Eight years have already gone by since my return to Taiwan in January 1994. During these eight years, this land has gone through various changes, often leaving a deep impression on me. The gradual development of democratic politics in Taiwan, the transformation and coming of age of Academia Sinica, the care and concern shown by the Taiwanese people after the earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999 have, over and over again, impressed me with the dynamic diversity and vitality of Taiwan.
On the other hand, the inability to successfully initiate cross-strait talks so important to the future of Taiwan, the lack of improvement in civic awareness in Taiwan, some people being too intent on quick successes and instant benefits caused by global transformation: all these are somewhat regrettable.
In the beginning of a new year, people often like to put posters with auspicious words above their doors saying "Everything starts anew." I would also like to take this opportunity to put forward some hopes and expectations that I hope the people of this land will encourage each other to work on.
ILLUSTRATION: MOUNTAIN PEOPLE
I hope that this new year will bring not only new clothes, new hopes, a new Cabinet, and a new situation, but also more composure, more openness and more rational attitudes.
As far as I can remember, there have been elections almost once a year during the past few years. These elections always bring with them conflicts and confrontations, but luckily enough, these conflicts and confrontations often subside before too long.
Irrational thinking
The general public also no longer tolerates political infighting. I have also noticed, however, that discussions about issues such as the use of China's Pinyin system, the "no haste, be patient" policy, the "1992 consensus," and the acceptance of Chinese academic degrees by Taiwan not only continue unabated, but along the way many people also seem to have lost their ability to think rationally and to analyze the diverse aspects of the issues in detail.
They often willfully or arbitrarily turn complex issues into simple two-sided ones, and simplify or tag a label to the opinions of others, thus deepening dissent and prolonging the stand-off. This kind of polarization may be helpful to disseminating one's own private views, but it diminishes the space for rational discourse in society and stifles the chances of developing one's own ideas and new breakthroughs, and is really very unintelligent.
I am going to use the proposed establishment of eight-inch wafer foundries in China by Taiwanese companies as an example, and talk a bit about my feelings concerning the issue. I think that most Taiwanese will agree that the future political direction of Taiwan must respect the wishes of 23 million people. We must be masters of our own fate, and naturally do not want the fate of our lives to be decided by someone else. Even though we have this consensus, many people still have different interpretations of whether eight-inch wafer investments in China are beneficial to the future development of Taiwan. My view on the issue lies very close to that of Morris Chang (張忠謀), chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
Many of my business friends have told me that eight-inch wafer technology is not unique to Taiwan, and that if Taiwanese companies don't go to China, then companies from other countries are sure to do so. TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) both have superior quality controls, and if they can compete with companies from other countries on the same salary and land-lease conditions, it is very possible that they will become the market-leading manufacturers in China.
If they can maintain the price structure of the eight-inch wafer market they will also cause Taiwanese chip companies to maintain the full advantage of the wafer product line, and will have an even greater opportunity to absorb the majority of orders on the Chinese market.
Given the number of Taiwanese people on such a small land area, our national security is less dependent on military matters than on economic. If we wish to maintain our competitive advantage, I'm afraid we cannot afford to discard any opportunities to aggressively improve our situation.
Such are the considerations on which TSMC bases its investments in China. Therefore, on the premise of efficiently managing the total investment amount and technical aspects, the direction of TSMC's interests and Taiwan's economic or national security interests coincide to a large extent.
Even though I personally agree with the previous view and analysis, I, like most other people, don't have a complete understanding of the issue and cannot guarantee that my view is correct. This is also why I often listen to other people's opinions about eight-inch wafer foundry investment in China.
Their opinions may not be exactly the same as mine, but they all understand that I absolutely will not arbitrarily simplify dissenting opinions into becoming two-sided issues of localization/anti-localization or caring/not caring for Taiwan.
Our knowledge will only increase if we can stick to the issue and maintain a rational dialogue. It's regrettable that there is always a minority of people in Taiwan that routinely label dissenting opinions extreme, thus not only intensifying mutual opposition, but also shrinking the space left in society for rational dialogue. The conflict over the investment in eight-inch wafer foundries in China should not be simplified into a two-sided issue concerning only the private profits of businessmen and national security. What should be explored is how the situation needs to be to bring advantages for everyone.
Common goals
Thanks to the efforts of previous generations, the people of Taiwan have over the past few decades gradually been able to experience the value of freedom and democracy. The goals of previous generations in fighting to bring about democracy and freedom were, of course, to guarantee the freedom of speech of people with opinions different from themselves. After their efforts to abolish authoritarian rule, they of course did not want to replace it with their own authoritarianism. Several decades ago, many professors, scholars and people from the general public shed their blood to forcefully break the dogma that national freedom is superior to individual freedom. Today, we should of course not apply the same kind of faulty logic to a different situation.
What I most of all hope to see in this new year is the coming of age of the people of Taiwan to to reason rationally. The premise for rational reasoning is respect and tolerance. As long as all of us are ready to accept each other, there will naturally be ample space for rational reasoning. Respect and tolerance are not only attitudes that every Taiwanese should learn to adopt, they should also be the moral culture of politicians and other public personalities. In a mature democratic society, politicians may have more power and get more exposure, and therefore their behavior should be even more closely examined.
If the people of Taiwan want to become the masters of their own fate they not only have to exert even greater effort in international politics, but also have to cultivate stronger democratic awareness in domestic life.
This is my hope for the new year.
Lee Yuan-tseh (
Translated by Perry Svensson
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