Taiwanese have every right to feel good about themselves; they should not listen to naysayers who would dent their confidence and make them doubt themselves.
Last week, Tainan-born Lisa Su (蘇姿豐), president and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), was appointed chair of the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s board of directors.
Since joining AMD in 2012, Su has completely restructured it and developed new product lines, gradually turning the firm’s fortunes around. She was promoted to chief executive officer in 2014 and this year, under her stewardship, the company has returned to quarterly profits.
AMD has become a serious challenger to established chip manufacturer Intel.
Su also happens to be a close relative of Tainan-born Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), the cofounder and chief executive of graphics processing unit designer Nvidia.
Taiwanese have good reason to be proud. Tainan and Kaohsiung have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and the Discovery Channel, which lauded them as beautiful, advanced cities.
Since September, China has found itself embroiled in a trade war initiated by US President Donald Trump and has found its GDP and economy hit as a result, with the country facing a looming financial crisis.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has even begun cozying up to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom he previously seemed to have little but contempt for, all of a sudden trying to improve relations with Japan.
Those who spend all their time praising China might want to get involved in that particular economic maelstrom.
However, Taiwanese do not have to enter that potentially bottomless abyss.
Of course, none of this is to say that there are not things that can be done to improve Taiwan, to make things better for future generations.
Still, Taiwanese should feel good about themselves. Taiwan is still an emerging nation and we have many advantages on the global stage and in the business environment.
They should take things gradually and together move toward a better future.
Mike Chang is an accountant.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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