Cross-Strait Service Agreement
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln
I suppose I am removing all doubt, then!
Yes indeed, it is time for another round of Steven's uneducated musings on political issues. Last time I gave a brief overview of the U.S. Government Shutdown, and this time it's a topic from the other side of the world - the occupation of the Taiwanese parliament by protesters! Obviously, there are many different perspectives, so definitely look for other sources of information in addition to me.
In a nutshell: last night in Taiwan (the capital city of Taipei, to be more precise), people stormed into parliament to protest against the legislature passing a trade agreement (mostly affecting the service industry) without discussion on the floor. This is obviously a pretty big deal, and it can be confusing because it's really many different issues all combined into one.
First off, let me state that I have major problems with the way this agreement was passed. It was pretty damn undemocratic (though I hesitate to say "illegal" yet at this point, given my shaky knowledge of Taiwanese legislative proceedings), and rather cowardly by the majority KMT political party. Quite obviously, the KMT did not believe it would be able to pass the complete bill in the fashion demanded by protesters and the opposition political parties. (Try to imagine the Affordable Care Act being reviewed line by line and you probably get the picture. It would have been an even bigger clusterfuck than it is now)
Now, I could be proven foolish here if police end up using excessive force to break down this demonstration, but for the moment I'll say that incident clearly shows a difference between Taiwan and China. If this happened in Beijing, you wouldn't see 300 people walking out, you'd see 300 body bags being carried out. In addition, you'd probably see 300 families executed as well, just to deter anyone else from trying something similar in the future. So kudos to the Taiwanese police for not turning into China just yet.
So now that I've stated my clear opposition to the *way* in which this agreement was passed, let's think about whether or not we should have signed a free trade agreement in the first place.
I recognize that the term "free trade" is sometimes hard to define, and there's certainly room for argument here.
These are my uninformed assumptions, feel free to let me know otherwise if mistaken.
1) Due to insufficient natural resources, Taiwan as a country must rely upon trade with other nations. Due to the limited size of the population, producing primarily with the domestic market in mind (like the old Japanese model) is simply not an option. For example, let's say the famous G&G airsoft company can sell 5000 replicas in Taiwan annually. It can sell 50,000 worldwide in the same time. Increase the size of the pie, and not just your portion of the pie. I note that while some of the protesters have stated clearly that they are not anti free-trade per se, and rather against the manner in which this agreement was passed (my stance, basically), I do think that there is a majority that is against Free Trade. It seems that history has rewound itself 20 years back to the anti-WTO protests in Seattle. Will there be losers in an international world? Yes, of course there will. Should the government do something to alleviate this problem? Yes, assuming you're not a Libertarian. Is it easy to put up easy rhetorical questions as strawmen to seemingly strengthen my argument? Yeah, it is.
2) One option is to internationalize, like Korea (and more recently, Japan). Korea has worked very hard to make Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. into global brands, and the government and people put their full effort into it. They don't hesitate to play dirty (many Taiwanese are pretty pissed at Korea at this, but that's another story), but it's undeniable that the quality of their goods is impressive. In addition, go on a trip to Seoul, and observe how many people are using products made by Korean company. Now take a stroll on any street in Taipei, and observe how many cell phones, scooters, computers, etc. are Made In Taiwan. Fact of the matter is, Taiwanese don't support their own industries enough, hence the need to internationalize even overlooking the previous point.
3) Does "MIT" have the ability to become an globally respected brand, like "Korean" has become? Well, from my admittedly biased view, it does not have the will. Taiwan does not appear to be particularly interested in becoming internationally competitive, if my own experience in naturalization is any indication. You'd think that ABCs like me would be the number one target for immigration, in terms of improving the quality of Taiwanese companies. People with a familiar cultural background that are also well-versed in the "Western" ways and language. But no, the government treats us like race traitors and puts up some pretty unreasonable barriiers that deter a lot of talented and qualified ABCs from "returning". People here generally have shitty English and limited world view, something not helped by the fact that the Chinese market is proving increasingly lucrative has also reduced incentive to improve English, I think. The government does not support flagship corporations in the same way that the Korean government has provided massive support to its big brands. Here you may see that the term "free trade" can be sometimes hard to define, and there's certainly room for argument here. For example, can you fairly compare a company backed by the national government with a privately funded one? The former certainly can afford to flood the market at a loss to gain overwhelming market share, so is the definition of "free trade" simply lack of tariffs? A question for another day, I suppose.
4) The Chinese government acts like an asshole.
Seriously, that's one of the sad truths here. Every criticism you have about American imperialism can easily be leveled at China. It sucks, but that's how it is. As such, Taiwan cannot sign Free Trade Agreements with other countries, because they need to cooperate with China more than they need Taiwan. And short of becoming ridiculously competitive and useful in the world economy, that's not going to change. Without any bargaining chips, Taiwan is forced to become reliant on China, and that's something constant regardless of whether or not it's the KMT or DPP in power.
