With the end of the Lunar New Year holidays, government organizations and private companies have all gone back to work with new hopes for the future. For both the nation and individual members of the public, this is a new start, full of hope and tough challenges. We hope this year can be better than the last.
The challenge will be to create better conditions this year than last year. These conditions are of two types — conditions for the nation as a whole and conditions for individuals. The direction of the overall conditions will influence the conditions for individuals, and the government’s job will lie in flexibly using policy tools to control variables in the overall environment as well as providing each individual with support and opportunities to develop.
If the government can fulfill these responsibilities and roles, it will become a driving force for development and Taiwanese industry will benefit. If, however, the government fails to set the correct goals and even becomes an impediment because of bad decisions, Taiwan will be dragged down and find it hard to escape stagnation and internal strife. Therefore, the big issue is government leadership, and on this front, skill and an overall direction are key.
If we analyze our government from this perspective, before the Lunar New Year, one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) confidants said: “All problems get back to economic issues.”
This implies that by gaining control of economic indicators, all problems can be solved. During the Lunar New Year holiday, Ma traveled around Taiwan handing out red envelopes to people, and he never strayed from this stance.
Ma stated this year’s policy goals clearly when he said: “The government still needs to work hard to ensure that our citizens can make big money.”
Basically, Ma said all Taiwan’s problems boil down to economic issues. Then he narrowed the meaning of economic issues to “make money.” He does this for one populist reason: to cater to the short-term wants of people to gain what political hacks want most — votes.
We need to give the government a bit of advice: “It’s not the economy, stupid! It’s leadership!”
So why aren’t Taiwan’s current problems purely economic in nature? If we look at the “political achievements” Ma kept telling everyone about during the Lunar New Year holiday, Taiwan’s GDP growth rate last year was almost 10 percent, GNP per capita reached almost US$20,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 4.67 percent as of December.
We have to admit that these are some impressive statistics. Now, if Ma had done such a good job, his reelection should be a foregone conclusion. So why, then, did he feel it necessary to travel around Taiwan to meet voters throughout the holiday?
When a nation’s leader tells everyone about “making big money,” we cannot help but feel Taiwan is being pulled back more than two decades to the times when the cover of a US magazine referred to Taiwan as “Greedy Island.” When did we have this ugly image applied to us again? One in which all we care about is making money and nothing else. We must ask ourselves whether things are improving or deteriorating.
Focusing on such shallow -matters in the midst of the Republic of China’s (ROC)100th anniversary is a sign of moral decay and this is a very sad state of affairs. The level of Ma’s understanding is lagging far behind the understanding of the average Taiwanese. Ma is holding everyone back, so how can he talk about leadership?
Ma’s leadership has no clear direction and he lacks the capabilities required in a good leader. After three years of his government, Taiwan’s international status, the quality of our national politics, the economic direction, social safety and national self-confidence have all shown huge warning signs. On the eve of Lunar New Year, 14 Taiwanese involved in a transnational telephone fraud ring were deported from the Philippines to China for trial. This made it clear that the “one China” consensus between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ceded Taiwan’s sovereignty. The Philippine government has since said it was confused by the Ma administration’s protests, which is ironic.
No wonder the Philippine government is confused. According to Ma’s logic, “Taiwan is a part of China,” so why would Taiwan want to fight for jurisdiction over “Chinese” criminals? Up until now, China has used the Lunar New Year holiday as an excuse to ignore all demands from Taiwan’s government to deport the Taiwanese in question to Taiwan. However, now that the New Year break has ended, the Ma administration has no more excuses and must give the public a clear explanation. The administration must realize that national sovereignty and the interests of the public must not be traded regardless of how much money is made.
Over the holidays, the Mainland Affairs Council made a special announcement that Taiwan had earned more than NT$91 billion (US$3.15 billion) in foreign exchange and business opportunities since allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. The timing of the announcement clearly shows how the government thinks Taiwan’s only hope lies in relying on China.
If we look at things from another perspective, we see that without China’s “investments,” the Ma government would look even worse. Is this why they feel it necessary to keep embarrassing themselves by sacrificing all the remaining respect Taiwan has as a nation?
The problem is, who earned those NT$91 billion? The same questions apply to the government’s China trade policies, as the trade benefits Ma keeps talking about do not trickle down to most Taiwanese, who are complete outsiders in Ma’s game. However, since Ma has such a high opinion of himself, he is totally oblivious to this.
More people will start to wake up to and begin to ask questions. For example, they will start asking themselves why Taiwanese have to be taken to China to stand trial. They will see the economic growth rate at 10 percent and will start asking why their salaries have not increased 10 percent. They will see the falling unemployment rate and ask why there has been such a huge increase in the number of young and able-bodied people who have become vagrants.
When people start asking these questions, the Ma government will find it increasingly difficult to hypnotize the public and they will have to start looking at the issue of leadership. If this problem is not thoroughly solved, Taiwan will never regain its national power.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.