Taishang

Taishang (台商) is an informal term used to describe Taiwanese businesspeople who do business in mainland China.[1] The term literally translates into English as "Taiwan Business." There is no official definition for the term "taishang" and there are no official statistics on the number of Taishang working in mainland China. Unofficial estimates circulating in 2011 suggested that between 1 million and 3 million Taiwanese citizens (including family members) lived in mainland China.[2] Simply living in mainland China, however, does make a Taiwanese citizen a taishang.

Economic impact

Taiwan Approved Investments in Mainland China by Cases Accumulation from 1991 to 2014

The more Taiwanese capital is invested in the mainland, the more it becomes part and parcel of China’s growing economy.[3] Therefore, the taishang are a major force in the economic integration of China with the larger world-economy.

After the economic reform escalated, China has attracted a huge amount of direct investments from Taiwan and concomitantly a large number of Taiwanese entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals moved to China. China has replaced the US as Taiwan’s top importer in 2003.[4]

The change of government in Taiwan in May 2008 and the economic crisis that took hold of coastal China in late 2008 and continued throughout 2009, forced many factories in Taiwan to close down or relocate to other countries. This led to a large increase in the number of taishang in Mainland China.[5]

As of the end of 2008, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) reported Taiwanese direct investment (TDI) in China to be USD47.7 billion; Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) Investment Commission (hereafter, Investment Commission) announced a total investment value of USD75.6 billion; Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) estimated the amount at between USD100 billion and USD150 billion; many private sectors in Taiwan estimated the amount to be between USD100 billion and USD200 billion.[6]

Political impact

Collectively the taishang are seen as an important group in Taiwanese politics and are widely perceived to be supportive of deeper economic integration between Taiwan and mainland China.[7][8][9][10] Taishang as a group are widely assumed to support Taiwan's right-of-center KMT party.[11] The taishang organization Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM) organizes flights to Taiwan for taishang to vote in Taiwanese elections.[12] In reality research shows that most taishang are not very interested in Chinese media journalism or television programmes.[5] This is because the perception of being superior to the PRC Chinese discourages them from becoming involved in Chinese society and politics.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Taishang in 2012: Still "business is business"?". nottspolitics.org.
  2. ↑ "Asia Times Online :: Politics seen in cheap China-Taiwan flights". atimes.com.
  3. ↑ Shu Keng; Gunter Schubert (March–April 2010). "Agents of Taiwan-China Unification? The Political Roles of Taiwanese Business People in the Process of Cross-Strait Integration". Asian Survey. 50 (2): 287–310. doi:10.1525/as.2010.50.2.287.
  4. ↑ Tseng Yen-Fen; Jieh-Min Wu (April 2011). "Reconfiguring citizenship and nationality: dual citizenship of Taiwanese migrants in China". Citizenship Studies. 15 (2): 265–282. doi:10.1080/13621025.2011.549728.
  5. 1 2 Schubert, Gunter (2010). "The Political Thinking of the Mainland Taishang: Some Preliminary Observations from the Field". Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. 39 (1): 73–110.
  6. ↑ Chen-yuan TUNG; Chia-ko HUNG (December 2012). "The Estimation of Aggregate Statistics for Taiwan-Invested Enterprises in China: 1988–2008". China: An International Journal. 10 (3): 119-132.
  7. ↑ "Beijing's Trojan Horse? China Policy Institute Blog". nottingham.ac.uk.
  8. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/world/asia/taiwan-vote-lures-back-expatriates-in-china.html?_r=0
  9. ↑ Steve Tsang (10 September 2012). The Vitality of Taiwan: Politics, Economics, Society and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-137-00991-3.
  10. ↑ Murray Scot Tanner (30 January 2007). Chinese Economic Coercion Against Taiwan: A Tricky Weapon to Use. Rand Corporation. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-8330-4253-8.
  11. ↑ "Fair Observer blog". www.fairobserver.com.
  12. ↑ "Special Report: How China's Shadowy Agency Is Working to Absorb Taiwan". www.reuters.com.
  13. ↑ Ping Lin (2013). "Taiwanese women in China: Integration and mobility in gendered enclaves". China Information. 27 (1): 107–123. doi:10.1177/0920203x12470321.


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