Institutional Investor (December 14)
In Taiwan, “a regime change could cast a chill over relations with China and inject fresh uncertainty into the economy at a delicate time.” Since China accounts for 40% of its exports, Taiwan is taking an economic hit as China’s economy slumps. Things could get worse due to coming elections. Tsai Ing-wen is the leading presidential candidate and her party is independence leaning.
Tags: China, Delicate, Economy, Elections, Exports, Independence, Regime change, Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, Uncertainty
Washington Post (June 4)
“The tragic sinking of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River on Monday night produced a reflexive reaction from China’s communist authorities: censorship.” This could backfire. “Mr. Xi’s attempt to impose Stalinist-style information controls may not work in 21st-century China. His regime would foster more trust were it to follow the examples of neighbors such as South Korea and Taiwan, which live-streamed video of rescue efforts after recent disasters and encouraged debate about what went wrong. In attempting to shield the regime from criticism, Beijing’s censors are only adding to public embitterment.”
Tags: Censorship, China, Debate, Disasters, Rescue, Sinking, South Korea, Stalin, Taiwan, Tragic, Xi, Yangtze
Washington Post (March 22)
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”
Tags: Asia, Democracy, Dictator, Indonesia, Lee Kuan Yew, Prospered, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Values, Virtues, Western
New York Times (September 19)
“Taiwan obviously needs a stronger food-safety policy with meaningful penalties.” The latest in a series of food scandals involves the sale of nearly 650 tons of adulterated “gutter oil,” which was produced from unsuitable sources, such as restaurant waste, and sold as cooking oil. “The Taiwanese authorities need to be doing more than reacting to food-safety problems on an ad hoc basis to ensure that what people eat is safe.”
Tags: Adulterated, Authorities, Cooking oil, Food safety, Gutter oil, Penalties, Restaurant waste, Scandals, Taiwan
Wall Street Journal (August 6)
“Taiwan’s leaders have warned for years that economic isolation will damage the nation’s competitiveness. Now their worst fears may be coming true, and the consequences of resisting freer trade and economic reform are becoming clear.”
Tags: Competitiveness, Consequences, Damage, Economic isolation, Fears, Free trade, Leaders, Reform, Taiwan
Washington Post (December 5, 2013)
The U.S. does not test well. In contrast, Japan, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan swept top places for math, reading and science in the recent PISA global educational survey. Nevertheless, “the United States has done very well in harnessing the talents of its top 1 percent and in attracting the top 1 percent from the rest of the world to live and work here. These are the engines of innovation, growth and dynamism.” Whether they will keep the U.S. from falling behind, however, remains to be seen.
Tags: Dynamism, Education, Growth, Hong Kong, Innovation, Japan, Math, Reading, Science, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan, Talent, U.S.
Euromoney (November issue)
“Asia’s young population has long been the envy of the west, but several of Asia’s most developed economies, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, were among the countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world this year as a result of rising education levels, more women working long hours and people getting married later, among other factors…. This presents many threats, but foremost among them are slowing economic growth and the need to provide income support for more elderly populations.”
“Asia’s young population has long been the envy of the west, but several of Asia’s most developed economies, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, were among the countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world this year as a result of rising education levels, more women working long hours and people getting married later, among other factors…. This presents many threats, but foremost among them are slowing economic growth and the need to provide income support for more elderly populations.”
Wall Street Journal (February 17, 2012)
Basketball guard Jeremy Lin is capturing the hearts of NBA fans as he revives the hopes of the New York Knicks. He also provides a policy lesson. Originally from Taiwan, Lin’s parents immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s. “The policy lesson is that America wins when it welcomes talented people, whether or not they start semiconductor companies.”
Tags: Immigration, Jeremy Lin, Knicks, NBA, Taiwan, U.S.
