November 2020 | Vol

Issue Sponsor 號執照登記為雜誌交寄 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN TAIPEI TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS November 2020 | Vol. 50 | Issue 11 中華郵政北台字第 5000 透過將生命放在第一位，我們開創了永久的傳承

在過去近 130 年來，我們致力為世界各地人類及動物所面對最棘手的健康挑戰研發對抗疾病的希望，今日，默沙東持續成為全球一流的研發密集型生物製藥公司，為今日、明日的病患及社會，甚或是未來的世代不斷帶來更多的醫學創新。

CONTENTS

NEWS AND VIEWS 7 Editorial

NOVEMBER 2020 VOLUME 50, NUMBER 11 Reexamining Strategic Ambiguity 一○九年十一月號重新檢視戰略模糊 8 Taiwan Briefs Publisher 發行人 By Jeremy Olivier Leo Seewald 李豪 Editor-in-Chief 總編輯 14 Issues Don Shapiro 沙蕩 Is Taiwan Ready for a Sovereign Deputy Editor 副總編輯 Jeremy Olivier 歐嘉仁 6 President’s View Wealth Fund? Art Director/ 美術主任/ Out with the old and in with the new 主權基金行不行？ Production Coordinator 後製統籌 Katia Chen 陳國梅 By Leo Seewald By Don Shapiro Manager, Publications Sales & Marketing 廣告行銷經理 Caroline Lee 李佳紋 COVER SECTION Translation 翻譯 Kevin Chen, Andrew Wang 台灣醫療體系總體檢陳又銘, 王先棠 Checking Up on Taiwan’s Hospitals

American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei 17 Controlling Costs While 129 MinSheng East Road, Section 3, 7F, Suite 706, Taipei 10596, Taiwan Fighting Disease P.O. Box 17-277, Taipei, 10419 Taiwan Tel: 2718-8226 Fax: 2718-8182 Aside from the large medical e-mail: [email protected] website: http://www.amcham.com.tw centers that enjoy significant 名稱：台北市美國商會工商雜誌 economies of scale, many 發行所：台北市美國商會臺北市10596民生東路三段129號七樓706室 Taiwanese hospitals have 電話：2718-8226 傳真：2718-8182 been faced with financial Taiwan Business Topics is a publication of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, ROC. Contents are difficulties due to rising costs. independent of and do not necessarily reflect the views of By Jane Rickards the Officers, Board of Governors, Supervisors or members. © Copyright 2020 by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, ROC. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint original material must be requested in writing from AmCham. Production done in-house, Printing by Farn Mei with the means to pay out- Printing Co., Ltd. of-pocket and provide the 登記字號：台誌第一零九六九號印刷所：帆美印刷股份有限公司 hospitals with an additional 經銷商：台灣英文雜誌社台北市108台北市萬華區長沙街二段66號 source of revenue. 發行日期：中華民國一○九年十一月中華郵政北台字第5000號執照登記為雜誌交寄 By Jane Rickards ISSN 1818-1961 25 Tracking Taiwan’s Medical Chairperson: C.W. Chin History Vice Chairpersons: Fupei Wang, Timothy Shields Secretary: Seraphim Ma By Jane Rickards Treasurer: Angela Yu 23 Taiwan’s Hospitals on the 2019-2020 Governors: 27 Hospital Partnerships Stay Albert Chang, Seraphim Ma, Paulus Mok, Manohar COVID-19 Frontlines Thyagaraj. Strong Through Pandemic By Jane Rickards 2020-2021 Governors: C.W. Chin, Brian Sung, Amid the disruption caused Timothy Shields, Fupei Wang, Roger Yee, Angela Yu. 24 Getting Something Extra by COVID-19, Taiwan’s 2020 Supervisors: Mark Horng, Stephen Tan, Terry with Taiwan’s Private Tsao. hospitals have turned to online Clinics tools to maintain valuable COMMITTEES: Agro-Chemical/ Melody Wang; Asset Management/ Many of Taiwan’s major partnerships with Southeast Eric Lin, Angela Yang, Derek Yung; Banking/ Paulus Mok; Capital Markets/ Mandy Huang, Eric Jai, C.P. medical centers now house Asian countries forged under Liu; Chemical Manufacturers/ Charles Liang, Michael Wong; Cosmetics/ Abigail Lin; Defense/ Manohar private clinics that offer the New Southbound Policy. Thyagaraj, Roger Yee; Digital Economy/ Max Chen, premium services to patients. By Hilton Yip Renee Chou, Tai Chi Chuan; Energy/ Richard Freer, Randy Tsai; Human Resources/ Christine Chen, David Tsai; Infrastructure & Engineering/ Wayne Chin, Paul Lee; Insurance/ Emily Chen, KT Lim, Linda Tsou; TAIWAN BUSINESS BACKGROUNDER Intellectual Property & Licensing/ Jason Chen, Peter Dernbach, Vincent Shih; Marketing & Distribution/ (tba); Medical Devices/ Louis Ko, Jeffrey Wang; 32 Solving Taiwan’s Plastics 35 The Gini in Taiwan’s Bottle Pharmaceutical/ Justin Chin, Rie Nakajima, Shuhei Sekiguchi; Private Equity/ Echo Yeh; Public Health/ Problem Taiwan’s status as a just and Joyce Lee, Pongo Peng, Tim Shields; Retail/ Ceasar Chen, Peggy Liao; Sustainable Development Goals/ Several local startups are devel- equitable country has been Kenny Jeng, Cosmas Lu, Fupei Wang; Tax/ Heidi Liu, Cheli Liaw; Technology/ Cynthia Chyn, Stella Lai, oping products aimed at reducing burnished by its handling of the Angela Yu; Telecommunications & Media/ Thomas Ee, the massive amount of single-use David Shin; Transportation & Logistics/ (tba); Travel & COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism/ Gina Tsai, Jason Yeh, Fiona Yuan. plastics consumed on the island. By Jules Quartly By Steven Crook

COVER DESIGN: GRACE YANG

4 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

11 contents.indd 4 2020/11/10 上午11:59 NOVEMBER • VOLUME 50 NUMBER 11 COVER SPONSOR

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TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 5

11 contents.indd 5 2020/11/9 下午9:32 PRESIDENT'S VIEW

Out with the old and in with the new

fter 13 years in the same office space, enter into a bilateral free trade agreement and we AmCham has now started our office ren- will continue to work with the various U.S. and ovation. The staff have all moved down Taiwan-based groups that share this objective. Ainto the 6th floor Lincoln Room while the 7th Business leaders will also soon receive an floor main office undergoes a major renova- invitation to fill out our latest annual Business tion. Our temporary office resembles a tech Climate Survey. This year’s survey is slightly startup – very cozy and intimate. The renova- expanded to cover business leaders’ views on tion will be complete early next year, and we the effects of COVID-19 and the resultant trend look forward to welcoming members to the new for many companies to have some employees office then. working from home. Please take time to fill I am sure most of you watched the U.S. Pres- out the survey when you receive it. We will idential election last week and I would like to announce the results early next year. thank those who attended the live Bloomberg It seems November is a great month for coverage from our Taipei office. It was good elections. Ballots to select next year’s Board event, but afterward it took a few more days of Governors and Supervisors have been sent before we found out (more or less definitively) to the voting members of AmCham company that we will be getting a new administration in voting members in advance of the annual gen- Washington. eral meeting (AGM) later this month. We are AmCham has gone on record to say again honored to have President Tsai as our key- that whether the administration is Demo- note speaker, and AIT Director Christensen crat or Republican, we believe the American will also attend. The strong support from the policy toward Taiwan will remain mostly the Taiwan and U.S. government at the AGM is tes- same. Now with the election over, the proof tament to AmCham’s strength in the community. will be in the pudding. We will begin to reach The AmCham staff has done an excellent job out to members of the new U.S. government as in developing these relationships, and it is the soon as we find out who the relevant appointees reason we have been so effective in our advocacy are. Our goal is still to have Taiwan and the U.S. efforts. We wish all the candidates good luck in the election and we look forward to working with the new Board!

Leo Seewald President, American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei

6 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

11 presidents view.indd 6 2020/11/9 下午9:33 E D I T O R I A L Reexamining Strategic Ambiguity

discussion currently underway in American foreign policy between Taipei and Beijing. circles focuses on how best to define the potential U.S. While the proposed changes do add some clarity to the U.S. Aresponse to a military attack on Taiwan. Washington’s position, Stilwell emphasized that they would remain within the longstanding approach to the matter has been called “stra- bounds of Washington’s current One-China policy. tegic ambiguity” – a vague statement of support for Taiwan in Shortly after Stilwell’s speech, the prestigious journal Foreign the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) but no explicit commitment to Affairs published an article by Council on Foreign Relations Pres- defending the island militarily. For decades, that position has ident Richard Haas and research fellow David Sacks. While provided the U.S. with a degree of flexibility in its dealings with supporting Stilwell’s position, the authors went further by both Beijing and Taipei. suggesting that the U.S. provide Taiwan with a clear security guar- As China’s relations with both the U.S. and Taiwan continue to antee to eliminate the possibility of misinterpretation. deteriorate and its military provocations against Taiwan intensify, Many defense analysts found their points persuasive. Others however, the days when that arrangement worked in everyone’s worried that the clearer commitment might backfire, provoking favor may be fast coming to an end. China has taken a much China and possibly putting Taiwan at greater risk. Still, it is more aggressive posture in the Taiwan Strait in recent months, highly encouraging that both sides of the argument are primarily with PLA fighter jets frequently crossing over the arbitrary but concerned with determining the most effective means of ensuring until now mostly respected median line. In mid-October, the South Taiwan’s security. The occasional U.S. scholars who a few years China Morning Post reported that China has been upgrading its ago were casting doubt on the value of the U.S.-Taiwan relation- coastal missile deployment. ship are now even more rarely heard from. The situation has become sufficiently critical that some U.S. Also encouraging is that current public opinion in the U.S. government officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for appears aligned with the notion of a less ambiguous stance East Asian and Pacific Affairs David R. Stilwell, are proposing a toward helping to defend Taiwan. A recent survey conducted by policy change from the traditional ambiguity over the American the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that a role in Taiwan’s defense to one of strategic clarity. majority of respondents supported the idea of the U.S. coming to In an August 31 speech at the Heritage Foundation, Stilwell Taiwan’s defense if attacked. noted that such a policy change would place renewed emphasis AmCham Taipei hopes that the U.S. will continue to review on the U.S.’ adherence to the Six Assurances made to Taipei by and where appropriate update its policies regarding the security President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Among other things, these of Taiwan. Doing so would not only underscore the seriousness of assurances affirmed that the U.S. has not set a date for ending the American commitment to an important if unofficial ally but sales of defensive arms to Taiwan, and that it would not pressure would also signal to other Indo-Pacific partners that the U.S. will Taiwan into negotiating with the PRC or play a mediation role not stand idly by while friends are being bullied.

