Sept 1 2018 Indian Newslink Digital Edition

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
12 Viewlink/Businesslink
Taiwan Special
Special Mantra resonates in Republic of China
The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999)
ISSUE 399 | SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
Imran Khan set to
change Pakistan
No justification to rise
lawmakers’ pay
Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern has done well to
call for a freeze in the
salaries and allowances
of Members of Parliament for
a year.
She has also announced that
the government will develop a
formula for future increases,
which would not only be in line
with the increase in salaries of
others but also be justifiable.
Workplace Relations and
Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway
said that the Government
needed to take action before
the Remuneration Authority
initiated new pay rates.
No Equity
It is untenable that the Remuneration
Authority incessantly
rises the salaries and allowance
of MPs year after year, and it is
equally untenable that elected
representatives of the people and
the so-called mainstream media,
while criticising the small rises
in minimum wages, criticise the
government for its action. Free
speech sometimes is the enemy
of democracy!
Some say that Politics should
not be seen as a money-spinning
career, it is a civic calling they
intone. Yet the same is true of
many well-paid jobs, including
When we met Imran
Khan for the first
time in 1986, we
never imagined
that the swashbuckling Cricketer
(who bowled ‘maidens’
over) would turn to politics
and would one day become the
Prime Minister of one of the
most important countries of
the world.
Fiscal Discipline
Now as Pakistan’s leader,
Imran is set to change the face
and fate of his country, starting
with a peace process to end
the dispute with India, counter
terrorism and take a series of
measures that would see Pakistan
come out of its shackles of
corruption and extravagance.
An opulent man himself,
Imran has announced that he
would begin his reforms process
by asking the rich to pay
taxes, go on an austerity drive
to contain debt and engage
with the people as their ‘true
and honest representative.’
‘New Pakistan’
His decision to create a ‘New
Pakistan,’ not only hopes to reduce
poverty, improve welfare
and removing ostentation but
also seek fresh friendship with
India.
The 65-year-old leader of the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party
won the popular vote of the
people at the General Election
held on July 25, 2018, with an
impressive 149 seats in the
270 seat-National Assembly,
thirteen seats more than the
combined win of the Pakistan
Muslim League (Nawaz) and
the Pakistan People’s Party.
A firebrand populist, Khan’s
appeal has soared in recent
years on the back of his anti-corruption
drive, which has
resonated with young voters
and the expanding middle class
in the mainly-Muslim nation of
208 million people.
But Khan has inherited a
host of problems at home and
abroad, including a brewing
currency crisis and fraying relations
with Pakistan’s historic
ally, the United States.
We wish him well and look
forward to reporting on his
governance.
voters’ preferred comparators.
Most accept that although
these careers involve a civic
duty, they demand degrees of
professionalism, skill and dedication
that entitle practitioners
to professional-level salaries.
New Zealanders have high
expectations of their Parliamentarians.
They expect their
MPs to give up their weekends,
families and friends and attend
events. They expect them to
solve their immigration, education
and financial matters.
Lip Service
During his eight years in
office as Prime Minister, John
Key used to say every year that
MPs do not need a huge pay
rise and that he would change
the law. But he never did,
except, as the National Business
Review wrote, ‘except to hide
the setting of MPs perks behind
the Remuneration Authority
blame-sink.’
The publication also said, “It
is amazing how powerless the
Prime Minister is on this, when
he can ram new spying powers
through in less than a month
and pass a law to pillage the
conservation state overnight.”
There is hope that Jacinda
Ardern will be more decisive.
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Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kelly W Hsieh (seventh from left), with Ambassador James (extreme left) and Deputy Spokesperson Joanne Ou
(extreme right) with the visiting Indo-Pacific region journalists at his office in Taipei on August 13, 2018
Venkat Raman
Three words echo these
days in every corridor of
the government in the
Republic of China: New
Southbound Policy (NSP). From
the Taipei City in the North to
Kaohsiung in the South, one could
sense the excitement in the new
approach to diplomacy of a nation
that has been struggling for world
recognition over several decades.
There is recognition for the
Republic of China, or Taiwan,
on the economic front, although
almost all countries of the world,
including India, Australia, and
New Zealand, follow the ‘One
China Policy’ proclaimed more
than 25 years ago.
Almost every country has
trade ties with Taiwan – its total
exports last year were valued at
US$ 317.25 billion, an impressive
performance for a country of less
than 24 million people.
Eluding world recognition
Much of the world proclaims
this small country as its Trading
Partner – New Zealand has a
Full-fledged Free Trade Agreement
without a diplomatic presence (see
separate story in this Section) and
yet, the status as a Member of the
UN and much of the global political
partnership has eluded Taiwan
over the years.
