In its six-year Challenge 2008 national development plan, the government states its objective of "fostering new ventures and encouraging innovation." The plan's main purpose is to grasp the core technologies of industrial development at the global level and maintain Taiwan's competitiveness in the face of fierce competition in the international market.
Enthusiasm for investment in China has led some of the nation's leaders to believe that Taiwan's economic potential lies in China. But to relax restraints on such investments before taking effective steps to safeguard the country's technological strengths and monitor the flow of capital will only further increase Taiwan's economic dependence on China. If the country loses its economic advantages, and with them the control that it currently exerts over its own economy, growing political dependence on China will seriously undermine Taiwan's security.
Many foreign scholars have warned that the "China fever" of Taiwanese investors has not diminished but increased. The lack of concern for national security that this seems to imply may well ultimately present Taiwan with the predicament of being economically dependent on China while striving for political independence from Beijing, placing the country unwittingly on the road to unification.
As for the solution to the delusions of those businesses that choose to migrate to China, the administration must adhere to the development concept of "global localization."
Taiwan should look to the high value-added sector by strengthening its companies' capacities for innovation, design, production and marketing, making Taiwan a strategic, global center for innovation and the production and distribution of high value-added products.
Because the nature of international market competition has changed, Taiwan must break away from traditional patterns of thinking and instead embrace an all-round mode of reasoning regarding industrial development. The accelerated pace of technological innovation has changed certain key factors of production, such as land and capital.
Taiwan has lost its competitive edge in terms of land and labor, but the nation's cumulative experience of innovation and technology remains instrumental to the maintenance of the nation's competitiveness. Taiwan should broaden the core of its industrial development and ensure that its industries become oriented towards innovativeness.
Chen Lung-chu is the current chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Translated by Grace Shaw
The first Donald Trump term was a boon for Taiwan. The administration regularized the arms sales process and enhanced bilateral ties. Taipei will not be so fortunate the second time around. Given recent events, Taiwan must proceed with the assumption that it cannot count on the United States to defend it — diplomatically or militarily — during the next four years. Early indications suggested otherwise. The nomination of Marco Rubio as US Secretary of State and the appointment of Mike Waltz as the national security advisor, both of whom have expressed full-throated support for Taiwan in the past, raised hopes that
Whether in terms of market commonality or resource similarity, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co is the biggest competitor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The two companies have agreed to set up factories in the US and are also recipients of subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by former US president Joe Biden. However, changes in the market competitiveness of the two companies clearly reveal the context behind TSMC’s investments in the US. As US semiconductor giant Intel Corp has faced continuous delays developing its advanced processes, the world’s two major wafer foundries, TSMC and
Authorities last week revoked the residency permit of a Chinese social media influencer surnamed Liu (劉), better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), who has more than 440,000 followers online and is living in Taiwan with a marriage-based residency permit, for her “reunification by force” comments. She was asked to leave the country in 10 days. The National Immigration Agency (NIA) on Tuesday last week announced the decision, citing the influencer’s several controversial public comments, including saying that “China does not need any other reason to reunify Taiwan with force” and “why is it [China] hesitant
We are witnessing a sea change in the government’s approach to China, from one of reasonable, low-key reluctance at rocking the boat to a collapse of pretense over and patience in Beijing’s willful intransigence. Finally, we are seeing a more common sense approach in the face of active shows of hostility from a foreign power. According to Article 2 of the 2020 Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), a “foreign hostile force” is defined as “countries, political entities or groups that are at war with or are engaged in a military standoff with the Republic of China [ROC]. The same stipulation applies to
RSS