Integrate Business Opportunities Based on the M’land’s 31 Preferential Measures for Taiwan to Open a Path for the Youth

  Integrate Business Opportunities Based on the M’land’s 31 Preferential Measures for Taiwan to Open a Path for the Youth

China Times Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

April 2, 2018

 Translation of an Excerpt

The Mainland’s 31 preferential measures for Taiwan have elicited a high degree of attention from society. The DPP government soon after made public its countermeasures targeting the Mainland’s move, on the one hand, it introduced a program for strengthening Taiwan, and on the other, it promulgated administrative norms in an attempt to forestall the exodus of brains to the Mainland; the purpose is to minimize as much as it can the possible effects of the 31 preferential measures for Taiwan and the impact on Taiwan’s competitiveness.

However, recent discussions in the media and related public opinion polls show that we should not underestimate the impact that the Mainland’s 31 preferential measures for Taiwan would have on Taiwan’s economy and society. If the DPP government should adopt a “closed-door policy,” the long-term harm to Taiwan would be even more terrible.

The DPP government perceives the 31 preferential measures for Taiwan from the political perspective, while the public, however, approach the matter from the economic angle, and industries cut in from the angle of business opportunities. Subjective wishes on the political level oftentimes are no match for the objective facts on the economic level; they can never contravene human nature or the public will. In the past two decades, from the word games of Lee Teng-hui's “No Haste and Be Patient” to Chen Shui-bian’s “active management and effective opening up,” neither could stop the currents of history; instead, because of the relocation of factories, the drain has continued for capital, talents, and technology, causing long-term harm to Taiwan’s economic physique; this is a case in point.

The government has the responsibility to seek a path for the youth, find opportunities of development for enterprises, offer goodwill to both sides of the Strait, and shoulder historical responsibility. Facing cross-Strait exchanges and visits, we hope that we can create positive momentum in our interactions. With a little less politics and a little more economics, only by treating each other with good faith can we achieve reciprocity, mutual benefits, and win-win; the government should actively support this appeal and be glad to see it accomplished.

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