It puzzles me that people who think signing a trade agreement with China is against their interests… who object to opening up their country’s economy… it puzzles me that they do not seem to advocate a reasonable alternative.
We all know the current arrangements are producing low-growth, no real income growth, moderate inflation, and increased unemployment. If we don’t do a trade deal with China, I would like to see someone propose a serious alternative.
What’s worse, with Taiwan’s economy already ranked 27th in the world, and about the size of Argentina or Belgium… to leave out doing a deal with China seems awfully silly because: a. proximity, b. opportunity, and c. markets are all ready in your favor.
Of course, doing Business in China isn’t going to be easy. And like most things in business, just because you can run a business doesn’t mean you should. There are plenty of horror stories.
And no one can doubt the impact on some sectors of a deal like this. Take a look at HK. However, HK’s economy is vastly different to Taiwan’s. Much shallower, much more dependent on finance & property markets than here. And also, with or without trade deals, much more dependent on China for its goods & service than Taiwan will be.
But proctectionism will not produce wealth, for sure… it will instead create additional barriers to wealth creation within Taiwan. Just look at the royal mess that Britain was in the 1970s… it didn’t work then there. It won’t work here now.
So what is the alternative?