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The Liberty Times
Editorial: Business should support autonomy
In this presidential election, some businesspeople are supporting President Ma
Ying-jeou (馬英九). Investors call the shares of these companies “Yo-Yo Ma concept
shares” (馬友友概念股), because the cellist’s name means “friends of Ma.” Taiwan is a
democracy and Taiwanese businesspeople certainly have the right to decide who
they will support in an election.
However, during this election campaign, another absurd phenomenon has appeared:
Most Taiwanese business owners with investments in China are standing silent on
the sidelines, while a few are falling over each other in their rush to promote
China’s political views — promoting Beijing’s policy of forcing political change
through economic means. This remains a dark cloud over Taiwan’s democratic
development.
Business owners are more likely to decide which candidate to support based on
considerations of personal interests, rather than national or public interests.
As a result, their viewpoint often differs from that of the general public and
even their own employees. For example, a Taiwanese businessperson who supported
someone to expand his or her business in China would inevitably eliminate job
opportunities for Taiwanese workers. His own employees might lose their jobs
because of the company’s expansion in China, causing them to hold the opposite
political opinion.
Not long ago, a well-known tycoon told his employees that they should cast their
votes based on what was good for them, implying that they should support the
candidate who is most favorably disposed to the company’s Chinese investments.
However, if they follow this reasoning to its logical conclusion, not only
should they not support their employer’s favorite candidate, they should support
a candidate who will actually restrain their employers’ business expansion in
China.
The logic is simple: As Taiwanese companies invest in China, they create job
opportunities there, not here in Taiwan. As shown by the factor-price
equalization theory, the wages of Taiwanese workers would gradually decline to
the level of those of Chinese workers. In order to pursue greater personal gain,
many Taiwanese business owners reduce their investments at home when increasing
their Chinese investments, driving more Taiwanese workers into unemployment. In
short, workers should cast their votes for their own good, not for the good of
their employers.
Some businesspeople might think that business is business and politics is
politics, and as long as they only care about making money and ignore politics,
they’ll do fine. Wrong. This thinking may be OK for business owners in regular
democracies, but in authoritarian China, which wants to annex Taiwan, it is not
a very practical viewpoint: You may choose to ignore politics in China, but
Chinese politics certainly will not ignore you.
Because China’s missile threats against Taiwan resulted in a backlash in the
past, Beijing is now using economic means to force political changes. That is
why it extends a warm welcome to Taiwanese businesspeople investing there; the
more the better. However, China is only biding its time and when the time is
ripe, these businesspeople will become part of China’s attempts to use economic
means to bring about political change.
For example, Evergreen Group founder Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) recently helped China
promote the so-called “1992 consensus” and attacked presidential candidates that
he did not find palatable. It is easy to see that if China wants to use someone
in its strategy to bring about political change in its relationship with Taiwan,
Taiwanese businesspeople won’t even have the freedom to remain silent.
Ma and his ilk may find it heart-warming to see China attack their rivals by
pushing Taiwanese businesspeople to support China’s economic strategies against
Taiwan, but he should not celebrate too soon. These Taiwanese businesspeople
have become Chinese tools and while they are attacking Democratic Progressive
Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Beijing’s instructions, China
could well tell them to turn on Ma in future. After all, they are very clear on
who of Ma or Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is calling the shots.
An incompetent Ma relies on China to boost both Taiwan’s economy and his
re-election. If he is re-elected and his push for eventual unification and to
denigrate Taiwan moves slower than China wants, China could well turn
businesspeople on Ma. Ma has nothing to back him up if he wants to say “no” to
China.
Keep this firmly in mind: Taiwanese businesspeople are given preferential
investment conditions in China simply because Taiwan is an independent,
sovereign state. Following this line of thinking, Taiwanese businesspeople,
especially those who have investments in China, should support candidates who
can secure Taiwan’s autonomy in order to build a stable foundation. However, if
they support a candidate who curries favor with China and denigrates Taiwan’s
status as a sovereign state, what will they do to survive once Taiwan becomes
part of China? When that happens, will Beijing and its greedy local government
officials take Taiwanese businesspeople seriously? All the conceited Taiwanese
tycoons who shuttle back and forth across the Taiwan Strait would become China’s
puppets.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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