重新檢視戰略模糊

國外交政策圈目前在進行的一項討論，焦點是一旦台這些調整會使美國的立場更加清晰，但史達偉強調，此舉並灣遭到軍事攻擊，美國應該如何回應。美國政府對此不違反美國目前的一個中國政策。美事長期以來保持所謂「戰略模糊」的態度，意思是依在史達偉發表演說後不久，著名期刊《外交事務》刊登一篇台灣關係法對台灣表達支持，但不明確承諾將以軍事手段保衛由外交關係協會會長哈斯與研究員薩克斯聯名發表的文章，呼台灣。在過去數十年間，這樣的立場讓美國政府在與北京和台應史達偉的主張，但進一步建議美國對台灣提供明確的安全保北交往時，得以保持相當的彈性。證，以消除錯誤解讀的可能性。但隨著中國與美國和台灣的關係持續惡化，並且加強對台許多國防分析師認為他們的論點具有說服力，但也有人擔灣的軍事挑釁，戰略模糊對各方都有利的日子可能即將結束。心比較明確的承諾可能有負作用，會激怒中國並且反而讓台灣近幾個月來，中國在台海擺出的侵略態勢遠超過以往，人民解承受更大的風險。但正反雙方所關切的重點，都在於探討保障放軍的戰機經常越過海峽中線。這個中線雖然並無法理依據，台灣安全的最有效做法，這點很令人鼓舞。幾年前還偶爾有少但兩岸多年來大都遵守，不會逾越，這情況直到最近才改變。數美國學者質疑美台關係的價值，但如今已很少出現他們的聲《南華早報》10月中報導，中國在增強沿海的飛彈部署。音。由於情況漸趨嚴重，包括亞太助卿史達偉在內的美國官員主同樣令人鼓舞的是，在協防台灣的議題上，美國目前民意似張改變政策，把美國傳統上對於協防台灣的戰略模糊策略改為乎偏向採取較清晰的立場。戰略暨國際研究中心最近一項調查戰略清晰。顯示，美國多數民眾支持在台灣遭到攻擊時前往援助。史達偉8 月31日在傳統基金會演說時指出，如果做出這項調台北市美國商會希望美國持續檢討有關台灣安全的政策，並整，將會是重新強調雷根總統在1982年對台灣做出的六項保且視需要更新。台灣雖然並非美國的邦交國，但它是重要的盟證。這六項保證包括確認美國不會設定終止對台提供防禦性武友，持續檢視並更新對台安全政策不僅將突顯美國對台承諾的器的期限、不會迫使台灣與中國談判，也不會在台北與北京之認真態度，也可以對美國在印太地區的其他夥伴表明：美國不間扮演調停的角色。會坐視盟友遭到罷凌。

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 7

11 Editorial.indd 7 2020/11/9 下午9:34 T A I W A N B R I E F S

— BY JEREMY OLIVIER —

MACROECONOMICS ECONOMIC INDICATORS

SUSTAINED OPTIMISM US$ billion Year earlier ON 2020 GROWTH Current Account Balance (Q2 2020) 21.8 17.6 National Development Council Foreign Trade Balance (Sep.) 7.1 3.1 (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin said New Export Orders (Sep.) 50 45.5 that based on recent economic data, Foreign Exchange Reserves (end Sep.) 499.6 469.5 Taiwan’s GDP growth rate for 2020 is expected to exceed the government’s Unemployment (Aug.) 3.99% 3.89% August forecast of 1.56%. The more Discount Rate (Sep.) 1.125% 1.375% optimistic outlook contrasts with the Economic Growth Rate Q2 2020p -0.58% 2.60% International Monetary Fund’s predic- Annual Change in Industrial Output (Aug.)p 4.70% 2.53% tion that the island would experience Annual Change in Industrial Output (Jan.-Aug)p 5.86% zero growth this year, although that is an Annual Change in Consumer Price Index (Aug.) -0.33% 0.43% improvement from its earlier estimate of Annual Change in Consumer Price Index (Jan.-Aug.) -0.27%

a 4% contraction. P=PRELIMINARY SOURCES: MOEA, DGBAS, CBC, BOFT Meanwhile, the NDC’s business monitor in September flashed “green” uncertainties for the global economy. Pods, has already been provided to for the second month in a row, based on TIER noted that exports in Septem- Congress. The second sale of US$2.37 steady growth as the total score in the ber increased by 9.36% year-on-year, billion was approved in late October and index continued to climb. The Coun- while imports decreased by 5.44% from includes 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense cil cited improved industrial production, September 2019. Overall trade stood at Systems and related hardware. manufacturing sales, and business senti- US$40.31 billion, a 22.87% jump from The new packages come very shortly ment as likely factors in the increased the same time last year. after the US$8 billion sale of F-16V score. Whatever the reason, all signs Retail sales in September rose 3% fighter jets made in August, the first sale point to a relatively robust year for year-on-year, according to the Minis- of new fighter aircraft to Taiwan since Taiwan’s economy despite the COVID- try of Economic Affairs (MOEA), which 1992 and part of a pattern of increased 19 pandemic. attributed the increase to Ghost Month defensive arms deals with Taiwan under The Taiwan Institute for Economic promotions offered by supermarket the Trump administration. It is yet Research (TIER) reported that all three chains and other retail outlets during another sign of the U.S. government’s of its composite indexes continued to that period. The MOEA also reported a increasingly supportive stance toward rise in September even as the spike in 10.75% rise in its industrial production Taiwan’s security in light of a more COVID-19 cases in Europe creates index for September – the eighth consec- aggressive Chinese posture in the Taiwan utive month of increase – citing strong Strait and worsening U.S.-China ties. TAIWAN STOCK EXCHANGE demand for tech hardware. Among the several pro-Taiwan figures PERFORMANCE in the Trump administration is National THE LINE SHOWS CHANGES IN TRADE VALUE AND THE SHADED AREA CHANGES IN THE TAIEX INDEX. INTERNATIONAL Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, who POINTS NT$ BILLION in a recent speech at the Aspen Institute 13000 315 NEW ARMS SALES advised Taiwan to begin bolstering its 12000 280 APPROVED BY U.S. military defenses in case of an “amphib- 11000 245 The U.S. Department of State ious invasion or even a gray zone 10000 210 approved two major arms sales to operation against them.” Others, such 9000 175 Taiwan in October. Formal notification as Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary 8000 140 of the first package, which is valued at of State Mike Pompeo, and Commerce 7000 105 US$1.8 billion and includes 135 Standoff Secretary Wilbur Ross, have made public 6000 70 5000 35 Land Attack Missile Expanded Response declarations of support for Taiwan. 4000 0 (SLAM-ER) missiles, 11 High Mobil- The greater focus placed on Taiwan ity Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) by high-level officials in the Trump

DATA SOURCE: TWSE M142 Launchers, and six MS-110 Recce administration is not lost on Taiwanese.

8 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

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According to a survey administered in Tsai’s foreign policy remarks were hearing to be conducted since the NCC Taiwan by the UK-based market research criticized by the opposition Chinese was established in 2006. firm YouGov, over 40% of respondents Nationalist Party (KMT) as too vague, During the hearing, the NCC accused said they would favor a Trump presi- particularly regarding regional partner- CTiTV of lacking an internal review dency, while 30% said they would prefer ships and trade agreements. The KMT mechanism, evidenced by the large his Democratic contender, Joe Biden. also said that her call for Taiwan’s polit- number of fines levied against it for Those who chose Trump said they did so ical parties to unite in upholding values complaints ranging from spreading disin- because they thought he would be more of freedom and democracy was not formation to biased reporting. CTiTV likely to continue strengthening the U.S.- reflected in her administration’s deci- has been fined 21 times over the past six Taiwan relationship. sion this August to lift the ban on certain years, for a total of NT$10.73 million imports of U.S. pork and beef, a move (US$375,000). The station’s lawyer DOMESTIC it says is not in line with public opin- argued that most of the cases have not ion in Taiwan. Surveys conducted by the been finalized and that the hearing was TAIWAN CELEBRATES Chinese-language United Daily News politically motivated. NATIONAL DAY 2020 and Storm Media have found Taiwanese Want Want founder and Chairman Taiwan’s 109th Double Ten National public opinion split evenly on the pork Tsai Eng-meng, an outspoken supporter Day celebration, held primarily in Taipei and beef issue. of Taiwan’s unification with China, also and Tainan, featured several military Double Ten Day events were also attended the hearing after being invited and civilian performances, including a held in major cities and territories by the NCC to testify. Despite reports synchronized flyby of recently upgraded around the world, including New York, that Tsai plays a big role in setting the F-16 fighter jets and a massive fireworks the Vatican, Sydney, and Somaliland. editorial tone of the media outlets his display. The ceremony was attended by company owns, he stated that he is not representatives and visiting dignitar- NCC HOLDS HEARING directly involved in CTiTV’s daily opera- ies from several of Taiwan’s official and ON TV LICENSE RENEWAL tions, nor does he dictate the angle of the unofficial diplomatic partners. The National Communications stories it covers. In her Double Ten speech in front of Commission (NCC) held a widely publi- CTiTV came under scrutiny during the Presidential Office in Taipei, Presi- cized administrative hearing on October the runup to Taiwan’s national elections dent Tsai once again praised Taiwan’s 26 regarding renewal of the broadcast- in January this year for coverage that ability to confront the COVID-19 ing license for Chung T’ien Television overwhelmingly emphasized the pres- pandemic efficiently and effectively (CTiTV), part of the Want Want China idential candidacy of the KMT’s Han without needing to impose lockdowns Times Media Group. It was the first such Kuo-yu. A July 2019 report in the Finan- or other drastic measures. Because of Taiwan’s strong pandemic response, it was one of few countries to maintain positive economic growth throughout the pandemic. Tsai also commented on Taiwan’s defense posture, stating that “showing weakness and making concessions will not bring peace,” and that Taiwan must adequately prepare and strengthen its national defense capabilities to foster peace and stability in the region. She reiterated her administration’s willing- ness to work with China to improve the currently frosty cross-Strait relationship but placed the onus on Beijing to “heed Taiwan’s voice, change the way it handles cross-Strait relations, and jointly facilitate cross-Strait reconciliation and Modified F-16 fighter jets conduct a synchronized flyby as attendees at the Double Ten National Day ceremony look on. peaceful dialogue.” PHOTO: OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 9

11 Briefs.indd 9 2020/11/9 下午9:35 T A I W A N B R I E F S

Asian financial hub. Momentum slowed in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and Beijing’s imposition of a draconian security law. While Taiwan authorities have continuously expressed support for and solidarity with protesters in Hong Kong, the government has yet to pass a refugee law to accommodate the growing number of activists looking for safe harbor on the island.