5) Who benefits?
From a cursory glance, the financial industry. That's understandable - name one country in which money doesn't talk. The most powerful governments in the world are all heavily influenced (if not outright bought) by powerful corporations - as far as influence is concerned, the U.S. is pretty much an oligarchy at this point hard to distinguish from Russia. That the Taiwanese government would sign an agreement that is more beneficial to its financial sector over other sectors is not particularly surprising.
I'll say this - I have my share of problems with the financial sector. However, I will note that without any other economic advantages (as noted above - natural resources, overwhelming expertise in any given field), the only way I can think of that Taiwan can provide global value to other nations is through finance. We can't win in producing goods - that shipped has long sailed to China. The fact that Taiwan can potentially function as a safer gateway into Chinese investments is undoubtedly popular with international investors - after all, Taiwan is still more or less "rule of law", whereas direct investments into China are... let's just say more subject to the fickle whims of the Chinese Communist Party.
Are some already-rich assholes going to benefit disproportionately? Probably, yeah. But that's not really anything new here.
6) Why protest?
I sympathize with the people protesting, and understand where they're coming from. Students, and other people filled with uncertainty about the future job market feel threatened, especially seeing that the government appears to be increasing the wealth disparity by implementing policies favoring the rich and established. But I believe that without creating an international strength, Taiwan is ultimately fucked, making the Chinese takeover even easier than it would be otherwise. You can only bargain from a position of strength, and strength is not simply resolve and slogans. Taiwanese cannot bring up history to convince France that Taiwan is a country independent from China. If Taiwan proves that it can be more useful to France than China can be, then France will stand with Taiwan. Otherwise, there's a lot of RMB left on the table here.
In summary, there are legitimate problems with the manner in which the KMT passed this agreement. That said, I strongly believe that Taiwan *must* sign comprehensive trade agreements with China, and this in fact ironically may strengthen Taiwan's bargaining chips. Think of why Israel gets to do whatever the fuck it wants, and imagine how Taiwan could get such support from the stronger countries in the world. Going isolationist certainly won't do it.
Questions, corrections, and comments are, as always, much appreciated. This is basically just me verbally vomiting onto the internet to gain some more insight into this issue from the responses of friends and acquaintances.
I suppose I am removing all doubt, then!
Yes indeed, it is time for another round of Steven's uneducated musings on political issues. Last time I gave a brief overview of the U.S. Government Shutdown, and this time it's a topic from the other side of the world - the occupation of the Taiwanese parliament by protesters! Obviously, there are many different perspectives, so definitely look for other sources of information in addition to me.
In a nutshell: last night in Taiwan (the capital city of Taipei, to be more precise), people stormed into parliament to protest against the legislature passing a trade agreement (mostly affecting the service industry) without discussion on the floor. This is obviously a pretty big deal, and it can be confusing because it's really many different issues all combined into one.
First off, let me state that I have major problems with the way this agreement was passed. It was pretty damn undemocratic (though I hesitate to say "illegal" yet at this point, given my shaky knowledge of Taiwanese legislative proceedings), and rather cowardly by the majority KMT political party. Quite obviously, the KMT did not believe it would be able to pass the complete bill in the fashion demanded by protesters and the opposition political parties. (Try to imagine the Affordable Care Act being reviewed line by line and you probably get the picture. It would have been an even bigger clusterfuck than it is now)
Now, I could be proven foolish here if police end up using excessive force to break down this demonstration, but for the moment I'll say that incident clearly shows a difference between Taiwan and China. If this happened in Beijing, you wouldn't see 300 people walking out, you'd see 300 body bags being carried out. In addition, you'd probably see 300 families executed as well, just to deter anyone else from trying something similar in the future. So kudos to the Taiwanese police for not turning into China just yet.
So now that I've stated my clear opposition to the *way* in which this agreement was passed, let's think about whether or not we should have signed a free trade agreement in the first place.
I recognize that the term "free trade" is sometimes hard to define, and there's certainly room for argument here.
These are my uninformed assumptions, feel free to let me know otherwise if mistaken.
1) Due to insufficient natural resources, Taiwan as a country must rely upon trade with other nations. Due to the limited size of the population, producing primarily with the domestic market in mind (like the old Japanese model) is simply not an option. For example, let's say the famous G&G airsoft company can sell 5000 replicas in Taiwan annually. It can sell 50,000 worldwide in the same time. Increase the size of the pie, and not just your portion of the pie. I note that while some of the protesters have stated clearly that they are not anti free-trade per se, and rather against the manner in which this agreement was passed (my stance, basically), I do think that there is a majority that is against Free Trade. It seems that history has rewound itself 20 years back to the anti-WTO protests in Seattle. Will there be losers in an international world? Yes, of course there will. Should the government do something to alleviate this problem? Yes, assuming you're not a Libertarian. Is it easy to put up easy rhetorical questions as strawmen to seemingly strengthen my argument? Yeah, it is.
