Electronics, information and communications products are the pillars of the nation’s exports, accounting for about half of outbound shipments, but sales data released by key manufacturers and last week’s foreign-trade figures point to a cooling technology cycle, with US-China trade tensions having weighed on the value and volume of exports late last year.
To make matters worse, Apple Inc on Jan. 2 cut its revenue forecast for the year-end holiday quarter due to China’s economic slowdown. The revision was Apple’s first profit warning since 2002 and raised concerns about the continued longevity of its record-breaking run, as well as the business outlook for its suppliers in Asia, many of whom are in Taiwan.
Like those of other Asian economies, Taiwan’s export performance is bound to be negatively affected by developments in the global economy. Weakening global demand, changes in the electronics cycle and the slowing Chinese economy could lead to lower outbound shipments.
Whether Taiwan can be more resilient in the face of global economic changes than neighboring countries, whether it can bounce back faster once global growth picks up and whether the Cabinet reshuffle can prepare a way through the challenges ahead are the chief questions.
The Cabinet reshuffle President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Friday sees Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津), Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮), Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) remain in their posts, after former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), who is to be sworn in as the new premier today, urged them to stay and continue improving the local investment environment and economy, local media reported.
The government, whether with the Democratic Progressive Party or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) at its helm, has long had a bad record of personnel changes, often swapping officials too quickly, which has weakened the government’s credibility and led to inconsistent policymaking.
That the top four economics and finance officials are staying is a sign that Tsai’s administration wants to formulate consistent and stable policies, reassure the business community and restore public confidence.
Nevertheless, Shen, Su Jain-rong, Koo and Chen are likely to run into more challenges than before: increasing domestic demand in the face of strong external headwinds in the short term; assisting low-income earners and small businesses during the economic slowdown; regulating the repatriation of offshore capital while curbing property market speculation; amending laws to ensure that the allocation of resources to local governments is fair; smoothing the nation’s transition to green energy while respecting the Nov. 24 referendum results; and gaining membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Experienced ministers will help Su familiarize himself with key economic and financial issues, while alleviating uncertainty through consistent policy development and execution, but the new Cabinet still needs to adopt a pragmatic approach to solving the nation’s thorny economic issues. It will soon become clear whether Su is up to the task this time.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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