MY VISIT TO TAIWAN

By Ellis S. Krauss, Professor, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, USA

        From November 1 to November 5, 2013 I had the pleasure of visiting Taiwan to attend two conferences, one in Kaohsiung at National Sun Yat-sen University on the theme of “Abe-ministration: Reforms and Challenges” and the other in Taipei at the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Industrial Economics and Knowledge Research Center on the theme of “International Industrial Policy.”  As an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, it was a wonderful experience to learn more about these subjects and to learn more about Taiwan. My wife and I had only been to Taiwan once before, only to Taipei briefly in 1998. So it was a great chance to also see Kaohsiung for the first time and to see how Taiwan has changed in the last 15 years.  One of the great and lovely surprises was taking the high-speed train to Kaohsiung and then back to Taipei. The train wasn’t here fifteen years ago, and provided a very fast, smooth, and comfortable ride, similar to the shinkansen trains that we had taken often in Japan.

        First, about the conferences. The first in Kaohsiung was closest to my own current research interests as it concerned the domestic and foreign policy of Abe Shinzō, Japan’s new prime minister, and the many challenges he faces and changes he would like to implement. The participants were a most interesting and accomplished group of Taiwan and Japanese scholars, as well as graduate students from National Sun Yat-sen University.  From Japan, Mr. Junichi Nishiyama who has been involved with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a major Japanese defense contractor, for many years was extremely interesting about the relationship between “Abenomics” and Japan’s security; Mr. Tetsuo Kotani of the Institute of International Affairs spoke very knowledgeably about the Abe administration’s current security policy especially in the East China Sea. From Taiwan, it was a pleasure to hear Prof. Andrew Yang, who combines experience in both government and academics, as well as Professor Ming-Yen Tsai make presentations on Abe’s foreign policy as well.  Professor Chun-Ching Yang and I discussed the domestic political aspects of the Abe administration. Professors Cheng-Yi Lin, Yujen Kuo, Chung-Chin Yang, Zheng-Jia Tsai also served as commentators and we all engaged in a spirited discussion of these subjects. It was particularly interesting to me to hear the differences between the Japanese and Taiwanese views, which while overlapping in some respects, came from different perspectives in others.

        During the afternoon session four graduate students, Nathan Novak, Rebecca Chen, Ting-Yang Chen, and Yi-li Lin, gave excellent presentations on the U.S.-Japan Alliance, the South China Sea, Japan’s Missile Defense and Defense Industry, and Southeast Asia Security Policy, followed by feedback from the other participants in the conference.  It was especially encouraging for me to see the development of the next generation of Taiwan scholars and their interest and expertise concerning Japan’s foreign policy.

        While in Kaohsiung we walked along the very pretty “Love River” with several graduate students to the City Historical Museum that had a fascinating collection of local artifacts concerning fishing, festivals, and the major events of Kaohsiung’s political history.  Then, while waiting for a lunch table by the harbor, we accidentally discovered an exhibition about “Star Trek” that had the posters, costumes and sets of the long-running popular science fiction television and movie production. Finding this in Kaohsiung proved to me that the world was not only becoming “globalized” it was becoming “universal-ized!”

        Back in Taipei, the conference on “International Industrial Policy” provided a forum for a very international group of scholars to discuss European, Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese approaches to the relationship between government and the economy.  Dr. Sven Hallscheidt of the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry discussed “Demographic Change and its implications in Germany,” and Pao-Yuan Wang of IEK also discussed Germany but its “talent policy” which has implications for Taiwan and its economic development.  Dr. DoHoon Kim, President of the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade presented on Korea’s New Industrial Policy and a creative economy. Finally, Dr. David Flacher, an economist at the University of Paris-13, compared the Korean and French cases in terms of telecommunications and competition versus industrial policy.  Finally, Tsung-Yun Chen of IEK, discussed Taiwan’s international industrial cooperation. It was particularly interesting for me to see first, countries as diverse as Germany and Taiwan are facing similar problems of a rapidly aging society, similar to Japan’s; and that Korea and France have taken such totally different approaches to telecommunications.

        Taipei seemed to us to have gotten much larger and denser than fifteen years ago (is this true, or just our limited perspective at that time?) with much more up-scale areas.  There were many more luxury shops, many of them international, than we remember from our first visit. On our final day in Taipei, prior to leaving we had the morning at the National Palace Museum that we had visited fifteen years ago. Although the buildings had been modernized, the collection was still absolutely astounding. Both times we were especially impressed with the ivory carvings, the use of jade through the ages and from very early times, and the collections of Emperors. The National Palace Museum is truly one of the great museums in the world.

        I cannot complete this article without mentioning the fantastic food and hospitality we received from our hosts. We remembered good food in Taiwan, but our hosts, President Hung-Duen Yang, Dean Wen-Cheng Lin, and Professor Yujen Kuo in Kaohsiung and Director Stephen Su, Deputy General Director Chi-Tsung You,  and Manager Chih-Chiang Cheng in Taipei outdid themselves with sumptuous and delicious meals and hospitality. Yi-Li Lin and Chun-Ching  (Lawrence) Chang took very good care of us as our guides in the two cities. We are very grateful to all these people for our wonderful four days in Taiwan!