BUSINESS

MICROSOFT UNVEILS DATA CENTER PLANS Taiwanese protesters calling on China to release the 12 Hong Kong activists Microsoft announced plans at an arrested in August for trying to flee the territory for Taiwan. October 26 press conference to build an PHOTO: MARTTI CHEN Azure data center in Taiwan, the first cial Times quoted some current and ese staff. Chinese officials also took aim facility of its kind on the island. The former reporters for Want Want-owned at the event itself, saying that it violated center would constitute the U.S. tech outlets as stating that they had received Fiji’s “one-China principle and relevant giant’s largest investment in its more direct editorial input from the Taiwan rules and regulations.” than 30 years of operation in Taiwan. Affairs Office, the organ of the Chinese Microsoft Taiwan General Manager government responsible for relations HONG KONG RALLY Ken Sun said that the choice of Taiwan with Taiwan. HELD IN TAIPEI for the site was based on the strength of An October 25 rally in Taipei the local partners, the island’s compara- CROSS-STRAIT supporting 12 Hong Kong activists tively good economic conditions, and a who were arrested when trying to flee receptive government. DIPLOMAT SCUFFLE to Taiwan in August drew hundreds In order to stimulate Taiwan’s digi- RESULTS IN INJURIES of participants from across the island. tal transformation, Microsoft also said A Double Ten National Day event Dressed in black and carrying signs bear- it will train 200,000 local talent and organized by the Taiwan representative ing the slogan “Save 12” and other undertake other initiatives related to AI office on the Pacific island of Fiji turned messages of support, rally attendees hardware and cloud computing develop- sour when it was gatecrashed by two marched from the Zhongxiao Fuxing ment in Taiwan. The company says that Chinese embassy staff. MRT station in the city center to the such efforts will help to better position Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Taiwan as a regional hub for building (MOFA) reported that the diplomats Cultural Office in Taipei. advanced cloud software and hardware tried to force their way into the venue Rally organizers included the Taiwan infrastructure to support AI, IoT, and where the event was being held to take Association for Human Rights, the edge solutions. pictures and collect information on those Hong Kong Outlanders, and the Judicial President Tsai attended the press attending. A scuffle ensued when event Reform Foundation, while groups such conference, where she applauded Micro- organizers moved to block them from as the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan soft’s proposed investment, describing entering, resulting in injuries to members and the Taiwan Tongzhi (LGTBQ+) it as one more milestone in a series of of the Taiwanese staff. One was said to Hotline Association were also repre- major investment projects the company require hospitalization. sented at the march. has undertaken since she took office in The Chinese Embassy in Fiji refuted The protest movement in Hong 2016. These included the establishment MOFA’s characterization of the incident, Kong began in the summer of 2019 as of an IoT innovation center in 2016 and stating that its personnel were simply a response to a now-shelved extradition an AI R&D center in 2018. carrying out their official duties at the bill, but eventually broadened to encom- “These investments can effectively site, but were provoked by the Taiwan- pass calls for democratic reforms in the drive the development of Taiwan’s cloud

10 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

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industry, boost innovative momentum in TAIWAN'S JAN. - SEP. 2020 TRADE FIGURES (YEAR-ON-YEAR COMPARISON) our industries, and ensure that the world is aware of Taiwan’s formidable R&D capabilities,” Tsai said. China/ apan ASEA TOTA 108.1 95.4 46.1 42.6 40.4 38.4 33.4 31.8 HON HAI LOOKS TO 209.3 207.8 26.5 25.6 17.2 17.2 248.1 EV DEVELOPMENT 242.2 Hon Hai Precision Co., Taiwan’s larg- 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 est contract manufacturer of electronics, .S.A Europe announced in October its intention to 36.5 34 26.4 25.5

25.9 23.7 22.4 expand its automotive business, with the 20.3 aim of gaining a 10% share of the global 2020 2019 2020 2019 2020 2019 electric vehicle market by 2025. The T: S Billion Exports mports company, also known outside of Taiwan SO RCE: BOFT/MOEA as Foxconn, cited a decrease in its core consumer electronics business as a factor in its decision. Conference, an annual event organized pers Taiwan Chairman and CEO Joseph Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu noted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to Chau regarding supply chain restructur- that the company will use an “open” plat- promote investment in Taiwan, took ing, digital transformation, and Taiwan’s form for the hardware and software it place at the Taipei International Conven- attractiveness for foreign enterprises produces for EV companies – meaning tion Center on October 7. This year’s looking to redirect investment or move that it can be accessed and improved upon event focused on opportunities for foreign business operations out of China. by other developers. Liu said that this companies in Taiwan amid the combined Chau noted that PwC’s Summer 2020 approach will reduce the amount of repeat impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute Global CEO Survey found that over investment and improve the competitive- and the COVID-19 pandemic. 70% of large U.S. companies do not have ness and efficiency of Taiwan’s EV supply In opening remarks, Minister of plans to relocate, and that companies will chain. Hon Hai also intends to produce a Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said that increasingly consider “China+1” strate- solid state battery, which could eventually while global investment is predicted to fall gies, which would involve moving part of eliminate the EV industry’s current reli- by 40% this year, the decision of many their production to other countries in the ance on lithium-ion batteries, by 2024. Taiwanese businesses to re-shore produc- region. tion has ensured stable economic growth Among the other presenters at the BUSINESS ALLIANCE throughout the pandemic. conference was Cisco Taiwan General EVENT HELD IN TAIPEI Wang’s speech was followed by a Manager Jeffrey Wang, who discussed the The 2020 Taiwan Business Alliance presentation by PricewaterhouseCoo- potential investment and collaborative opportunities associated with Taiwan’s introduction of 5G this year. The conference concluded with a panel featuring Cadence Taiwan General Manager Brian Sung, Air Liquide Far Eastern Taiwan President & Greater China Cluster Electronics Vice Presi- dent Olivier Blachier, and Itochu Taiwan Chairman & President Shuji Oe. The session was moderated by Industrial Tech- nology Research Institute Executive Vice President Chang Pei-zen. The panelists shared their respective companies’ expe- riences investing and doing business in Taiwan, and analyzed Taiwan’s compara- tive strengths, as well as areas still in need Discussants on a panel at the Taiwan Business Alliance Conference in October. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS of improvement.

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 11

11 Briefs.indd 11 2020/11/9 下午9:35 ADVERTORIAL

The BMS Experience Managing a Major Transformation

020 has been a big year for similar transformation. It required the American biopharmaceutical acquisition not only of new hard skills – 2 company Bristol Meyers Squibb learning about new product specifications, (BMS). Its blockbuster US$74 billion new products, digital capabilities – but a acquisition last year of biotech firm number of soft skills as well. Celgene positions BMS as the number Gubern got to work launching two one oncology hematology company big initiatives aimed at improving her worldwide. What this merger means for own and her team’s ability to smoothly the Taiwan BMS affiliate is not only a navigate and contribute to the integration portfolio expansion, doubling the number process taking place at BMS. Rolling out of key products the company offers, but affiliate wide workshops on emotional also a promising pipeline in hematology, intelligence in change management and on oncology and immune-science. building resilience. “Prior to the acquisition, BMS has “This program was really about made a huge contribution in curbing building trust by showing vulnerability Taiwan’s high rate of hepatitis B, treating sharing our emotions, and understanding over 130,000 patients since 2006. In 2016 what triggers those feelings,” Gubern says. we launched immuno-oncology therapy “This has brought about a shift in the putting us at the forefront in the fight culture of the company. We are speaking against cancer. Immuno-oncology works our minds more and are encouraging the accountable, make space for work-life with the patient’s immune system, to inclusion of different points of view.” The balance, and take time off to disconnect.” destroy cancer cells and can help patients other initiative she introduced was geared BMS is also dedicated to fostering with different type of cancers such as lung, toward improving employee resilience, a diversity and inclusion in the workplace. gastric and liver cancer. Celgene on the factor that is vital for adapting to major Of the business and resource groups other hand, was known for its leadership changes or challenging situations in the formed both in Taiwan and globally, in hematology, specifically in multiple work environment. Gubern proudly highlights CLIMB myeloma, a rare blood cancer” says Eva “Changes this big can be over- (Cultivating Leadership and Innovation for Gubern, general manager of BMS Taiwan. whelming, so in our resilience workshop, Millennials and Beyond), which focuses on The revolution of BMS’ product we worked on identifying our circles of talent development among the company’s portfolio also necessitated that the influence and circles of control, she says. younger employees, and the Pride Alliance company and Gubern’s team undergo a “We then looked at how we can be more for LGBTQ+ inclusion. Given Taiwan’s

12 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

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recent codification of marriage equality keeping employees safe. by the National Health Insurance into law, BMS formed Asia’s very first For the company’s signature CSR Administration. While access to the vast LGBTQ chapter within the company, and program, Global Patient Week, BMS store of medical data is not available for BMS Taiwan’s Pride Alliance formally Taiwan this year is hosting the “Love, No commercial use, it has the potential to joined the Pride Parade in Taipei for the Distance: Roadside Running” event both provide treatments using big data and first time on October 31st. virtually and on-site. For each kilometer AI. Such solutions could predict patient The focus BMS places on its employees an employee completed, the company outcomes and adverse events, allowing for ties into its core mission of providing donates money to local charity. more accurate and effective treatment. innovative products to patients. As part Looking ahead, BMS seeks to continue Gubern cites Taiwan’s enthusiasm of its CSR efforts in previous years, the leveraging the latest technological for developing its medical technology company made a point of being out in the advancements in medicine to provide capabilities, particularly in the areas of field, visiting hospitals and working in patients with the best treatments possible. biomedicine and AI. “This is something person with underprivileged groups. But For her part, Gubern says that having that we’re very much in line with the the COVID-19 pandemic has forced it to worked with health systems on four government on,” she says. “We hope to think outside the box this year on ways to different continents, Taiwan has some of continue working with our local partners continue giving back to society while still the best in class medical data maintained to explore this unique area.”

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TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 13

BMS.indd 13 2020/11/9 下午9:37 ISSUES

Is Taiwan Ready for a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

A changing international environment is opening new opportunities.

n this year’s Taiwan White Paper, AmCham Taipei introduced the first I of what is intended to be a series of “Big Ideas” on how to move the Taiwan economy to a higher level. The initial proposal is for Taiwan to create what is known as a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), a government-run fund that would use a portion of the nation’s foreign exchange reserves to engage in overseas investments in the interest of higher returns or fulfilling strategic objectives. The White Paper stressed the benefits a SWF can bring in gaining international commercial influence to help counteract the political and economic isolation that Taiwan often faces. “A fund that holds just a few percent of a corpora- Podcasters, left to right, Leo Seewald, Jennifer Wang, and David Weng. tion’s stock is sure to have the ear of the company’s board and top management,” changed due to the Tsai Ing-wen admin- – they’re not aware of some of the the analysis said. “The investments could istration’s high public approval following tremendous things going on in Taiwan,” also lead to new business opportunities its effective handling of the coronavirus said Seewald. But being among their in Taiwan domestically, while making pandemic. investors and having access to the board possible greater financial growth and The panel members agreed with enables you to “say ‘did you know that diversification.” the assessment that a SWF for Taiwan in Taiwan we have this expertise’ or ‘in Carrying the discussion forward, the is overdue – but that it will take top- Taiwan we have this company doing Chamber last month cooperated with down pressure from President Tsai to see this,’ and they will start to listen.” the “Taiwan Matters Podcast” hosted by it materialize. In the past, the Central Weng said that the Taiwania fund that Nicholas Gould to bring together a panel Bank and other financial officials have he heads – which focuses on domestic of financial experts. The participants always adopted a highly conservative companies, especially startups – could were AmCham president Leo Seewald, attitude toward Taiwan’s overseas invest- be viewed as a precursor for a SWF. He a former country head for BlackRock ments. They stress that Taiwan’s lack of described the current environment as the Investment Management in Taiwan; membership in the International Mone- perfect opportunity for that development, Jennifer Wang, formerly Financial Super- tary Fund means that Taiwan is largely as Taiwan is well-positioned to be a stra- visory Commission chairperson now a on its own in the case of any financial tegic partner for the U.S. in restructuring professor at National Chengchi Univer- crisis. global supply chains and engaging in sity’s department of risk management Countering that argument, Seewald investment projects. and insurance; and David Weng, CEO of said that funding the SWF need not While supporting the creation of a Taiwania Capital Management Corp., a involve more than 10% of Taiwan’s large SWF, Jennifer Wang noted some of the national development fund established in pool of forex reserves, which currently challenges, especially the need to hire a 2018 by the Taiwan government. stands at just under US$500 billion. team of investment professionals with Opening the conversation, Gould However, the advantages of a SWF the type of experience and expertise not noted that Taiwan is the only one of investing in large-cap global companies currently found among civil servants. the four Asian Tigers without a SWF. could be substantial in raising Taiwan’s The podcast is accessible at taiwan- Although the idea has faced political international profile. matterspodcast.com/. hurdles in the past, he posed the possi- Multinational companies “always bility that the environment may have think China, China, China, China — By Don Shapiro

14 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

11 issues.indd 14 2020/11/9 下午9:38 ISSUES

行台灣籌主真總統主權基金行不行？有長期台灣新中行主台灣國會國台灣經發台北市美國商會年台灣中李豪國主所一台灣10台灣商會台灣所總5,000美台灣主政經理主市台灣一台灣國有為行李豪國中國中國年台灣主有中國中國台灣有台灣國商台灣長期台灣一為國台政經主灣傳會國台灣股有長有台灣會理有主主一有為台灣國商有嘉所經台公司長台灣國月商會為主為有台灣後經主先行所主台灣有主中為執行台灣：任台北市美國商會執行長任台灣有佳美國長李豪王台灣政主會主國政理王一台灣一台嘉總經理台201年台灣政人執行台灣公發國公司中經長人台灣中一有主為主政英文政有文沙蕩民社會有所主

TOPICS can be found in the Eslite, Kingstone, Caves and Hess bookstores in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. But why wait until we’re on the stands? Subscriptions Make sure of getting a copy by filling in the subscription form below.

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11 issues.indd 15 2020/11/9 下午9:38 COVER STORY

HOSPITALS

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CONTROLLING COSTS WHILE FIGHTING DISEASE

Aside from the large medical centers that enjoy significant economies of scale, many Taiwanese hospitals have been faced with financial difficulties due to rising costs. Many smaller hospitals have closed or merged, and the survivors have been looking for ways to cut expenses and increase revenues. The proportion of healthcare expenditures paid by patients out of pocket rather than through the National Health Insurance system has been rising steadily.

BY JANE RICKARDS

aiwan’s 480 hospitals increasingly a share of GDP across the OECD nations global budget. are becoming financially over- was around 8.8% before the onset of the In practice, however, overall health- stretched. A quarter of a century coronavirus pandemic. care expenditures in Taiwan are expected Tafter Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Taiwan maintains a “single payer” to greatly exceed this year’s global budget system was launched to provide univer- healthcare system in which most health of NT$752.6 billion (about US$26 sal healthcare, more and more medi- costs are covered by a sole public insti- billion) and will continue to soar to cal services are becoming privatized – tution, the National Health Insurance over NT$1 trillion, Lu predicts. She esti- and sometimes profit-driven – as hospi- Administration (NHIA) under the Minis- mates that National Health Insurance tals seek to drum up revenues in a highly try of Health and Welfare. All hospi- accounts for only about 56% of the total competitive environment. tals are required to have contracts with healthcare expenditure, with the remain- By OECD standards, Taiwan’s spend- the NHIA, which serves to keep health- ing 44% from patients’ out-of-pocket ing on healthcare is quite low, coming to care spending relatively low by ensuring payments and private health insurance. only 6.1% of GDP, says Rachel Lu Jui- there is only one buyer. It also pressures “Hospitals are struggling, and they fen, a professor of health care manage- contracted providers, including hospi- look for their own strategy to survive in ment at Chang Gung University. In tal managers and doctors, to keep their this highly competitive and highly regu- contrast, average healthcare spending as spending within a set total known as the lated healthcare market,” Lu says. She

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estimates that hospital expenditures health responsibilities and have more tivizes quantity of care over quality. It account for about 70% of the NHIA’s connections with the government. They also encourages the provision of services global budget, while Dr. Lee Wui-chiang, have taken a frontline position during the that have a high profit margin under the director of the Department of Medi- coronavirus pandemic. NHIA system. cal Affairs and Planning at Taipei Veter- The government usually uses a Jonathan Tepeng Tseng, chief of the ans General Hospital (TVGH), puts this “fee-for-service” payment system, in Department of Dermatology and head of figure at 67%. which healthcare providers are reim- the International Priority Care Center at According to Lee, around 30% of bursed according to the number and Taiwan Adventist Hospital, says he sees Taiwan’s hospitals are classed as public type of services they provide. In order 80 to 90 patients during a normal four- institutions and 70% are privately run. to keep expenditures within the global hour shift. After the points he is awarded Whether public or private, they come budget, providers are awarded points for are converted, he is paid roughly NT$80 under the same single-payer NHIA reim- completed work, with the points then per patient. bursement payment scheme. The only converted into New Taiwan dollars. For the patient, however, not all major difference, Lee says, is that public One of the main flaws of the fee-for- ailments are covered equally under the hospitals take on more social and public service payment system is that it incen- system. Andrew Huang, the pioneering founder and CEO of the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center, notes that while Taiwanese can walk into a clinic any time and get a common cold treated cheaply with NHI, “if you get cancer, at least 44% of the cost is paid out of pocket.”

Cost-containment pressures

Tung Yu-chi, an associate professor with the Institute of Health Policy and Management at National Taiwan Univer- sity (NTU), maintains that hospitals’ cost-control measures have already been expanded to the limit. She estimates that hospital revenues from patients’ out-of- pocket payments have increased from less than 5% before 2002 to the current 25%. While Taiwan’s National Health Insurance scheme does cover most basic healthcare costs, patients are increasingly paying out of pocket for certain treatments and pro- To increase revenue, hospitals offer cedures conducted at Taiwan's hospitals. various private services or operate private

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clinics (see the accompanying story in as it would reduce their reimbursements recent years, although hospitals this year this section). Tung notes that some hospi- by two-thirds. As a result of the pressure, received supplemental funding to help tals are also adding treatments and the NHIA left the system as is, he says. combat the coronavirus pandemic. equipment beyond what is covered by the Huang also notes that many Taiwan- Lee cites some of the cost-cutting NHIA. For example, only one kind of ese hospitals are rushing to buy robots. measures he imposed at TVGH. knee-replacement device is approved for Robotic surgery is less effective in reduc- Outsourcing services are used for janito- NHIA reimbursement. If patients want a ing breast tumors than traditional rial and cafeteria staff, which saves the more up-to-date, state-of-the-art device, surgery and much of it is not covered hospital from paying retirement costs, they must pay for it themselves. by the NHIA. Huang says that doctors he says. The hospital has also enhanced Huang of the Koo Foundation only get paid roughly 50,000 points for efficiencies by forming a network with suggests that the pursuit of profit at some traditional surgery but patients can be smaller community-level veterans’ hospi- hospitals may be coming at the expense charged about NT$250,000 for robotic tals. One-third of TVGH employees are of optimal patient care. His center surgery. There is a temptation for hired on a contract basis, but that is for recently created a method of managing surgeons to persuade patients to opt for reasons of increasing manpower rather breast cancer that shortened the duration robotic surgery just to earn more money, than cost-containment, since the quota of radiation treatments from six to an he says. of civil servants is fixed for each public average of three weeks, while still provid- Besides NHIA reimbursement, the hospital, Lee notes. ing patients with the same care and government makes additional budget Chang Gung’s Lu sees a trend for health outcomes. Huang asked the NHIA available for public hospitals, espe- respected public medical centers – the to change the funding system for this cially medium and small-sized hospi- nation’s largest, research-focused hospi- treatment to reflect the shorter duration, tals in rural areas. In general, the amount tals – to solicit donations from private but many radiation oncologists objected of such budget has been decreasing in industry to fund special projects. A

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NT$4.5 billion heavy ion therapy center is not due to revenue shortfalls.” are also operating nursing homes, taking that TVGH is building to provide Since universal health coverage was in elderly residents who can pay their advanced cancer treatment is being first instituted in 1995, the number own way. Alternatively, the hospitals can financed in part by private donations of district hospitals with fewer than apply to use budget from the govern- from companies or wealthy individu- 500 beds has been shrinking dramati- ment’s Long-term Care 2.0 fund, which als. “In many of these cases, they or their cally, from 568 in 1995 to 363 in 2018, this year stood at nearly NT$40 billion. loved ones regained their health under according to data from NTU’s Tung. The But TVGH’s Lee says the closure or our care,” Lee says. number of clinics, regional hospitals, merger of small hospitals represents only The private donations make it possi- and large medical centers has doubled or the first phase in a continuing develop- ble to build the heavy ion therapy center nearly doubled during the same period. ment. In a second phase now underway, without “crowding out investment in Finding it hard to survive on the a few small-scale regional hospitals are other critical care services,” Lee says. NHIA’s global budget alone, the remain- struggling because of higher costs, and “Because the government cannot budget ing small district hospitals are engag- some may be unable to continue oper- for it, we have to seek extra financial ing in other services such as home care ating. Medical centers with 1,000 beds resources for advanced facilities, but this for the elderly, Tung says. Some of them or more “are more likely to achieve economies of scale in cost containment and revenues under the fee-for-service payment scheme,” Lee says. NHIA policy encourages patients to seek primary care at either clinics or district hospitals. To reduce the outpatient load at regional hospitals and medical centers, since 2018 those institutions have been required to cut their outpatient volume by 2% annually until a 10% reduction has been achieved in five years. For some small-scale or rural regional hospitals, outpatient revenues tend to account for 60% or more of their total revenue. As a result, the decreased outpatient revenue threatens their survival. At the same time, these institutions need to maintain enough beds and manpower to meet the accreditation standard for Taiwan's hospitals may find extra sources of revenue in providing care services for regional hospitals. the island's rapidly increasing elderly population.

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“Therefore, a few hospitals intend to downgrade [to become district hospitals], Taiwan Hospitals and Clinics 1995-2018 but the MOHW and NHIA are keeping a watch on it,” Lee says. Lee urges more government support for the public hospitals, considering that 600 568 10,250 10,430 11,000 they have been essential in the battle 9,276 484 against COVID-19. 8,519 Some metropolitan hospitals are 450 7,647 417 8,250 6,912 378 losing talent to private hospitals as reve- 370 363 nues are falling, Lee says. To keep society safe from infectious diseases, he calls 300 Academic medical centers 5,500 Regional hospitals No. of hospitals for maintaining the proportion of public District hospitals No. of clinics hospitals at around 30%. Clinics 150 2,750 Tseng of the regional Taiwan Adven- 71 73 81 83 84 48 tist Hospital says his hospital is deal- 22 21 23 26 26 ing with the competition by focusing on 0 0 certain procedures it does particularly 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2018 Year well, such as tooth molding, jaw recon- SOURCE: TUNG YU-CHI struction, and breast cancer treatment. The hospital is also adopting a more multidisciplinary approach by bringing expenditures. This situation is only set to related issues. Instruction includes train- specialists from different departments worsen, with Taiwan expected to become ing workshops sponsored by the British together in teams. “This should be the a super-aged society by 2025, when 20% Geratric Society. trend but I am not sure if all the hospitals of citizens will be aged over 65. Lee says the center takes a multi- are doing it,” Tseng says. Lee of TVGH says his hospital is disciplinary approach as the elderly taking the lead in addressing this prob- may need to see “four doctors for four The aging population lem as it has the oldest patients in Taiwan diseases.” Other measures the hospital on average. According to 2018 statis- has introduced include a golf-cart-style Complicating the problems hospitals tics, the median age was 61 for outpa- “shuttle bus” to transport the elderly face is the burden created by Taiwan’s tients and 57 among inpatients, he says. between different buildings in the hospi- growing elderly population and low birth- TVGH’s Center of Geriatrics and Geron- tal complex and wider-than-normal rest- rate. According to NHIA data, people tology, founded in 2006, is a rare exam- rooms to accommodate wheelchairs. Lee aged 65 and over account for 15% of the ple of a Taiwanese hospital having this says the hospital has even adjusted the insured but consume 39% of the NHIA kind of specialized facility for aging- color and size of lettering in signage to

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make it easier for the elderly to read. offers remote management programs for Tung estimates that two million people in Chang Gung’s Lu predicts the aging patients with multiple chronic diseases. Taiwan are diabetic. trend will push hospitals to focus more Nursing case managers can communicate Lee stresses that affordable care does in future on cancer treatments, ortho- with patients daily by telephone, and not necessarily equal quality care, partic- pedics, ophthalmology, cardiology, a standby medical team offers 24-hour ularly for long-term illnesses like diabe- and urology. Tseng estimates that the support. tes that are linked to regular manage- number of doctors at Taiwan Adventist But some experts question the suit- ment of the patient’s lifestyle. He says Hospital specialized in illnesses experi- ability of the fee-for-service model for that Taiwanese average nearly 15 clinic enced by the elderly, such as oncologists treating chronic diseases, which Lee says or hospital visits per year, but notes that and neurologists focused on dementia, account for more than 70% of the cases these tend to be very short – each for has already increased by 5 to 10% over in Taiwan, rather than focusing on the just around five to ten minutes – before the past five years. quality of the treatment outcomes. the patient is typically provided with a Telemedicine has also been an emerg- According to Lee, the quality of care prescription for medication. ing trend for treating the elderly in in Taiwan for chronic diseases, especially But treatment of prevalent chronic Taiwan, although it is still not fully diabetes and hypertension, lags behind illnesses is known to be more effective covered by National Health Insurance. Japan and Korea. He notes that Taiwan when it includes both hospital care and Some hospitals have set up private tele- has the world’s highest rate of patients the availability of case managers to help- medicine centers to help the elderly, such with end-stage renal disease requiring ing monitor health management at home. as the Telehealth Center at National dialysis, and that in 46% of the cases the Lee notes that a pilot diabetes control Taiwan University Hospital, which condition is a result of diabetes. NTU’s program offering this sort of treatment was initiated nationwide but it was voluntary and only a small proportion of diabetic patients enrolled. He urges the National Health Insurance system to place more emphasis on incentivizing high-quality outcomes. “We want to control the growth rate of our finances, but at the same time we sacrifice quality of care,” says Lee, who was trained at the Johns Hopkins Univer- sity Bloomberg School of Public Health. “7% to 9% of our GDP should be put toward healthcare.” Huang’s Koo Foundation Sun Yat- sen Cancer Center has resolutely opposed fee-for-service treatments for some kinds of cancers. The center is famed for initi- ating a pilot pay-for-performance breast

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cancer care treatment that is covered says. Diabetes and hypertension often implementation of another payment by the NHIA. This program reimburses relate to lifestyles, he says, such as over- system known as Diagnosis-related health providers through defined, peri- eating and a lack of exercise, and smok- Groups. With DRG, hospitals are reim- odic, per-patient payments (known as ing is a major cause of lung cancer. bursed with a set fee for a given course “capitated payments”) at various stages Huang says he is asking the govern- of treatment, regardless of how long the of treatment and awards bonus payments ment to consider adopting “value-based patient is hospitalized. based on year-end survival rates. The purchasing” or VBP, a form of payment The DRG method originated in the multidisciplinary teams involved treat that holds healthcare providers account- U.S. and was first introduced to Taiwan patients in a humanistic way, and the able for both the cost and the quality of in 2010. The initial plan was to phase program boasts five-year invasive cancer care they provide. Under this arrange- it in completely within four years, but survival rates of 72% against Taiwan’s ment, the government would make implementation was stalled due to hospi- average of 52%. bundled payments to health providers tals’ strong opposition. Currently only a Huang, who received medical training for cycles of treatments, with the amount small fraction of hospital procedures is at the University of Pennsylvania and is of payment dependent on the quality handled under DRG. highly esteemed both in Taiwan and the of outcome. These kinds of treatments “The hospitals feel their hands are U.S., notes that aside from the coronavi- need to be multidisciplinary, and doctors tied,” Rachel Lu says of the broader rus, most infectious diseases have been would examine all factors contributing to question of hospital finances. “They wiped out in the industrialized world. the chronic illness, both medical and life- need flexibility and autonomy to run the “Medicine has changed from trying to style-related. hospital,” since an expenditure cap has handle acute infections to more chronic Meanwhile, Taiwan’s hospitals are already been placed on them in the form diseases that we create ourselves,” Huang still fighting against NHIA’s proposed of the global budget.

TAIWAN’S HOSPITALS ON THE COVID-19 FRONTLINES

aiwan has emerged this year as a shining example of pandemic management, with less than 600 reportedT cases since the onset of COVID- 19 in January. The systems and protocols that Taiwan’s hospitals already had in place from its experience combating the SARS epidemic in 2003 were one of the main factors contributing to the island’s success with COVID-19. Lee Wui-chiang, director of the Department of Medical Affairs and Plan- ning at Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), says that his hospital’s campus consists of several buildings connected by tunnel-like overhead walkways on second or third floors. Were an infectious disease to break out in one building, the walkways can easily be shut down, quickly Dr. Lee Wui-chiang, director of Medical Affairs and Planning at Taipei Veterans Gen- isolating the affected area. eral Hospital, notes the precautions the hospital adopted to control the spread of When the pandemic first hit Taiwan, COVID-19. PHOTO: TVGH suspected coronavirus patients were screened in a special shelter outside and Technology Building. The overhead the rest of the hospital. TVGH’s emergency clinic in the main walkway to the Chung Cheng building A dedicated team of hospital staff Chung Cheng Building. They were then was closed and the elevators, corridors, set up a negative pressure ward and sent to the neighboring Medical Science and air conditioning were shut off from intensive care unit. The team treating

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coronavirus patients lived in a hospi- istration (NHIA) using cloud technol- When the pandemic struck, the tal dormitory, isolated from both their ogy also proved to be highly helpful once government then further integrated these colleagues and family members. The the pandemic struck Taiwan. In 2013 databases with its immigration and floor that coronavirus patients were the agency launched the NHI Pharma- customs databases to carry out big data placed in was designed for managing cloud system, which allows medical orga- analytics. According to a report in the unknown infectious diseases or attacks nizations contracted with the NHIA to prestigious JAMA: The Journal of the from bioweapons. Lee notes that the view patient medications over the previ- American Medical Association, in late hospital’s primary goal at the time was ous three months, to avoid prescrip- January NHIA and the National Immi- to protect its other 3,000 inpatients and tions that are duplications or don’t inter- gration Agency integrated patients’ past- maintain the hospital’s capacity to treat act well with previously prescribed drugs. 14-day travel history with their NHI other ill people. The NHI MediCloud System, also intro- card data. Initially, all visitors to TVGH’s outpa- duced in 2013, enables physicians to With this new system in place, tient building had to register online for view patients’ examination images and Taiwanese doctors could receive real- pre-approval after giving their travel reports from other major hospitals, time alerts during a patients’ visit to a history and records of contacts with including ultrasound and MRI images. clinic about their travel history and previ- others suspected of having the virus. There’s also “My Health Bank,” a ous symptoms, which helped identify They then needed computerized authori- program that started in 2015, which coronavirus cases. The government also zation to enter the hospital by scanning enables people enrolled in Taiwan’s used NHIA data to proactively seek out a QR code. Procedures have eased since National Health Insurance system to patients with severe respiratory symp- then, yet a few entrances to the hospital use their card to download their medi- toms who had tested negative for flu and are still closed off and proof of being a cal histories, including records of doctors retest them for the coronavirus. Out of patient or staff member is needed to enter visits and tests over the last three years. 113 patients tested, only one case was the cafeteria. The program involves integrating data- found, the JAMA report said. Various platforms introduced by bases from different medical institutions the National Health Insurance Admin- into one user profile. — By Jane Rickards

GETTING SOMETHING EXTRA WITH TAIWAN’S PRIVATE CLINICS

Many of Taiwan’s major medical centers now house private clinics that offer premium services to patients with the means to pay out-of-pocket and provide the hospitals with an additional source of revenue.

BY JANE RICKARDS

quick glance at the waiting room appropriate languages. Although they do not accept payment at the Taiwan Adventist Hospi- Among similar clinics popular with through Taiwan’s National Health Insur- tal’s International Priority Care the American community in Taipei are ance system, they are usually cheaper ACenter (PCC) reveals that this is no ordi- the Health Promotion Program at the than comparable care in the U.S. nary Taiwanese clinic. The enormous Koo Foundation Sun Yat-sen Cancer The basic registration fee at PCC is plush gray couches are empty of wait- Center and the Special Clinic Cathay NT$1,700, and once medication and ing patients and the atmosphere is silent. General Hospital. These private clinics other treatments are factored in, patients Strikingly, the front counter is partitioned offers more personalized medical atten- generally pay around NT$5,000 to into sections labeled “English” and tion than regular hospitals and clinics, NT$6,000 per visit. By contrast, seeing “Japanese,” directing visitors to mask- and are culturally attuned to foreign- a doctor at a medical center, the larg- wearing front-desk staff who speak the ers’ expectations regarding healthcare. est type of hospital in Taiwan, requires a

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co-payment of NT$420. The clinic has 20 in-house doctors, but additional staff from the main hospital often double up as PCC doctors. Besides English, the center is also renowned for its Japanese-speaking medical staff that include experts in several specialty areas. Some of these doctors have Japanese medical qualifications and are accredited in Japan. “We have the largest number of Japanese patients daily among hospitals in the Taipei region,” says Jonathan Tepeng Tseng, the head of the center. There are also doctors who speak Span- ish, Portuguese, German, Korean, and Burmese. In the main hospital, Tseng often The Taiwan Adventist Hospital’s International Priority Care Center offers premium sees up to 90 patients during a four- services not provided by the National Health Insurance system. hour rotation, but PCC policy caps the PHOTO: TAIWAN ADVENTIST HOSPITAL number of patients seen by a doctor at 12 per day, with each appointment generally medications. If patients have questions, tickets and make hotel reservations for lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Tseng says he the PCC staff answers them patiently – extended stays. finds this arrangement more profession- and even makes follow-up phone calls to Rachel Lu Jui-fen, a professor of ally satisfying. check on the patient’s condition. Health Care Management at Chang Some of the premium services the Established in 1989, the PCC typically Gung University, says that nearly all of clinic offers include same-day scheduling attracts foreign diplomats and other expa- Taiwan’s major medical centers now offer for appointments and designated park- triates with private health insurance. The this kind of private medical service for ing spaces. Tseng notes that some medi- main hospital was founded in the 1950s, international patients, as well as discrete cal procedures cannot be handled at part of a network of over 170 affiliated services for rich Taiwanese who do not the PCC and may be performed in the hospitals set up by Seventh Day Adven- want to wait in long queues to see a main hospital instead. PCC staff escort tist missionaries. Tseng says that interna- doctor. In some cases, particular proce- patients through the various hospital tional background helps attract foreigners dures may be covered by the NHI but procedures, with PCC patients typically new to Taiwan as they are already famil- most costs are paid out of pocket. given priority attention. iar with the group’s reputation. The two-tiered healthcare service has Although many Taiwanese are used The PCC has direct payment contracts had its critics, who argue that everyone to having very brief conversations with many international insurers, and the in society should have access to the same with physicians before medications are staff are trained to understand the differ- care. As a result, Lu says, “the major prescribed, Tseng notes that foreign- ent packages they offer. The hospital also medical centers don’t really advertise ers often prefer longer consultations and accepts credit cards and can assist foreign these services, but they don’t mind the may object to being prescribed excessive visitors with visa preparations and plane extra revenue.”

