What's gotten into the KMT? To settle a five-week-old dispute over the Legislative Yuan's Finance Committee, it gave up control of the lawmaking body's automatic teller machine to a bunch of DPP and New Party puritans who wouldn't know what to do with an NT$5 million hung bao if it was slapped in their face. Proof that the apocalypse is upon us, or what?
Or maybe it's just the forces of democratic politics and market-oriented economics working their magic stronger than usual in the corridors of power in Taiwan.
As in most cases of apparent breakthroughs in politico-economic deadlocks among Taiwan's decision-makers, the answer is hard to come by so soon after the event. We'll have to wait and see what the new finance committee does. But it looks promising. There are now some good, principled, capable people on that committee who will be able to influence the course of financial-sector reform over the remainder of the legislature's current session. Here's hoping they're able to fend off the intense pressure that's sure to come from some of their colleagues, not to mention their colleagues' brothers and fathers.
Actually, it's been a pretty good week for The Reformers. Taiwan Fertilizer was given a new board of directors to replace the bunch that had been using (formerly, ha! ha!) state assets to gamble with the company's stock price. The Telecoms Law was finally passed, which allows foreign telecoms firms to take a majority share in their joint ventures. Mobile-banking services were approved by the Ministry of Finance, which should shake up the banking industry. And last, but not least, reports indicated that Taiwan's monopolistic insurance giants are facing a bleak future with the imminent liberalization of the industry.
How did all this happen so quickly? It's obvious: market-oriented economics and democratic politics -- the twin pillars on which this nation's post-war development has been built. Why else do you suppose Taiwan's troubles seem so insignificant compared with the rest of Asia's at present? Because it's still sticking to the model better than anyone else.
Okay, so at a push, South Korea comes close in comparison. Popularly elected Kim Dae Jung appears to be doing the kind of job that Chen Shui-bian (3?糮? dreams of: breaking up cartels and settling scores with a bunch of horridly corrupt business titans. But would you want to be in South Korea now that its economy looks so wobbly again?
I thought not. Not when you get to sit here in Taiwan, flipping through more than 100 cable TV channels, a third of which are broadcasting images of legislators kissing and making up after the whips of the KMT and DPP legislative caucuses had literally duked it out for control of the finance committee's seats. Although Elmer Feng (
If that's not enough proof for you of just how quickly Taiwan's democracy is maturing (the fact that Elmer wasn't beaten to death on the way home the night before), then you could easily have read one of a dozen national daily newspapers over the past week, each filled with sensational "insider" news about the Taiwan Fertilizer scandal. What they would have told you was that, political intrigue aside, the ultimate reason for the sacking of the company's chairman was that he broke the law.
Sure, Hsieh Sheng-fu (
Yes, lots of other companies do this. But Taiwan Fertilizer was not just any company. It was supposed to set an example for the rest of the state-owned companies that plan to privatize within the next few months and years. Hsieh met his fate because he asked for it by thumbing his nose at the people in government who are serious about privatizing Taiwan's massive state-owned sector.
Admittedly, it's hard to follow the same line of thought for the banking and insurance markets, for they are more resistant to political interference these days. But that doesn't mean they are any more protected from the winds of change. International forces of liberalization have long been chipping away at these two markets, with pressure steadily building on the government to keep pace with the world or see Taiwan's financial institutions wither in competitiveness.
Indeed, it didn't need too much political courage for the Ministry of Finance to approve mobile banking services in Taiwan. Singapore and Hong Kong are already a step ahead. And likewise, reports that Taiwan's top insurers have been rapidly losing market share to foreigners and more progressive local firms should come as no surprise. Cathay Life and Shinkong could hardly expect less, considering how well-protected from foreign competition they have been over the past decade or so.
Still, it does all add up. These are the gains to be reaped from building an economy on market-oriented principles. And each one of these developments augurs well for Taiwan's future.
Now if only I could get decent Internet access at home. Maybe I'll ask my neighborhood chief to do something about it. Then again, maybe I'll just wait for the effects of the Telecoms Law to kick in.
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