Before last year, Taiwan was unable to participate in international affairs due to strong Chinese opposition and suppression; the nation was marginalized in the international community and received little attention.
However, by developing a niche in high-tech manufacturing, Taiwan has transformed itself into a “silicon island” that has in the past few years begun to play a decisive role in the world.
Today, countries are one after the other placing orders with Taiwanese manufacturers or making investments in the nation, as it has become one of their most valued partners.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first broke out in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, Taiwan was expected to become one of the most seriously affected countries due to its frequent interactions with China. World health experts were taken by surprise by Taiwan’s deft handling of the outbreak.
Having previously experienced a SARS outbreak, Taiwanese not only faced the COVID-19 pandemic with a high level of crisis awareness, but also showed their law-abiding nature and ethical spirit by strictly following the government’s disease prevention measures.
Taiwan has set an example for global disease prevention in the fight against COVID-19.
A group of countries, led by the US, are trying to reconstruct the world’s economic and security order. As an international focal point, Taiwan is likely to attract additional investments from domestic and overseas businesses, as more enterprises withdraw from China.
Given these circumstances, the demand for high-tech talent and factory workers is certain to increase.
With a greater number of Taiwanese pursuing higher education and the nation experiencing a declining birthrate, the nation is struggling to meet increased demand for high-tech talent and factory workers. It will become necessary to import workers from around the world to live and work in Taiwan.
Based on my more than 30 years of experience in the tech industry, President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration should learn from the US’ green cards — officially known as permanent resident cards — by issuing “Taiwanese green cards” to professionals and skilled migrant workers willing to work in Taiwan.
After acquiring their green cards, they should be allowed to reside in the nation for an extended period, without having the length of their stay restricted, and their dependents should be allowed to come and live with them, once their applications have been approved by the government.
A Taiwanese green card would allow the nation to satisfy increased demand for labor in the tech industry, improve its overall economic competitiveness, reduce issues arising from an extremely low birthrate and stabilize society, while also increasing consumption, which would boost the economy.
Taiwanese green cards would also serve as proof that the cardholders are eligible to live and work in the nation, and all holders should be allowed to enjoy social welfare, subject to government approval.
However, this would not guarantee that the workers and their dependents would automatically be eligible to acquire national identification cards.
As the Chinese threat against Taiwan remains high, the government should prioritize national security and set a high threshold for eligibility for a national identification card, stringently reviewing all applicants.
Lin Chin-kuo is business manager of a technology company.
Translated by Eddy Chang
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has over the past few months continued to escalate its hegemonic rhetoric and increase its incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. The US, in turn, has finally realized how its “strategic ambiguity” is increasingly wearing thin. Similarly, any hopes the US had that the PRC would be a responsible stakeholder and economic player have diminished, if not been abandoned. Taiwan, of course, remains as the same de facto independent, democratic nation that the PRC covets. As a result, the US needs to reconsider not only the amount, but also the type of arms
Taking advantage of my Taipei Times editors’ forbearance, I thought I would go with a change of pace by offering a few observations on an interesting nature topic, the many varieties of snakes in Taiwan. I will be drawing on my experiences living in Taiwan five times, from my teenage years in Kaohsiung back in the early sixties, to my last assignment as American Institute in Taiwan Director in 2006-9. Taiwan, with its semitropical climate, is a perfect setting for serpents. Indeed, one might say serpents are an integral part of the island’s ecosystem. Taiwan is warm, humid, with lots of
China constantly seeks out ways to complain about perceived slights and provocations as pretexts for its own aggressive behavior. It is both victimization paranoia and a form of information warfare that keeps the West on the defensive. True to form, China objected even to the innocuous reference to Taiwan at April 16’s summit meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Neither leader’s prepared remarks even mentioned Taiwan, out of deference to the Japanese side. Biden’s opening statement was modest: “Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our ironclad support for US-Japanese alliance and for our shared security.
Determined to keep a permanent grip on power, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has abandoned former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s (鄧小平) dogma of “hiding our capacities and biding our time” along with the “peaceful development” line that prevailed under former Chinese presidents Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and Hu Jintao (胡錦濤). Instead, he is treading a “wolf warrior” path of diplomacy that resorts to coercion, debt entrapment and hostage-taking. Externally, Xi’s China has claimed that it would never seek hegemony, yet it challenges the free, rules-based international order wherever it can. While insisting that it will not export its ideology, it has
RSS