Why India needs to look east to Taiwan

As of December 2019, a Taiwanese review of Chinese online chats found that there was an unexplained outbreak of the virus in Wuhan. Its public disease control services were thus recommended to immediately set strict travel restrictions and to monitor segregated surveillance, including cell phone tracking. Through its “Taiwan Can Help” program, health professionals in the country began to advise other countries. At a time when the world is in dire need of masks, the world’s leading factories are moving gears quickly and donating 10 million surgical masks.

Ironically, while Taiwan may have been at the forefront of responding to covid-19 and in helping the international community, it is not a member of the World Health Organization ”” because China opposes Taiwan’s recognition as an independent nation. Even the New York Times is diminishing in reference to it as a country, which is strange to call an “island”.

However, 2020 marks a change in the global situation compared to Beijing, which has helped shape the international situation in Taiwan. Continuing to debate whether the WHO is able to work effectively in China has thwarted an investigation into the origin of the virus (Beijing, which has also sought an investigation into whether its origins are in the US). “It is very important that countries with epidemics inform other countries,” he said. Jason Wang, professor of pediatrics at Stanford University. “Right now, the WHO must be invited to the country to continue this process. The whole world has been suffering for more than a year. There must be a better way.”

For too long, Cinderella has pushed aside the country and the international arena, Taiwan’s success in covid management and warning the world of its sudden violence has raised the country’s profile. If there is one country India should use as a model in managing the epidemic, and putting its Make in India programs on a solid foundation, it is Taiwan. Of the two key figures identified by India as a priority over the next decade – building a vibrant public health system and ensuring that local factories are included in the global supply chain – the East Asian country with a population of 24 million active models.

Chinese pivot + 1

Alan Hao Yang, a professor at the Institute of East Asia Studies at National Chengchi University and executive director of the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, notes that the epidemic has given “Taiwan the opportunity to demonstrate its potential as a responsible international member of society. Its practices of sharing medical resources and epidemic control “highlighted the differences between Taiwan and China.

On the contrary, he says, China “used this window of opportunity when other superpowers were busy controlling the virus.” The survey was shared by Indian analysts who tried to make post-facto coverage of China’s entry into the Ladakh border last year.

Recently, the Financial Times quoted details of a letter sent to Taiwan’s economy minister from chief executive officer Joe Biden in which he expressed gratitude for “the Taiwanese government’s clear commitment to working with Taiwanese manufacturers” to reduce chemical shortages. Global car shortages due to automobiles, Taiwan’s global leadership in the industry gives it another reason to stand out. Trade-in goods between the US and Taiwan has tripled since 2000 and is now close to $ 150bn. in the ears of Taipei. Taiwan has made a trade agreement with the US for at least 15 years, “FT said.

Similarly, India should also work to increase ties with Taiwan by exploring a free trade agreement, said former national security adviser Shivshankar Menon, a former Chinese ambassador. Given the potential to do things in Taiwan, especially in the high-end mobile phone segment, this will quickly give impetus to the government”™s Narendra Modi promotional connectivity (PLI) programs. Many Taiwanese giants such as Hon Hai’s Foxconn and Pegatron are already taking part. Like many imported industrial policies that fly to New Delhi, however, the risk is that the difficulty of managing the costs of raw materials increased by jobs in imports will hinder India’s chances of becoming a global supplier. The competitive mobile phone manufacturing business is already owned by China and Vietnam.

In a sense, the PLI plan includes both promise and pitfalls in the coming days as India and Taiwan seek greater cooperation. It builds India’s growing interest among Taiwanese companies, no doubt the executives of the world’s largest companies.

Professor Yang points to a Taiwanese government survey showing that over the past few years, Taiwanese companies have invested $ 2 billion in India, creating tens of thousands of jobs (This is only part of the $ 14 billion that comes out of Taiwan in 2018 alone). “Having invested in Southeast Asia for more than 40 years, Taiwanese companies have experience in exploring their acquisitions,” he said.

But there are many traps ahead. First, PLI strategies are targeted at large companies, with the majority of Taiwanese companies playing a key role in making Communist China the largest exporter in the world in the last few decades small and medium enterprises.

India’s unique difficulty with red tape in bureaucratic also makes it difficult for small shippers from Taiwan to use India as a base. Recent data shows small and medium-sized exporters in Britain have lost market share as the cost of export adjustments has risen after Brexit. Government Modi’s racism in creating jobs in the thousands of manufacturing facilities will also be a barrier to labour-intensive industries, which often have smaller barriers.