TRACKING TAIWAN’S MEDICAL HISTORY

ing and Qing Dynasty later documented how the Austronesian when Ming rebel Zheng Chenggong, soldiers described Taiwan peoples used local medicinal plants to known as Koxinga, drove out the Dutch as a place where “disease cure various ailments, including headache in Taiwan in 1662 to set up his own isM rampant.” Yet before large numbers and snake bite. Much of that traditional regime. Ming official Sheng Guang-wen of Han people began arriving in the knowledge has since been lost as medical arrived in 1673 and set up an institute in mid-17th century, the island’s indige- treatments were passed down orally from Tainan that provided medical assistance. nous peoples had managed to live gener- one generation to the next. After the Qing Dynasty annexed Taiwan, ally healthy lives. Japanese researchers Chinese medicine came to Taiwan Taiwanese merchants imported all kinds

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of herbs and traditional Chinese medi- dation Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center. Deter- Following the transfer of govern- cines from the mainland. mined to bring public health in Taiwan ing power in Taiwan to the Republic of Christian missionaries also brought under control, the colonial regime intro- China in 1945 and the arrival of some Western medicine to Taiwan during this duced Western medical practices and 1.5 million troops and civilians from the period. The most outstanding exam- improved sanitation across Taiwan. mainland in 1949, institutions initially ple is George Leslie Mackay, who was Modern facilities for water purification, designed to serve the military and veter- sent to Taiwan by the Canadian Pres- for example, helped curb cholera and ans played an important role in Taiwan’s byterian Church as a medical mission- other diseases. medical development. What is now the ary in 1872. Eight years later, Mackay In the early colonial days, the Japa- National Defense Medical Center, incor- founded a Western medical clinic in nese also acted to isolate patients infected porating the Tri-Service General Hospi- Tamsui, the first Western medicine clinic with diseases such as bubonic plague, tal, evolved from what was originally the in northern Taiwan. Before his death in smallpox, cholera, typhoid fever, and Taiwan Army Hospital. The Taipei Veter- 1901, Mackay was joined in his prac- dysentary. A 20-year plague epidemic ans General Hospital in the Shipai area tice by many foreign doctors who treated wasn’t suppressed until 1918. Malaria, of Taipei was established in 1958 and is patients for a host of diseases, especially once a very serious problem, was now one of the leading national medical malaria. attacked through a drive to eliminate centers, with branches or affiliated insti- Some of the leading medical institu- conditions where mosquitos could breed, tutions in other parts of the island. tions in today’s Taiwan, including the such as improving drainage and cutting Other government-run institutions Mackay Memorial Hospital and Taiwan down bamboo forests. were established in various locations. Adventist Hospital in the Taipei area Medical training was one of the few One of the strongest networks is Taipei’s and the Changhua Christian Hospital disciplines opened to Taiwanese for municipal hospital system, consisting of in central Taiwan, are products of that higher education during the Japanese nine branches. missionary legacy. period. Within the first year of Japanese As the Taiwan economy developed When Taiwan was ceded to Japan rule, what later became National Taiwan in the latter decades of the 20th century, in 1895, one of the biggest challenges University Hospital was established as some of the leading business groups set for the Japanese colonists was avoid- the Taipei Medical Hospital Training up affiliated hospitals. A prime exam- ing contracting the widespread commu- Institute in Taipei. In 1937, the hospi- ple is Chang Gung Memorial Hospi- nicable diseases with high death rates. tal was annexed to the Medical School tal, established in 1973 by Formosa Plas- Malaria even killed a Japanese prince of Taihoku Imperial University (now tics founder Wang Yung-ching and his who was part of the invading force. National Taiwan University). Over the brother Wang Yung-tsai, and named after “Modern medicine was adopted after decades it has continued to be one of the their father. Chang Gung now operates the Japanese takeover in 1895,” says leading teaching and research hospitals in hospitals in eight locations, with a total Andrew Huang, head of the Koo Foun- Taiwan. of over 10,000 beds. Other business groups that have established major hospitals include Cathay, Far Eastern, and Shin Kong in the Taipei area and Chi Mei in Tainan. The Koo family, from such businesses as Taiwan Cement and CTBC Bank, provided funding to found Taiwan’s leading cancer center. Religious-based hospitals are not limited to Christian institutions. Tzu Chi, a prominent Buddhist organization well- known for providing disaster relief, has long run a leading hospital in Hualien and now also has branches in New Taipei City and Taichung. While Western medicine has long been predominant in Taiwan, traditional Chinese medicine also continues to flourish. It is covered under the National Health Insurance program and is widely available from specialized clinics and in certain hospitals. An Indigenous patient receives a prosthetic leg at Tri-Service General Hospital in 1974. PHOTO: CNA — By Jane Rickards and Don Shapiro

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Changhua Christian Hospital hosted online seminars to share the smart healthcare and technology for fighting COVID-19. PHOTO: CHANGHUA CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL

Amid the disruption caused by COVID-19, Taiwan’s hospitals have turned to online tools to maintain valuable partnerships with Southeast Asian countries forged under the New Southbound Policy.

BY HILTON YIP

s one of the flagship programs of on this initiative, the Taiwanese hospitals Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH) the Taiwan government’s New involved in 1C1C have continued their works with Thailand, and Chang Gung Southbound Policy (NSP), the work by moving largely to an internet- Memorial Hospital serves Malaysia. AOne Country, One Center (1C1C) proj- based model. Meanwhile, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospi- ect enables Taiwan to share its vaunted Launched in June 2018, the 1C1C tal focuses on the Philippines, Veterans healthcare expertise with its regional program is now in its third year and General Hospital and National Yang- neighbors. However, the onset of covers seven NSP countries, linking them Ming University serve Vietnam, while COVID-19 this year has presented a seri- with eight hospitals in Taiwan. National Shinkong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital ous challenge to the project by curtail- Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) partners with Myanmar. ing international travel and in-person focuses on Indonesia, National Cheng Although 1C1C was initiated by exchanges. Rather than halting progress Kung University Hospital serves India, the Ministry of Health and Welfare,

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says Nina Kao, CEO of the Overseas Medical Mission Center at CCH. “We even ran a Facebook live stream while the seminars were happening and uploaded the videos to our official YouTube platform for people who could not join in time.” On the other hand, she notes, they have also faced some challenges with this new format, such as unstable internet connection in the less-developed or remote areas of partnering countries. Chu Chia-yu, CEO of NTUH’s Inter- national Medical Service Center, says that his hospital holds three to four webinars a week with hospitals in Mongolia, Indonesia, and Guatemala. “I hope that next year we can travel to other countries and have face-to-face CCH organized an exhibition in Thailand for Taiwanese smart healthcare companies meetings,” he says. “There will be more to promote their products. PHOTO: CHANGHUA CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL meetings conducted over the internet, but we still need in-person workshops the program is run by the Health and and holding symposiums. CCH has oper- for hands-on training.” Welfare NSP Coordination Office at the ated free clinics in northern Thailand with Following a policy change last month Chung-Hua Institution for Economic a local partner since 2009. enabling overseas medical trainees to Research (CIER), which oversees and Participating in the 1C1C program come to Taiwan once again, hospitals manages each hospital-country part- enables hospitals to expand on their such as NTUH and CCH will resume nership. Under CIER’s supervision, the involvement with partner countries. hosting visiting doctors from South- program seeks to fulfill four main objec- In the Philippines, NTUH has helped east Asia. They will need to undergo two tives: capacity building through train- perform extracorporeal membrane weeks of government-mandated quaran- ing medical personnel, strengthening oxygenation or ECMO, a method of tine and one week of self-health manage- epidemic control by creating cooperative providing an artificial heart during peri- ment upon their arrival, and their train- networks, establishing market connectiv- ods when patients are experiencing severe ing period has been extended from the ity, and cultivating supply chains involv- respiratory difficulties or while undergo- previous one month to three months. ing Taiwan firms. ing heart transplants. Veterans General Each 1C1C hospital provides medical Hospital has assisted Vietnamese institu- Playing matchmaker training and business matching services tions in performing several types of oper- to its partner institutions. Despite the ations, including liver transplants and The second major component of the program’s name, multiple Taiwanese cardiovascular surgery. 1C1C program is to match Taiwan- hospitals may work with the same coun- These exchanges had come to a halt ese medical equipment and pharmaceu- try, making a broader range of expertise after the outbreak of COVID-19 due to tical companies with interested buyers available while the designated partner restrictions on international travel. In in the NSP countries, with the Taiwan hospital acts as the main coordinator for response, participating hospitals have hospitals acting as the intermediary. This other participating institutions. started holding web-based seminars, system allows the companies to broaden For instance, while NTU Hospital mostly focusing on COVID-19. their market reach while also bolstering (NTUH) works with nine hospitals in its Among the webinars NTUH has Taiwan’s medical reputation among NSP partner country, Indonesia, it also coop- conducted was one explaining Taiwan’s countries. The hospitals and companies erates with health institutions in Vietnam COVID-19 management, while others also hold forums and attend exhibitions and the Philippines. CCH focuses chiefly covered antibody testing and criti- in those countries. on Thailand but is also active in Myan- cal care for COVID-19-related respira- “In the past, the relationship between mar and Indonesia. tory failure. CCH has also hosted webi- hospitals and companies was not as part- The work that Taiwanese hospitals are nars on COVID-19, including preven- ners but as buyers and sellers,” says Roy undertaking under the NSP often builds tion and treatment of the virus and the Chun Lee, Deputy Executive Director on their previous experience in South- potential use of alternative and tradi- of the Taiwan WTO and RTA Center at east Asian countries. For example, NTUH tional medicine. CIER. “But through the NSP, we’re push- helped Vietnamese institutions perform “Webinars benefit us as well as our ing hospitals to serve as a spearhead and their first liver transplant in 2009 and has partners as they allow us to overcome lead trade activity. The hospitals and also been cooperating with Indonesian geographic restrictions and communicate companies have to create a partnership.” hospitals since 2014 in training doctors more effectively with diverse speakers,” CIER brings together the hospitals

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and companies based on relevant factors. body rapid tests, electronic stethoscopes, good stuff but it’s not necessarily match- “We determined which company was surgical face masks, and personal protec- ing the demand from Thailand or Indo- interested in which country and tried tive equipment. nesia or India,” says CIER’s Lee. to bring the right person to the right The program is not without its chal- “For example, Taiwan’s univer- centers,” says Lee. “We encouraged lenges. The lack of official diplomatic sal healthcare scheme is one of the best, hospitals to share information with inter- relations between Taiwan and NSP coun- but not many people outside of Taiwan ested suppliers. In 2019, you could see tries is a complicating factor. understand its advantages or the factors there was a lot of transformation.” “During this COVID-19 pandemic, underpinning this success,” he says. “If The export of Taiwan-made medi- many of our collaborators in Indonesia they don’t understand, they won’t request cal and pharmaceutical products to NSP asked for help in providing tests, masks, further information and they don’t really countries has grown rapidly in recent and PPE (personal protective equip- know what Taiwan can do.” years, raising the growth rate of overall ment),” says Chu of NTUH. “We can’t Lee notes that Indonesia is building its exports to those countries. This trend has provide that without government rela- own national health insurance scheme, continued this year as the pandemic has tionships.” While NTUH was not able but that Taiwan isn’t clued in on what raised demand for medical products. to send its partners masks directly, the they need to implement it. “For example, Taiwan’s exports to the seven 1C1C Taiwan government later sent shipments do they need a cloud medical system or countries fell by 12.6% in 2019, partly of masks and PPE to various countries, smart medicine system? We don’t know due to the US-China trade dispute, while including those in Southeast Asia. what their exact priorities are. We have exports of medical and pharmaceuti- Chu says that these partners also started picking this up, but we need a cal goods increased by 7.5%, according asked Taiwan to supply vaccines – not much broader understanding,” he says. to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. just for COVID-19, but for malaria and Despite the challenges, 1C1C has been In the first half of 2020, exports to the dengue fever as well. “We cannot provide a relative success and there are plans to 1C1C countries fell by 12.3%, while these vaccines without their government’s widen its scope to cover more countries exports of medical and pharmaceutical approval,” he says. in Southeast Asia, as well as to increase goods rose by 13.6%. Nevertheless, some interaction the number of participating Taiwan- Lee explains that the NSP raised the between the health ministries of Taiwan ese hospitals. That expansion will likely profile of partnering countries among and the NSP countries does take place. happen in 2022, when the program’s Taiwan’s suppliers and vice versa. “Our “Health ministries are professional minis- second four-year phase begins and a new suppliers were originally not really tries and less intertwined with foreign budget is allocated. interested in or didn’t understand the policy and international politics. It’s rela- Lee expresses optimism about the potential of Southeast Asian countries,” tively easy for officials such as deputy project’s future progress. “Out of the he says. “This program actually gener- ministers to visit their counterparts and NSP’s five flagship programs, I’m confi- ated interest by sharing some of the meet with their officials,” says Lee. dent the medical and healthcare program risks and removing some of the earlier Another challenge is understanding is at the top in achieving the intended uncertainty.” the local needs of partner countries while goals of the NSP by creating bilateral Among the pandemic-related products also making them aware of Taiwan’s awareness and understanding through made by Taiwanese companies are anti- healthcare strengths. “We have a lot of soft power,” he says.

The NTUH Yunlin Branch conducted a webinar for sharing COVID-19 experience with an Indonesian hospital. PHOTO: NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

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BD – Advancing the World of Health

ecton Dickinson and Company treatments to advance the world of health. (BD), founded in 1897, is a In the more than 30 years since BD B global medical technology began operations in Taiwan in 1987, its company that has more than 65,000 employees have maintained a high degree employees in 50 countries. BD has a well- of enthusiasm and dedication. Jeffrey established reputation in the industry Wang, BD’s general manager for Taiwan for patient and healthcare worker safety and Hong Kong, describes the company’s and improving medical research and main goal as “introducing the innovative clinical laboratories. The company medical technology to support Taiwan provides innovative solutions that help to improve the quality of healthcare,” advance genomics, enhance the diagnosis enabling BD Taiwan to become an of infectious diseases and cancer, and industry leader through breakthrough improve medication management, diabetes solution-thinking, while contributing to management, infection prevention, user satisfaction and social responsibility. surgical techniques, and interventional For example, when Taiwan enacted safety needle legislation in 2011, BD vigorously participated in furthering actively assisting hospitals in installing its implementation, assisting hospitals innovative automated equipment, in carrying out the needed education taking the lead in the Asia-Pacific region and training, and generally promoting to introduce “Kiestra” microbiology the importance of the measure in laboratory automation solution and AI preventing needlestick injuries to image recognition systems. healthcare personnel. The passage and The current autumn and winter period implementation of this law represented is the peak time for respiratory infections. a major step forward for Taiwan in Common pathogenic sources include safeguarding medical staff. “We are proud Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus that Taiwan has become the first country type b, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and in the Asia-Pacific region to pass such a Mycobacterium tuberculosis, etc. Patients law,” says Wang. with such infections generally have to As part of the effort to become rely on the subjective judgment of the a “leader in breakthrough solution- medical laboratory technologists, which thinking,” since 2019 BD Taiwan has been faces the difficult challenge of quickly identifying the pathogens and accurately formulating treatment strategies. In the past, it usually took three to five days to test bacterial pathogens. Now, with the assistance of intelligent equipment in integrating and optimizing various processes, the test results can be released within a day and a half. “The successful introduction of Kiestra solutions into Taiwan not only greatly shortened the inspection time, but also integrated and interpreted clinical information for pathogen type imaging, physiology and other data; assisted the medical team in the overall assessment; and provided more accurate drug selection and treatment strategy,” says Jeffrey Wang. Despite the challenges posed this year by the COVID-19 epidemic, BD

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has continued its efforts to achieve new advances for the benefit of the government, hospitals, and society. Above all, Wang and the BD leadership team are committed to protecting the safety of all employees and their families, ensuring that employees have the best protection and establishing safety procedures for working at home and entering and leaving the office. At the same time, 505000 network technology is being utilized to continuously provide the online training required by customers. During the most severe period of the epidemic, BD Taiwan made every effort to ensure uninterrupted product supply, closely track global logistics, and effectively reduce the risk of 0 cargo delays. In addition to supporting employees and medical units, the Taiwan team is actively cooperating with the Taiwan 0 Centers for Disease Control to help ensure a stable supply of coronavirus detection tools. BD is also continuing to develop a coronavirus quick-screening system (the Veritor Plus System, which can make test results available within 15 5 minutes), which has obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency-use authorization (EUA). In addition, BD Taiwan is preparing to supply prefilled syringes to support the development and manufacture of local new coronavirus vaccines in Taiwan. Says Jeffrey Wang: “Our team’s efforts and achievements always closely follow the company’s philosophy of ‘advancing 5 the world of health.’ Hopefully BD Taiwan will serve as a model enterprise in the medical device industry based on customer trust, shareholder satisfaction, industry respect, and employee dedication.”

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Solving Taiwan’s Plastics Problem

Several local startups are developing products aimed at reducing the massive amount of single-use plastics consumed on the island.

BY STEVEN CROOK

aiwan has a dismal recycling rate light nor compact. raised over NT$24 million. So far, they for single-use plastics. In fact, “People understand that reducing have sold more than 90,000 of the bags. of the approximately 16 billion plastics consumption is an important The Pockeat’s lining is waterproof, plasticT bags that Taiwan goes through goal, but this is ‘a society of conve- oil resistant, and heatproof up to each year, fewer than 10% are recy- nience,’” says Huang. 120°C. Curiously, this inner bag is made cled, says Jason Huang, co-founder of Lynn Kao and Will Chien, co- from food-grade TPU (thermoplastic Re-Think, a not-for-proﬁt organization founders of Agooday, hold a similar polyurethane) – which cannot be recy- that aims to protect Taiwan’s coastal view. They are trying to change people’s cled if contaminated by food – rather and marine environments. behavior by offering a novel product, than recycled PET bottle fabric. Kao This is not entirely the fault of con- the Pockeat reusable food-bag, which explains that current regulations do not sumers, Huang points out. The quantity they launched after a wildly successful allow recycled material to be used in the of retrievable plastic in such bags is 2017 crowdfunding effort. Although manufacturing of food containers. often so small that those who col- the initial target was NT$1 million, they The two-liter Pockeat, which retails lect or process recyclables for a living for NT$640, weighs 40 grams. The do not accept them. Taipei City Gov- NT$690 three-liter version weighs 47 ernment’s Environmental Protection grams. Both can be folded flat to fit Bureau advises on its website that only inside a pocket or a handbag and fea- clean, single-material bags can be recy- ture Taiwan-centric designs, such as cled. Bags contaminated by oil or solids Jade Mountain, to attract customers. should be thrown out with general “Compared to free plastic bags, waste. people think the Pockeat is quite As part of its plan to get rid of all expensive, so we try to educate them single-use plastic bags, straws, and about both the environmental cost of beverage cups by 2030, Taiwan’s single-use bags and the health issues,” government has already banned super- says Kao. markets and convenience stores from One reason for the Pockeat’s high giving out free plastic bags. Despite price is Kao and Chien’s decision to that restriction, each day millions of source all materials and have all manu- bags are used just once, usually to hold facturing done in Taiwan. “If we moved a food or drink item. Few individuals our production to China, we’d cut our bring their own containers when buying costs in half, but we want the Pockeat Agooday's toothbrushes are made of cooked food. Others say they would, bamboo and biobased nylon. to be made here to reduce the carbon

but most reusable containers are neither PHOTO: COURTESY OF AGOODAY footprint from factory to consumer and

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to better control the quality” says Kao. Finding a willing and capable manufacturer was far from easy, she explains. Most factory owners are used to working with big buyers, so it took some time to convince them to work with Agooday. They also ran into issues of quality. “The inner bags are manufactured by high frequency welding, and the factory didn’t QC every piece,” says Chien. “We found some with defects, so we had to change manufacturer and delay deliveries. It’s very important to us that we have good quality products for our customers.” The company commissioned SGS to test the product and certify it as Left: The LIve For Eco raincoat. Right: LIve For Eco's flip flops are made of cotton, safe for storing hot and cold foods. cork, and natural raw rubber. Agooday has also published videos PHOTOS: COURTESY OF LIVE FOR ECO / HELASHUO showing how the bags should be used, cleaned, and dried. bamboo handle (coated with beeswax The outer layer of Helashuo’s rain- Kao claims the Pockeat lasts forever, and flaxseed oil to prevent mold) and coat, which accounts for more than and Agooday offers a repair service nylon bristles. 70% of its total weight, is pure cotton, to extend the product’s life. There is a Agooday toothbrushes – like which Chuang stresses is biodegrad- small charge to cover materials, labor, their plastic counterparts – have to able. The waterproof inner layer is and shipping. be replaced every few months. Kao made of polyurethane (PU). Propo- The Pockeat was not Agooday’s advises customers to dispose of them by nents of PU argue that it is preferable to first product. In 2014, Kao and Chien plucking off and throwing the bristles most other plastics. It does not contain devised a biodegradable alternative to in a trash can, then burying the handle chemicals that interfere with the endo- the plastic toothbrush. in soil so it can decompose. The nylon crine and hormone systems of humans According to the company’s website, is not biodegradable, but unlike con- and other creatures, nor does it influ- 100 million toothbrushes are thrown ventional petroleum-based nylon, it is ence PH levels in soil or water. It is also away in Taiwan each year, polluting made from castor oil, which is a renew- highly recyclable. ecosystems and eventually degrading able resource. Biobased and biodegradable types into microplastics which enter the The toothbrushes are made in of PU are available, but Helashuo uses food chain. To trim this tide of waste, China. “We’d like to keep our dental- petroleum-based PU. “Nobody wants Agooday sells a toothbrush with a products manufacturing in Taiwan, but to recycle and reuse this material, so honestly it’s very hard to find suitable our job is to reduce environmental factories here, as most of them have impact by using cotton to cut petro- moved to China or Southeast Asia,” chemicals consumption,” Chuang says. laments Kao. Helashuo is currently perfecting flip- Agooday’s plastic-free dental floss flops made of cotton, cork, and natural is made of silk. It is sold in a reusable raw rubber. “These natural materials bottle, while refills are packed in paper. aren’t water-resistant, but they’re suit- Like the founders of Agooday, James able for use indoors, or outside in dry Chuang has examined Taiwanese life- weather. Most importantly, they can all styles and seen ways to scale down decompose naturally,” says Chuang. plastics consumption. In 2017, he “We’re still doing market testing, and founded Helashuo Co., Ltd., which hope our new flip-flop can go on sale in strives to make innovative products 2021.” designed to limit plastic use under the Earlier this year, when Helashuo LIve For Eco brand name. launched a range of child-sized rain- “Here in Taiwan, many people ride coats, Chuang used Taiwanese scooters, and raincoats are in great crowdfunding platform zeczec.com to demand, but they’re made from petro- attract money and publicity. The cam- Agooday's reusable food bag is available in a range of prints. chemicals. That why we started with paign concluded on September 23 with

