From: chyang@westquad.engin.umich.edu (Chung Hsiung Yang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: Those Typical Taiwanese
Date: 23 Jan 1993 22:09:57 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: westquad.engin.umich.edu
Originator: chyang@westquad.engin.umich.edu


In article <1993Jan22.225045.11134@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, thuang@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Tze-yau Huang) writes:
> In article <1jpm5sINNh1i@srvr1.engin.umich.edu> chyang@crevecouer.engin.umich.edu (Chung Hsiung Yang) writes:
> >
> >	Singapore is doing a very good job attracting trade and foreign
> >investment, but the country is mostly service and manufactring oriented.
> >Taiwan has full blown industries, that produce heavy products for other
> >industries.  The economic make up of Taiwan and Singapore is very different.
> >But when it comes down to it, I take Taiwan anyday because she has the 
> >capability from R & D all the way to high level production and manufactoring.  
> >
> Just few years ago when Taiwan took 6th place in global computer market,
> her government vowed to get Taiwan into the 3rd place.  Unfortunately,
> a vow with out a plan worth nothing.  Soon, Singapore surpassed Taiwan
> and became took the 6th largest share in the market.  From what I
> learned, R & D has to be backed by sound financing which the
> conservative state banking system in Taiwan are not capable of.

	Since when did Singapore make their own computers?  You must be
confusing it with foreign manufactoring in Singapore.  There are many
companies from the US and the European countries that set up manufactoring
plants in Singapore.  All they did is assembling and test the computers
before it is shipped out to the foreign market.  Singapore may have done
some R & D, but I am not aware of any recent break through by the their
researchers.  At least, I am not aware of any Sigaporean company that
sells computers in the US.  

	Taiwan on the other had, have many companies that design and 
build their own computers and sell them to the world market.  There is
a hell of a lot of difference in these situations.  And these are not
even R & D.  Taiwans computer manufactoring industries are not as 
dependent upon foreign companies as the Sigaporeans.   

	Taiwan's R & D backing is very very different from the rest of
the world.  There are no single company that applies for "reseach loan"
or something.  Taiwan's R & D is not dependent upon the banking system
in Taiwan.  In fact, I have never been aware of Taiwanese banks investing
in R & D in Taiwan, perhaps thru the government, I don't know.  

	The R & D in Taiwan however is lead by the government.  The 
government put up the facilities and the money for R & D.  There are 
also many Silicon Valley firms which are owned by ethnic Chinese who 
have invested in R & D in Taiwan.  It is like that the government are 
the main contractors and much of the development work is done by 
Taiwans many mid-size companies.  The Hsinchu technology park is
one of the examples of this cooperation.  

	I am not aware of a Singaporean research facility of this
magnitude.  Enlighten me if there are something like that there.

> 
> The problem of Singapore is that she does not have much of her own means
> of production.  Most of the business are owned by foreigners.  It's
> truely an oasis sustained by foreign investment.  But is Taiwan is a
> better position?  Just look at Yu-Long (originally a textile company
> transplanted to Taiwan; built from nothing with the granted US material
> and US import quota allocated by the KMT) Automobile.  

	This was a much criticised matter in Taiwan.  Yu-Long is 
an example in failure of government protectionism.  Because of governments
backing and some back door deals, other firms who are intersted in 
make automobiles was not able to get into the market under recently.
The automobile industry is not one of Taiwan's strong points.  But
Taiwan does make pretty good motorbikes, though.


> The company is
> not much more than a Nissan assembly settlelite except that the group
> had join the venture of speculation in the construction business.
> Evergreen is built on Japanese finance rather than Taiwan's foreign
> reserve.  Also, the US presence should not be ignored.
> 

	That is some what true.  I don't know all the details, but there
is a Japanese presence in Evergreen and the Japanese are not making any
noise about it. ( for business interests of course ) 

	When Evergreen was build, I don't think that Taiwan had much
foreign reserves.  I don't think the government at the time had the
money for such ventures.  It was the stage when Taiwan needed foreign
investment to undertake such venture.  Since then, Evergreen has been
largely Taiwanese.  I believe the Japanese presence in among the minority
in that company now.  Maybe the business experts out there can enlighten
us on this matter.   

> >
> >	Most of these companie listed here are consumer electronics or 
> >sports equipment.  Unless you are from a third world country, you should 
> >have at least heard some of these names.   But these companies are not
> >the back bone of Taiwan's economy.  The gentalmen  who wrote this post 
> >forgot to include heavy industries, such as Evergreen, the shipping 
> >company.  Taiwan plastic (Huge), and President Company.  These company 
> >may not be well know because they are the parent companies to many of
> >the products that you see in the US.   For example President owns one of
> >US's top five bakeries.  I think it was "Famous Amos"  or something.
> >It is well know in I think the east cost.  
> >
> The backbone of Taiwan's economy have no big names.  They are small or
> middle enterprises which mostly involves in OEMs.  They produce 70% of
> Taiwan's GNP.  Notice that once a large enterprise turns transnational
> (ie. has arms in various continents), motherland become less important
> to the enterprise.
> 

	Yes.  It does have its disadvantages, but also its advantages.  
The face that most companies are small or middle enterprises prevents
anyone company to undertake very large ventures, but this kind of 
economic does reflect certain positive points on the social-economic
structure of Taiwan.  For example, since there are so many companies out
there each getting a little piece of the pie means that most people
in Taiwan must have similar economic situations.  And indeed, the middle
class dominates Taiwan's society and there are not as much separation 
between the rich and the poor as other capitalistic societies.  This is
surprising because of Taiwan's free market economy, nevertheless, this 
is good for the society because most people in Taiwan can afford to live
very well.  

	So when the society becomes richer, not only the few rich elites
becomes richer ( like many other capitalistic nation ), but everybody
become richer.  Interestingly enough, the situation in Taiwan now, is 
what many countries with controlled economy had wanted to achieve by failed
miserablely, but Taiwan, with it free market economy was able to achieve 
it without much government intervention.  This is truly interesting to
me.

	Can someone out there explain why this is the case.  What are
the Taiwanese government doing that other government are not doing? 
Is this only inherent to the society?  

- C. H. Yang 



> 
> William H.
> 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan,soc.culture.china