted the Bilingual Instruction in Select Domains Program (部分領域課程雙語教學實施計畫).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) earlier this month said it is necessary for her to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and it would be a “huge boost” to the party’s local election results in November, but many KMT members have expressed different opinions, indicating a struggle between different groups in the party. Since Cheng was elected as party chairwoman in October last year, she has repeatedly expressed support for increased exchanges with China, saying that it would bring peace and prosperity to Taiwan, and that a meeting with Xi in Beijing takes priority over meeting
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman for maritime affairs Rogelio Villanueva on Monday said that Manila’s claims in the South China Sea are backed by international law. Villanueva was responding to a social media post by the Chinese embassy alleging that a former Philippine ambassador in 1990 had written a letter to a German radio operator stating that the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) did not fall within Manila’s territory. “Sovereignty is not merely claimed, it is exercised,” Villanueva said. The Philippines won a landmark case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 that found China’s sweeping claim of sovereignty in
RSS