India celebrated its 75th Republic Day on Friday, an anniversary that marks India’s transition from a dominion of Britain to a full republic in 1950 after attaining independence on Aug. 15, 1947.
On Republic Day, India confers civilian honors on select people for public service. It conferred its third-highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan, to Foxconn chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉). Last year in a meeting, Young told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Taiwan would be among India’s most trusted partners.
In its congratulatory message to the chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Technology Group, known internationally as Foxconn, the India Taipei Association said the Padma Bhushan award in the field of trade and industry is a testament to Foxconn’s success in India. Foxconn is critical to India’s emergence as an electronics manufacturing hub and as a part of growing electronics supply chains.
Liu is the first Taiwanese to receive the award, and it symbolizes India’s pursuit of a semiconductor supply chain in which Liu’s vision and Foxconn’s participation are critical. The award recognizes Liu for his efforts in enhancing development and industrial growth, and validates India’s economic engagement with Taiwan, provided that it understands India’s needs and engages in good faith.
India’s Padma awards started in 1954. Annually announced on Republic Day, they are awarded at a special investiture by the Indian president each spring. The Padma Bhushan signifies distinguished service and among the awarded categories is the field of trade and industry.
French President Emmanuel Macron was the chief guest at the 75th Republic Day and the list of foreign awards recipients includes many French people, but the highest award conferred on a foreigner went to Liu. Other earlier foreign award recipients include former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers, Danish engineer Henning Holck-Larsen of the major Indian engineering firm Larsen and Toubro, Indian-American former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Suzuki Motor Corp chairman emeritus Osamu Suzuki.
The expansion of the India-Taiwan economic partnership, with enhanced trade, more foreign direct investment and business delegations, has been catalyzed by Foxconn’s engagement undertaken by Liu.
Taipei-based Indian commentator Sana Hashmi wrote on X that through its 30 factories employing 40,000 people in India, Foxconn’s turnover of US$10 billion was just less than 5 percent of its global revenue in 2022. Foxconn has well utilized Indian incentives through India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to attract investments in key sectors and cutting-edge technology, and exponentially increased Indian exports. Foxconn might be the best example of a company utilizing the PLI.
India’s view after Taiwan’s elections this year is that it would continue its India policy of the past eight years, and that the Democratic Progressive Party government would boost relations with India. With its semiconductor prowess, Taiwan holds the potential to create manufacturing supply chains in India. Bilateral trade grew from US$1.19 billion in 2001 to US$8.45 billion in 2022. There are more than 250 Taiwanese companies in India. They invested a combined US$4 billion in the country. Taiwanese companies de-risking from China could benefit India through more foreign direct investment.
This award is not a sign of disrespect toward Beijing. It recognizes Liu and his contribution, and shows that India is not hesitant to acknowledge the importance of economic partnership with Taiwanese companies.
Gurjit Singh is a former Indian ambassador to Germany, Indonesia, ASEAN, Ethiopia and the African Union.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS