Social and political polarization in Taiwan could be harmful to the country's economic growth, participants said at a Taipei conference yesterday, citing developments in other countries.
"It is clear that an increase in social polarization is harmful to economic growth and that political polarization is the source of social polarization," said Ying Yuan-hsian, a professor at National Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies for Social Sciences.
Ying was speaking at a forum on polarized politics comparing the situations in the US, South Korea and Taiwan, organized by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the College of Social Sciences at National Sun Yat-sen University and co-sponsored by the American Institute in Taiwan.
Ying said many developing countries had seen social polarization hinder economic growth since the 1970s, citing studies of social conflicts in Latin American countries where the failure to reach a consensus and deliver policies promptly in the face of external shocks had led to economic collapse.
David Brady, deputy director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, focused on the negative consequences of political polarization in his keynote speech.
He cited economic consequences such as slower economic growth and less equitable distribution of income, as well as political consequences including government paralysis in decision-making and a distorted political process.
Social polarization describes the segregation of groups within a society, often based on differences in income and education levels or ethnic divisions.
Brady said that intense political partisanship is sometimes a reflection of social polarization.
"Whatever polarization exists in a society is aggregated through political parties into governments," regardless of whether the administration is a single-party majority government or a coalition government, Brady said.
"Citizens and interest groups with preferences sort themselves into parties through psychological identification, monetary or self-interest calculations or through formal arrangements," he said.
Liao Da-chi (
Politics at the government level are sharply divided between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, they said.
"However, the polarization of political officials is not necessarily a direct reflection of a similarly polarized mass electorate," they said, adding that the number of voters who do not associate themselves with a specific political party had remained steady.
Liao and Yu also said, however, that the main line dividing voters into two camps -- stances on national identity -- "[is moving] the two party camps farther apart from each other."
Liu Cheng-shan (劉正山), an assistant professor at National Sun Yat-sen University's Institute of Political Science, said the media had likely played a key role in reinforcing political polarization.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry