I was once invited by the New York-based Gheelan Association of USA to give an after-dinner speech. During the dinner, a member asked me what I thought of then-premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) “constitutional one China” idea.
I replied with my own question: What does “constitutional one China” mean?
This was met with laughter from some of the people around the table. They thought it odd that they possessed a fuller grasp of Taiwanese current affairs than a Taiwanese living in Taiwan.
Many expat Taiwanese entrepreneurs and businesspeople take a deep interest in the future of their mother country and the association is just such an organization.
Hsieh was attempting to break the ice and start a relationship with Beijing.
However, because his proposal of a “constitutional one China” ran contrary to then-president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) policy of “one country on each side” of the Taiwan Strait, it was not long before he was forced to step down.
Many Taiwanese academics have furthered their careers overseas and achieved significant accomplishments in the international academic community.
They take a keen interest in their native land, and many are willing to sacrifice the superior academic environment of the US to return to Taiwan to devote themselves to burnishing Taiwan’s academic credentials.
Nobel Prize-winning chemist Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) is a good example of this. With the prize under his belt, Lee could have stayed in the US to continue his research and lead a comfortable life. Instead, he gave up his US nationality for the sake of his native country and took the role of president of Academia Sinica.
During the 12 years that Lee was at the helm from 1994 to 2006, he persuaded first-rate foreign-born and overseas Taiwanese academics to return to continue their research.
This list includes viral disease specialist and Academia Sinica researcher Michael Lai (賴明詔), Academia Sinica Institute of Physics research fellow Tsong Tien-tzou (鄭天佐), former Academia Sinica vice president Sunney Chan (陳長謙), anthropologist Chang Kwang-chih (張光直) and many others.
Lai has said that the experience of defeating SARS was a key turning point that encouraged him to return to Taiwan.
Today, Taiwan’s approach to defeating COVID-19 has turned it into a model for public health policy in the international scientific community.
Indeed, many Taiwanese academics returned home to help fight the virus.
Over the past three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan’s successes in combating the virus have elevated the nation’s status in the international academic community. Taiwanese scientists such as Lai have made vital contributions to the global pandemic response.
Today, the nation faces challenges and existential threats. Taiwan’s survival depends on the combined efforts of Taiwanese at home and abroad.
Taiwanese who have not lived abroad should thank the selfless actions of the many academics and scientists who returned home to give back to their nation.
Paul Li is a research fellow at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Edward Jones
KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) recent visit to Beijing and her upcoming visit to Washington will serve as a high-level test of her diplomatic mettle. In Beijing, Cheng was received with symbolic gestures, a warm reception, and high-level access. In Washington, she will receive far less pomp and far sharper questions about the KMT’s vision for the future of Taiwan. Her challenge will be to persuade Washington that the KMT’s engagement with China can coexist with strong deterrence. Cheng’s April 7-12 visit to mainland China coincided with an intense period of conflict in Iran. Despite the strategic significance of Cheng’s trip,
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent the vast Asian chemicals industry into a tailspin. Deprived of the likes of Qatari natural gas and Saudi Arabian oil, the region’s fertilizer and plastics plants are slowing production or even shutting down. Everywhere except China, that is. In petrochemicals, China is unique. As well as a traditional industry that uses oil and gas as feedstock, it has parallel output that relies on its abundant domestic coal. Unsurprisingly, India and other regional powers want to copy and paste the Chinese method. This would not be easy — or climate friendly. The
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto says he knows how to fix the problems facing Indonesia. Yet his economic mismanagement and authoritarian tendencies are steering the nation toward a familiar mix of currency instability and political chaos. The world’s fourth-most populous nation risks reversing the hard-won democratic and business reforms that came after the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. At that time, the rupiah collapsed and the political upheaval that followed forced former president Haji Mohamed Suharto from power. Prabowo’s administration is ignoring similar warning signs. That disconnect was apparent in a national address on Wednesday, when Prabowo projected the swagger that has
“Of course you can choose not to be Taiwanese, just do not stay here,” chairwoman of Taipei 101 operator Taipei Financial Center Corp Janet Chia (賈永婕) said in an online interview with local entertainer Tai Chih-yuan (邰智源), triggering intense discussion on social media, with politicians across party lines weighing in. In the interview, which was aired on May 14, Chia and Tai’s discussion over a meal in Taipei 101 covered Chia’s career change from entertainer to chairwoman and US climber Alex Honnold’s free solo climb up the Taipei 101 building. During the interview, Chia said, “Being on this land, we
RSS