Politics in Taiwan has surrendered to big, bad business. Officials, from the central government — the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Council of Agriculture, the Financial Supervisory Commission and state-owned banks — all the way down to the level of local government, such as the Pingtung County government, seem to be lining up to kowtow to big business. People with no right to do so have unduly influenced the government and banks, with some even having the ear of the very highest office.
The nation has seen the result of public servants and state-owned banks groveling at the feet of unscrupulous businesspeople.
A certain firm has been able to poison Taiwanese with tainted oils and reap huge profits in the process, while raising cash through Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR) — a little “open secret” between government and business — which it then used as financial leverage to secure loans of close to NT$50 billion (US$1.633 billion) to be used for real-estate speculation.
After years of government protection, it was impossible to keep the tainted oil secret under wraps any longer. The public was incensed, and there were calls for the offender, Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團), to be “shut down.” This is when the company tried to sever its umbilical cord with Taiwan, claiming that the tainted oil was only sold by the Taiwanese part of the operation, in an effort to sacrifice the operation in Taiwan and protect its core business in China.
When politics surrenders to big business, religion becomes entangled in the mess. Religions used to warn believers against greed, malice and ignorance. Yet after the Ting Hsin tainted oil story broke, one religious leader, who had previously been very much engaged with the world by offering spiritual services to those in need, was inexplicably silent on the issue, as if she had suddenly withdrawn from the mundane world. That sparked an epiphany: Even religion is capable of giving differential treatment when it comes to love, compassion and its own teachings. Regardless of whether there was malicious intent, or where the money comes from, the bigger the donation, the more religious indulgences you are entitled to, and even though religion treats everyone equally, big donors get treated more equally than ordinary people.
Now that politics has surrendered to dubious businesspeople, it is difficult not to look back with fondness to the days of Taiwan under former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). The political elite in the past achieved momentous things for this nation, completing a range of major public works, creating Taiwan’s economic miracle and founding a global leader in its field, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which was bankrolled with a loan from the Bank of Communications (交通銀行). Not only did the founding of TSMC create job opportunities and increase the rate of economic growth, the company established itself as a global leader in semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Megabank was formed from the merger of the International Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, and so in a sense can claim to be the successor of the latter’s legacy. However, this new incarnation has distorted what the Bank of Communications stood for — building a better Taiwan — and it has attracted rather dubious elements to return to Taiwan. When they do, they suck up money and, instead of investing it into the nation, use it for property speculation, pushing up real-estate prices and squeezing young people out of the market. Then they go on to buy shares in Taiwan’s tallest building and most famous landmark through double-financing.
All of a sudden it becomes clear why politicians in this nation have, in previous elections, been so anxious to exploit the divisive provincial complex that is behind tensions between Mainlanders and Taiwanese. We are so very indebted to their contribution now that our children and grandchildren are to be hit with the double whammy of stagnating salaries and rising property prices.
However, when politics surrenders to big business, we can also see the character shown when institutions such as National Cheng Chih University and National Taiwan University cut off scholarships that come from dubious sources, especially when state finances are in such bad shape, educational subsidies for national universities are being cut and university campus offices find it difficult to make ends meet.
It makes us have all the more respect for these two universities, compared with the religious institution referred to above. And it is for this reason alone that I remain committed to my vocation in education.
Most heartening of all is that, when the political capitulation to business interests has harmed public health, people’s ability to put a roof over their heads and civic awareness, Taiwanese have finally said enough is enough, and the whole nation — regardless of political affiliation — has come together in condemnation of Ting Hsin and its questionable practices.
This unprecedented wave of feeling against unscrupulous businesses has broken up the edifice of collusion between corrupt politicians and businesspeople, and people have come to understand that things do not have to be like this, that people do not have to put up with dawdling politicians or incompetent government officials.
These things are temporary, while Taiwan’s land, sovereignty and public health will last through them all. Politicians will only be alerted to the situation and repent when people with civic awareness issue a call for justice to be done, and only then will our children’s inheritance — this beautiful island of ours — be assured.
Lin Tso-yu is a professor of land economics at National Chengchi University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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