Lo Chih-Cheng, a member of Taiwan’s parliament and a member of the country’s foreign and defence committee, feels that India should be the main successor to Taiwan’s southward policy over the past few years: “It includes not only Southeast Asian countries but India and Australia. Clearly, India could be a very important country. ”

Now, with Taipei financially supporting its companies to make it easier to get out of China, he is emphasizing the importance of shifting its SMEs to India. Lo points out that 98% of companies in Taiwan are SMEs and 70% of jobs are created by them. Lo says Taiwan’s investment has been unparalleled in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, but notes, “Taiwan and India are natural partners not only in security but also in building political relations.”

The most beautiful country in Asia

Analysts in Taiwan feel that the two countries have shown that they can work together in skills transfer when it comes to managing earthquakes or large-scale production, but much remains to be done in public health management. Wang of Stanford University points to Taiwan’s success in using chips on mobile phones to track down people who have not been separated and ensure they stay at home.

It cites its success in 17 years of preparation following the 2003 SARS outbreak SARS in Asia. In countries such as the UK, the use of private companies that use telephone groups to communicate with people has failed surprisingly, in part, because the spread of disease often overrides the public health system’s tracking of human movement and health using social media.

In a clear example of Taiwan’s technological prowess, its response to the visit of the Dayin Princess cruise liner was exemplary. Three thousand passengers boarded a one-day boat trip to Keelung, Taiwan, on January 31. Wang notes that approximately 627,000 contacts from that dangerous trip were informed by text messages and asked to isolate themselves or call health officials if they had any symptoms; 67 Taiwanese were tested, all of them infected. This event also marks the establishment of a digital regime.

Taiwan is often described as the most beautiful country in Asia by archaeologists in the region. Its good performance and team spirit in the show against covid is an old trend for good guys who finish first. Covid has also shown that the world has a lot to learn from democracies in Asia such as Korea and Taiwan – and, indeed, India, which has intervened to develop a standard vaccine.

Vaccination discussions

As India follows its vaccination talks, Taiwan should be at the top of its list. Last month, Taiwan’s health minister accused China of pressuring BioNTech just as it was about to sign a contract with German company pharma to deliver 5 million vaccines in Taiwan. Serum Institute’s head start in global pharmaceutical production makes India an obvious partner.

Indo-Taiwan relations have been severed in part due to New Delhi’s sensitivity to what Beijing’s bellicose response would be to a deeper engagement with Taiwan. On March 7, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the United States that “the Chinese government has no room for compromise or compromise on Taiwan.” Due to the challenges on the northern border of India, these are the most difficult times in New Delhi to establish a stable relationship with China. However, the Member of Parliament for Taiwan, says that as China has gained “the power to create its own influence” in Asia, all China’s neighbours should work together. “Currently, there is no official track 1 dialogue. There is a need for that kind of conversation. We are facing a strategic threat from China”¦ (India’s independent office) in Taipei with a focus only on the economy and trade, “Lo said.

Menon warns that while the Indian government has a very large population in China, it must continue to try to get closer to Taipei, including using it as a base for China. Taiwan is locked out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) because China is a prominent member. The bilateral trade agreement instead could improve Taiwan’s and India’s co-operative environment in manufacturing, with Taiwan providing the strength of global technology and knowledge of global supply chains while India expands with more of its staff and intermediate management skills.

So much can be learned from the close relationship between the two countries. Sana Hashmi, a visitor to the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, says, “In the field of science and technology, collaboration is widespread, but especially at track II level. However, some aspects of the relationship have been put on hold due to a lack of a framework or manual on how to regulate India-Taiwan relations. ”

Look, Taiwanese MP, always optimistic. He admits that he has heard “complaints” from Taiwanese SMEs about their dealings with India’s administrative office. “Any major market has risks and costs, and you have to accept that … In 1979, China was tough,” Lo said. “Our SMEs are very brave and willing to go anywhere.” The Quad summit earlier this month revived India-US cooperation, Australia and Japan. But India has never considered small East Asian countries as important as they should be. the role of semiconductor chips and computers, as well as its position as an Asian liberal threat threatened by Beijing, that change has passed.

Despite nearly a nearly daily intrusion into Taiwan’s airspace by China last year, Taiwan’s exports to Hong Kong reached $ 151 billion by 2020, underscoring China’s importance as a manufacturing hub for Taiwanese companies. It is also a reminder that for forty years, Taiwan has served as a fast-paced tug-of-war that has pulled China into its dominant global trading position today.