The government has recently reinforced its ban on job banks helping companies to recruit Taiwanese staff to work in China and told them to delete any such vacancies from their listings.
From the short-term national security perspective, I completely support the ban, given the close connection between talent flow and national security.
However, this ban can only cure the symptom. The only way to cure the cause is to think harder about why talented Taiwanese can be poached by China.
People can accuse China of twisting the arms of Taiwanese with crude offers of big money.
However, on the other hand, why are Chinese companies willing to pay salaries at least twice as high as their Taiwanese competitors for the same employees, while Taiwanese firms think they pay their employees too much?
A friend of mine told me something about his experience of negotiating salaries with Taiwanese and Chinese companies. In summary, although China does have a tendency to grab employees by offering high salaries, this is aimed not only at Taiwanese, but to grab talent from around the world.
In contrast, when Taiwanese companies talk about salaries, they often start by saying: “You know, the situation here in Taiwan is a bit different from China, so salaries here can hardly compare with over there.”
The salaries they offer are usually less than half of those in China, or even only one-third. How, then, can Taiwan expect to retain talent, let alone attract talent from all over the world?
The problem is clearly a matter of salaries. According to news reports, most of the vacancies deleted from job bank listings were in preschool education.
This shows that the outflow of talent from Taiwan does not only affect the technology sector.
Brain drain is an unfortunate result of Taiwan’s long-standing practice of keeping salaries low. Talented people might go over to China, or they might go off to Japan, South Korea, the US or Europe.
This is a long-term national security problem, and the solution is definitely not to restrict the publication of recruitment ads.
When salary earners feel that their talent is out of proportion to their salary, this discrepancy becomes a loophole through which China can influence Taiwan’s national security.
Yang Li-jing is a freelancer.
Translated by Julian Clegg
In a summer of intense political maneuvering, Taiwanese, whose democratic vibrancy is a constant rebuke to Beijing’s authoritarianism, delivered a powerful verdict not on China, but on their own political leaders. Two high-profile recall campaigns, driven by the ruling party against its opposition, collapsed in failure. It was a clear signal that after months of bitter confrontation, the Taiwanese public is demanding a shift from perpetual campaign mode to the hard work of governing. For Washington and other world capitals, this is more than a distant political drama. The stability of Taiwan is vital, as it serves as a key player
Yesterday’s recall and referendum votes garnered mixed results for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). All seven of the KMT lawmakers up for a recall survived the vote, and by a convincing margin of, on average, 35 percent agreeing versus 65 percent disagreeing. However, the referendum sponsored by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on restarting the operation of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County failed. Despite three times more “yes” votes than “no,” voter turnout fell short of the threshold. The nation needs energy stability, especially with the complex international security situation and significant challenges regarding
Much like the first round on July 26, Saturday’s second wave of recall elections — this time targeting seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers — also failed. With all 31 KMT legislators who faced recall this summer secure in their posts, the mass recall campaign has come to an end. The outcome was unsurprising. Last month’s across-the-board defeats had already dealt a heavy blow to the morale of recall advocates and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while bolstering the confidence of the KMT and its ally the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). It seemed a foregone conclusion that recalls would falter, as
The fallout from the mass recalls and the referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant continues to monopolize the news. The general consensus is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been bloodied and found wanting, and is in need of reflection and a course correction if it is to avoid electoral defeat. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not emerged unscathed, either, but has the opportunity of making a relatively clean break. That depends on who the party on Oct. 18 picks to replace outgoing KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫). What is certain is that, with the dust settling
RSS