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Lost opportunities
for the young
By Huang Tien-lin ¶Ŕ¤ŃĹď
ˇ§Unemployment among 20-to-24 year olds at 14 percent, hardship among the young.ˇ¨
That was the main headline on the front page of the Chinese-language China Times
newspaper on Christmas Eve. We should be thankful it was a China Times story, or
we might be accused of bad-mouthing Taiwan.
The young who are just entering the labor market are clearly having a very hard
time. But why?
Not long ago, an editorial in the same newspaper gave the answer: ˇ§Taiwan is a
prime example of how, although data shows that triangular trade has raised the
nationˇ¦s GDP, it has increased employment in another country.ˇ¨ That sentence
explains it all.
Triangular trade means that a Taiwanese company in Taiwan receives an order from
another country and then manufactures the goods in a third country ˇX mainly
China. This is an unavoidable outcome of the relocation of companies from Taiwan
to China.
Oddly, over the past dozen years or so, it is the very same paper that has
continuously encouraged such relocation, accompanied by praise for the
triangular trade model. It has promoted the integration of Chinese resources to
strengthen Taiwanˇ¦s industrial competitiveness and claimed that China offers the
business opportunity of the century.
It has also said that focusing on research and development in Taiwan while
promoting manufacturing in China is a ˇ§win-winˇ¨ situation, and that investing in
China would expand Taiwanˇ¦s national strength.
On one hand, the paper has cooperated with attempts by big business to force
cross-strait political talks through economic means, while on the other
describing calls for the development of Taiwan and former president Lee
Teng-huiˇ¦s (§őµn˝÷) ˇ§no haste, be patientˇ¨ China policy as ˇ§isolationist,ˇ¨ saying
such ideology harms Taiwan.
The political and economic power of big business and the media stands unopposed.
Once the door to investment in China was opened, they pried it wider open still,
while shutting the door on their manufacturing lines in Taiwan, thus creating a
massive loss of employment opportunities for Taiwanese.
In November, production by Taiwanese businesses abroad ˇX read: in China ˇX
reached 51.7 percent of all production by Taiwanese businesses. This may be the
highest figure in Asia, and thus, youth unemployment in Taiwan may also be the
highest in Asia.
If todayˇ¦s young, as the China Times says, are a lost generation, then the blame
should be placed squarely on the shoulders of media outlets and academics that
had vociferously promoted the business relocation to China. At the very least,
they are morally responsible and should acknowledge their guilt and offer a
sincere apology to the young generation for their sufferings and losses.
However, no one ever seems to learn from history. Self-interest and greed mean
that the same mistakes are repeated over and over again.
For the past year or two, this group of academics and media outlets have
continued to beat their drums and to ask the government to abandon its
management mentality and let Taiwanese banks invest in China. The pressure they
are applying would make even Wall Street green with envy.
Any move by a Taiwanese bank in China is instantly rewarded with big headlines,
and lately, the signing of the Cross-Strait Currency Clearing Cooperation
Memorandum has been praised for offering business opportunities worth trillions
of New Taiwan dollars. It is said that it will increase GDP growth, that Taiwan
now is on its way to becoming an offshore center for the Chinese yuan and that
yuan savings have reached 1 trillion (US$160.5 billion) in just eight years.
These academics and media outlets are repeating the same language and pressure
they have applied to their campaign to promote the relocation of businesses to
China over the past decade.
Taiwanˇ¦s banks are attracted by the potential profit that China offers ˇX which
is supposed to be several times what they can make in Taiwan. When Taiwanese
businesses first started relocating to China, they made profits for a short
time, but now our young generation are paying the price.
The same thing will play out again and Taiwanese banks will make handsome
profits for a limited period.
One can only wonder who will pay the price for the resulting neglect of the
domestic banking market 10 years down the road. The public as a whole, or will
the next young generation become yet another lost generation?
Taiwan is not the US, and we cannot afford not to worry about this issue.
Huang Tien-lin is a former national policy adviser to the president.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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