Taiwan must remain independent and democratic, Robert Tsao (曹興誠), founder and former chairman of contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), told an event in Hsinchu City yesterday.
In a speech titled “Taiwan’s bright future,” he said that people might feel depressed amid China’s pressure campaign against Taiwan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation and the current soft stock market.
However, the future of the world is bright, he said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
The economies of many countries are growing exponentially, there is increasingly less poverty and life expectancy is rising in many countries, while the infant mortality rate is improving, he said, citing data from popular science author Steven Pinker‘s book Enlightenment Now.
Taiwan “must maintain its independence and follow the spirit of Enlightenment Now,” he said.
Protests over an extradition bill in Hong Kong made him realize that “China is a gangster,” he said, adding that everyone should unite to defend Taiwan against China.
A survey conducted by the Guardian showed that half of the respondents believed that other countries should help Taiwan if China attempts to annex it by force, which indicated that China has stirred up hatred against itself across the globe, he said.
“Supporting Taiwan’s independence is befriending the world, while supporting Taiwan’s unification [with China] is making an enemy of the world,” he said.
There are five important values of enlightenment: humanitarianism, rationality and science, technology and industry, wealth created by the division of labor based on expertise, and global trade growth driven by the mechanism of the market, he said.
“Democracy protects human rights,” he said.
While some entrepreneurs believe that “we cannot live on democracy alone,” Tsao said he believes that “life without democracy is difficult to live.”
He implemented the concept of division of labor in the foundry business in 1984, dividing the production of chips into designing, manufacturing and packaging, which contributed to Taiwan’s success in the semiconductor industry, he said.
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