2) One option is to internationalize, like Korea (and more recently, Japan). Korea has worked very hard to make Samsung, LG, Hyundai, etc. into global brands, and the government and people put their full effort into it. They don't hesitate to play dirty (many Taiwanese are pretty pissed at Korea at this, but that's another story), but it's undeniable that the quality of their goods is impressive. In addition, go on a trip to Seoul, and observe how many people are using products made by Korean company. Now take a stroll on any street in Taipei, and observe how many cell phones, scooters, computers, etc. are Made In Taiwan. Fact of the matter is, Taiwanese don't support their own industries enough, hence the need to internationalize even overlooking the previous point.
3) Does "MIT" have the ability to become an globally respected brand, like "Korean" has become? Well, from my admittedly biased view, it does not have the will. Taiwan does not appear to be particularly interested in becoming internationally competitive, if my own experience in naturalization is any indication. You'd think that ABCs like me would be the number one target for immigration, in terms of improving the quality of Taiwanese companies. People with a familiar cultural background that are also well-versed in the "Western" ways and language. But no, the government treats us like race traitors and puts up some pretty unreasonable barriiers that deter a lot of talented and qualified ABCs from "returning". People here generally have shitty English and limited world view, something not helped by the fact that the Chinese market is proving increasingly lucrative has also reduced incentive to improve English, I think. The government does not support flagship corporations in the same way that the Korean government has provided massive support to its big brands. Here you may see that the term "free trade" can be sometimes hard to define, and there's certainly room for argument here. For example, can you fairly compare a company backed by the national government with a privately funded one? The former certainly can afford to flood the market at a loss to gain overwhelming market share, so is the definition of "free trade" simply lack of tariffs? A question for another day, I suppose.
4) The Chinese government acts like an asshole.
Seriously, that's one of the sad truths here. Every criticism you have about American imperialism can easily be leveled at China. It sucks, but that's how it is. As such, Taiwan cannot sign Free Trade Agreements with other countries, because they need to cooperate with China more than they need Taiwan. And short of becoming ridiculously competitive and useful in the world economy, that's not going to change. Without any bargaining chips, Taiwan is forced to become reliant on China, and that's something constant regardless of whether or not it's the KMT or DPP in power.
5) Who benefits?
From a cursory glance, the financial industry. That's understandable - name one country in which money doesn't talk. The most powerful governments in the world are all heavily influenced (if not outright bought) by powerful corporations - as far as influence is concerned, the U.S. is pretty much an oligarchy at this point hard to distinguish from Russia. That the Taiwanese government would sign an agreement that is more beneficial to its financial sector over other sectors is not particularly surprising.
I'll say this - I have my share of problems with the financial sector. However, I will note that without any other economic advantages (as noted above - natural resources, overwhelming expertise in any given field), the only way I can think of that Taiwan can provide global value to other nations is through finance. We can't win in producing goods - that shipped has long sailed to China. The fact that Taiwan can potentially function as a safer gateway into Chinese investments is undoubtedly popular with international investors - after all, Taiwan is still more or less "rule of law", whereas direct investments into China are... let's just say more subject to the fickle whims of the Chinese Communist Party.
Are some already-rich assholes going to benefit disproportionately? Probably, yeah. But that's not really anything new here.
6) Why protest?
I sympathize with the people protesting, and understand where they're coming from. Students, and other people filled with uncertainty about the future job market feel threatened, especially seeing that the government appears to be increasing the wealth disparity by implementing policies favoring the rich and established. But I believe that without creating an international strength, Taiwan is ultimately fucked, making the Chinese takeover even easier than it would be otherwise. You can only bargain from a position of strength, and strength is not simply resolve and slogans. Taiwanese cannot bring up history to convince France that Taiwan is a country independent from China. If Taiwan proves that it can be more useful to France than China can be, then France will stand with Taiwan. Otherwise, there's a lot of RMB left on the table here.
In summary, there are legitimate problems with the manner in which the KMT passed this agreement. That said, I strongly believe that Taiwan *must* sign comprehensive trade agreements with China, and this in fact ironically may strengthen Taiwan's bargaining chips. Think of why Israel gets to do whatever the fuck it wants, and imagine how Taiwan could get such support from the stronger countries in the world. Going isolationist certainly won't do it.
Questions, corrections, and comments are, as always, much appreciated. This is basically just me verbally vomiting onto the internet to gain some more insight into this issue from the responses of friends and acquaintances.
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