The Tsai administration is making an effort to pursue “transitional justice.” Will it be healing or divisive? February 28, 1980 has gone down in Taiwan’s history as the date of one of the nation’s most gruesome unsolved murders. An intruder entered the ground-floor apartment of opposition politician Lin Yi-hsiung and fatally stabbed his mother and…
For a variety of reasons, Singapore and Hong Kong can manage just fine with significantly lower tax rates. Over the years, the business community has made the case that Taiwan’s steep personal income-tax rates discourage the recruitment and retention of outstanding skilled professionals, both foreign and local. Often these individuals opt to live and work…
The slow rate of economic growth is considered to be the major factor causing the stagnation in compensation levels. Why does nearly everyone in Taiwan feel they are working hard but still receiving a meager pay packet? “The biggest problem is the low rate of growth,” says Peng Su-ling, director of the Center for Economic…
The major new development is creation of Taiwania Capital Management, a government-backed venture-capital operation. Among the seven industries targeted in the government’s “5+2 Industrial Innovation Program,” the one starting with the strongest foundation is smart machinery. Overall machinery production value this year could break the NT$1 trillion (about US$33 billion) mark for the first time,…
Rising worldwide demand for Taiwan’s export products is injecting more vitality into the economy. Most economists are currently forecasting GDP growth for this year and 2018 in the range of 2-2.5% – not the fast pace that Taiwan was long accustomed to, but still an improvement over recent economic performance. Given Taiwanese companies’ prominent role…
Where business has slowed, the main reason appears to be economic factors. Ever since Beijing angrily terminated official communications with Taiwan’s then newly installed Tsai Ing-wen government in June last year, political relations with China have plunged to their coolest point in nearly a decade. But the cross-Strait political chill over Taiwan’s unwillingness to accept a…
The government is seeking to strengthen trade, investment, tourism, education, and cultural relations with South and Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia may be close to Taiwan geographically, but Taiwanese traditionally tended to see its people as little more than a source of cheap labor. Even in academia, says Edwin Yang, an instructor in the College of…
The Taiwan economy is back in positive territory, but the pace of growth is likely to remain slow until global conditions improve substantially. In the meantime, Taiwan may benefit as a key part of the supply chain for Apple’s iPhone 7, but its tourism sector will need to make up for a sharp drop in…
Faced with lackluster growth, stagnant salaries, and complaints from young people that it’s hard to find a job, Taiwan is seeking to follow the example of rival Asian tiger Korea by undergoing industrial upgrading. To this end, President Tsai Ing-wen and her administration have announced plans to develop five major innovative industries: smart machinery, green…
Senior government officials have cited Taiwan’s recent labor unrest as their biggest short-term economic problem, saying that continuing controversy could undermine investor confidence. Recent ruckuses in the Legislative Yuan suggest that an immediate solution is not in sight. In late October, Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers sided with labor groups, waving placards and occupying the Speaker’s podium…