During an informal briefing
to visiting journalists from the
Indo-Pacific region at his office in
Taipei on August 13, 2018, Taiwan’s
Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs Kelly W Hsieh said that his
country’s NSP was an integral part
of a Comprehensive Plan.
Growing economic ties
“Our economic relations with
the United States of America
and other countries of the free
world are warmer than political
ties. While security is a constant
concern, Taiwan believes in
people-to-people dialogue and
exchange of thoughts and ideas,”
he said.
He said that Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) is a strong indicator
of robust economic relationship
and that FDI accounts for more
than US$ 200 billion in his country.
“Republic of China recognises
the rising power of India in the
Asian Continent and we hope to be
a major player in its economic and
social development. Indonesia is
also a very important friend with
in the Association of Southeast
Nations (ASEAN). Indeed, the
Asia-Pacific region is of great
significance to us,” he said.
Mr Hsieh added that Taiwan
hoped to further strengthen its
trade ties with New Zealand.
Impressive trade figures
The Ministry’s Deputy Spokesperson
Joanne Ou said that Cross-
Strait relations (between Taiwan
and Mainland China, or People’s
Republic of China) continues to
remain the most significant part of
total trade volume of Taiwan.
Two-way trade between the two
countries was US$ 181.7 billion,
of which Taiwan’s exports were
valued at US$ 130.2 billion, while
imports were valued at US$ 51.5
billion.
Mainland China accounts for
62% of Taiwan’s outbound investment,
placed at US$ 97.7 billion,
accounting for 977% growth
during the nine years from 2009
and 2017.
Embracing Asia-Pacific
In his Report to the Foreign
Affairs and National Defence
Committee in October last year,
the then Foreign Minister David
Tawei Lee said that the NSP will
strengthen Taiwan’s role in the
Asia-Pacific region.
“This will bring Taiwan closer
to the region and to the world,
and the world closer to Taiwan,”
he said and quoted a recent
private polling company survey
(commissioned by his Ministry),
as saying that more than 70%
of Taiwanese people supported
the government’s promotion of
steadfast diplomacy and the NSP.
“About 75.6% of the Survey respondents
endorsed continuation
of overseas visits by high-ranking
officials, 84.8% supported new
thinking that would see the
provision of one-way aid replaced
by a two-way approach based
on mutual assistance for mutual
benefit.
“We will work to ensure that our
people really feel the results of our
efforts, and thereby identify all the
more with our policies,” he said.
Leveraging factors
Taiwan’s NSP is largely attributed
to President Tsai Ing-wen, who
has been its strongest advocate
since she announced its implementation
on September 5, 2016.
As well as reducing dependence
on Mainland China, the NSP seeks
to strengthen relationship with 18
countries in the Asia Pacific region,
comprising Australia, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore,
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Arguably, Taiwan has closer ties
with ASEAN (Association of South
East Nations) countries to promote
ties with its immediate neighbours.
“The policy is designed to leverage
Taiwan’s cultural, educational,
technological, agricultural, and
economic assets to deepen its
regional integration,” Bonnie S
Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia at
Washington DC based Centre for
Strategic and International Studies,
said.
NSP Guidelines
“The Guidelines for the New
Southbound Policy issued by the
Tsai administration detail that the
policy is designed to (1) forge a
“sense of economy community”
by fostering links between Taiwan
and the 18 NSP target countries;
and (2) establish mechanisms for
wide-ranging negotiations and dialogues,
and to “form a consensus
for cooperation” with NSP target
countries.
“In the short and medium term,
the Guidelines identify four goals:
(1) use national will, policy incentives,
and business opportunities
to spur and expand “two-way” exchanges
with NSP target countries;
(2) encourage industry to adopt “a
New Southbound strategy” in their
planning; (3) cultivate more people
with the skills needed to support
the NSP; and (4) expand multilateral
and bilateral negotiations and
dialogues to enhance economic
cooperation and resolve disputes
and disagreements,” she said.
Regional Peace and Stability
Taiwan is dedicated to actively
promoting a diplomacy for peace,
creating sustainable partnerships
with diplomatic allies, deepening
and broadening substantive ties in
various fields with countries that
have similar values, and maintaining
regional peace and stability.
It continues to seek expanded
international participation, while
making concrete contributions
to the global community, and
enhancing its international profile
through economic and humanitarian
aid policies.
In addition, Taiwan strives
to take part in international
economic and trade cooperation
mechanisms, strengthen links with
the region and the world, create
more business opportunities overseas,
and promote its economic
transformation and upgrading.
It also aims to take advantage
of resources of the private sector,
local governments, the younger
generation and industries to
advance the nation’s multifaceted
diplomacy.
Taiwan’s goal is to transform
itself into a model of new Asian
values, endeavouring to deepen
democracy, ensure free choices,
promote sustainable innovation,
and resolve conflicts peacefully.