PHOTO: COURTESY OF AGOODAY raincoats,” he says. pledges totaling just over NT$1.6 mil-

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Left, Uanuan's stainless-steel lunchbox, the Bendong. Right: Hiding tumblers being manufactured at Uanuan's factory in Tainan.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF UANUAN

lion. “Including marketing costs, we’ll Wang is Uanuan’s creative director; his tity of plastic you will have avoided need much more money to run this father is in charge of production. using. To avoid cups being thrown out project,” Chuang says, adding that the Uanuan’s best-selling item, the due to parts breaking, Uanuan offers money raised will go toward manufac- Hiding Tumbler, is explicitly pitched as replacement straws, lids, and other turing the first batch of raincoats. a solution to one of the Taiwanese pub- components through its website. All LIve For Eco products are made lic’s most polluting habits. The product About 75% of Uanuan’s sales are in Taiwan, and Chuang admits that description on Uanuan’s website notes through online stores. The brand is pricing is a major challenge. “Natural that roadside kiosks sell an estimated now sold in Hong Kong, Macao, and materials are more expensive than pet- 1.5 billion cups of tea and other bev- South Korea, and is in the process of rochemicals, and manufacturing in erages per year. Because only a small entering the Japanese market. Yet Wang Taiwan is more expensive than in China minority of customers bring their own says there is no rush to expand inter- or Vietnam,” he explains. containers, it is likely that the thirst for nationally; the company would prefer A LIve For Eco raincoat lasts just freshly-squeezed juices and pearl milk to first become more established in as long as ones made of conventional tea generates four million pieces of Taiwan. That way, “more Taiwanese materials, says Chuang. They are, how- trash per day. can know who we are, love what we ever, significantly more expensive. LIve The Hiding Tumbler is a 750ml do and what we make, and share our For Eco’s prices may be more accept- reusable cup made from double-layer beliefs,” he says. able to consumers in countries where stainless steel, in which iced drinks stay Jason Huang of Re-Think says the standard is living is higher, Chuang cold for up to 12 hours. When cold that more people now understand the says. For this reason, he expects to liquid is being carried on a sweltering importance of curtailing the use of focus on developing overseas mar- day, no condensation forms on the exte- plastic, but “behavior hasn’t changed kets and children’s products. “We’re rior. Hot beverages keep their warmth much, and total plastics production very interested in partnering with big for up to 8 hours. A unique selling isn’t falling.” The popularity of online companies, and we have the ability point of the product, says James Wang, shopping and food-delivery apps have to customize our products, or even is that users can switch between a thin pushed up the amount of plastic dis- develop new ones, for them,” he adds. straw and a thicker one for drinks con- carded by households, he says. Both Agooday and Helashuo have taining boba tapioca balls. The straws Huang warns that if plastic use benefited from government help. The are made of Eastman Tritan copolyester is not put in check soon, “the land- former received advice and finan- and are supplied with the tumbler, as fills where incinerator ash is dumped cial support through the Ministry of is a carrying bag made of recycled PET will soon fill up.” Finding new landfill Economic Affairs’ Service Industry bottle fiber. sites is exceptionally difficult, he adds, Innovation Research and Development All manufacturing is performed because as soon as a location is pro- Program (SIIR), while the latter quali- by the company, but it has encoun- posed, those living nearby protest. fied for a Taipei City Startup subsidy of tered a number of issues in this process. The Environmental Protection NT$700,000 in 2018. “Improving and sustaining the quality Administration is working with ven- Unlike the entrepreneurs behind of our products has been the most dors to try to figure out how to reduce Agooday and Helashuo, the founders important thing,” says Wang. single-use packaging, yet Huang com- of Uanuan can draw on decades of Uanuan’s website claims that if you plains that government policies are industrial experience. The brand’s use a Hiding Tumbler three or more sometimes watered down when they name derives from the first part of the times a week, in around half a year the run into opposition. Asked if the 2030 names of two factories established in environmental cost of manufacturing target can be met, he says: “I’m not the 1960s by James Wang’s grandfather. it will be canceled out by the quan- sure how it’ll go.”

34 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

Plastic free.indd 34 2020/11/9 下午9:41 BACKGROUNDER

The Gini in Taiwan’s Bottle

Taiwan’s status as a just and equitable country has been burnished by its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BY JULES QUARTLY

ne of the reasons Taiwan it was likely due to “wage policies raphy professor Max Woodworth of has done so well in halting that constrain the top/bottom salaries’ Ohio State University notes that “apart the spread of COVID-19 is ratio.” from mega-earners (the 1%), Taiwan is theO nation’s relative wealth equality. The relative distribution of income still largely a nation of small businesses Experts say this factor contributed to within a population is measured by and entrepreneurs.” Although incomes the establishment of a universal health- what is known as the Gini coefficient, in the two Scandinavian countries are care system and has led to better named after Italian sociologist Corrado probably four times higher than in outcomes for disease prevention and Gini who devised the method in 1912. Taiwan,” he says, “what Taiwan’s low morbidity. Low inequality countries score between labor income inequality suggests is that Though the COVID-19 story is still 0.25 and 0.35, and medium inequality people who earn money through wages developing, nations with relative wealth between 0.35 and 0.5. High inequality tend to find themselves close in income equality such as Taiwan, Norway, and is any score over 0.5. terms to their neighbors.” Vietnam have registered fewer infec- Explaining Taiwan’s current Gini Woodworth adds that many Tai- tions and deaths compared to countries coefﬁcient of under 0.4, lower even than wanese likely supplement their wages with much higher levels of inequality that of Norway and Denmark, geog- with capital income, given the large like Brazil, Chile, and the U.S. Numerous economists and international academics have pointed to Taiwan’s successful efforts at fighting the disease as evidence for making the case for a correlation between wealth equality and the degree of success in coping with COVID-19. Among the first to make this point was prominent Serbian-American econ- omist Branko Milanovic. In a June tweet, he posted a graph showing Taiwan to have the lowest inequality of labor income among a select range of major economies. Commenting on the low level of income inequality in South Korea and Taiwan, Milanovic observed

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 35

TW GINI.indd 35 2020/11/9 下午9:42 BACKGROUNDER

nization may have been another factor GINI COEFFICIENT OF MAJOR COUNTRIES 2015-2017 in its successful response since it forced

1.00 leaders to take a more precautionary MEX approach. BRA CHL For Taiwan, the epidemic response KOR RUS JPN became part of a wider strategy focused 0.95 on democracy and transparency to GRC increase Taiwan’s international space. DNK FIN GBR CAN US EU ESP Global comparisons 0.90 CHE ITA According to the 2018 World NOR NLD FRA Inequality Report produced by the Gini of capital income World Inequality Lab at the Paris 0.85 TWN School of Economics, growth in global income since 1980 has been distrib- uted overwhelmingly to the top 1% of

0.80 earners, who capture twice as much 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 growth as the 50% poorest individuals. Gini of labor income PHOTO: BRANKO MILANOVIC In Taiwan, the Gini coefficient has hovered around 0.34 for the past two number of small business owners, playing the World Bank’s estimate of decades, hitting a peak of 0.345 fol- widespread participation in the stock income inequality in 2018. lowing the financial crisis of 2007- market, and investment in rental prop- A comparison of the two maps 2008, and trending downward since erties. He notes that income inequality shows that countries with higher income then. Last year it was 0.337, according generally translates into inferior health inequality tend to be the most seriously to the government’s Directorate General outcomes for people at the low end of affected by COVID-19. “South Africa, of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. the income distribution. The U.S. is a Brazil, India, Russia, and the U.S. are all Ohio State’s Woodworth considers prime example of this disparity. notoriously unequal societies, and they Taiwan’s low score for capital income Taiwan’s previous healthcare system, happen to also be suffering from uncon- “notable because it suggests not that which Woodworth says was fairly typ- trolled outbreaks,” he says. Meanwhile, there is a small class of super-rich cap- ical of poorer developing countries, COVID-19 deaths in Vietnam, whose italists, but instead a relatively large produced similarly negative results per-capita income is roughly 10% that class of smaller-scale capitalists.” for its population, who had to choose of the U.S., remain at zero. For Woodworth, this all adds between financially disastrous health- Ian Rowen, assistant professor of up to a society that has successfully care costs and allowing their health geography at Nanyang Technological engineered rapid growth and industri- problems to go untreated. University in Singapore, agrees with alization without falling into the pit of However, the introduction of the Woodward’s theory. In an article pub- high-income inequality, like Brazil and National Health Insurance system in lished in the July issue of The Asia- Chile, or creating a powerfully wealthy 1995 “massively reduced out-of-pocket Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, Rowen class that sways policy in its favor, such burdens and encouraged more pre- describes how Taiwan was the first as South Korea, the U.S., Russia, and ventive care – and generally more use country to anticipate the threat of China. of health services,” says Woodworth, COVID-19 and create a successful Taiwan provides an example of whose research focuses on Taiwan and public health initiative that has become what has been called “egalitarian capi- China. He says that since equality was a known worldwide as the “Taiwan talism,” refuting the argument of many basic principle and objective of the NHI Model.” He sees Taiwan’s “commit- economists that “high inequality is just and the government’s economic policy ment to and consistent implementation an inevitable feature of contemporary at that time, Taiwan’s overall health of universal health coverage” as cor- capitalism,” says Woodworth. landscape is now more reflective of its responding with Taiwan’s relatively Ian Rowen, meanwhile, argues that income level. “Health indicators are egalitarian income distribution.” Taiwan’s unique political status – its extremely good, and life expectancy is Rowen told Taiwan Business limited formal recognition coupled with higher than in the U.S.,” he points out. TOPICS that Taiwan’s success was a strong and stable administration – Demonstrating the link between due to “past experience with SARS, pushes it to outperform other nations wealth equality and a successful extreme wariness of China, and a in terms of human rights, freedom, and response to the pandemic, Woodworth highly responsive public health admin- democratic practice. posted a map on Facebook showing istration coupled with universal health It’s not just the relative equality of COVID-19 trends for the first eight coverage.” He notes that Taiwan’s the population in terms of wealth that months of this year and another dis- exclusion from the World Health Orga- generates fair outcomes for all, Rowen

36 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

TW GINI.indd 36 2020/11/9 下午9:42 BACKGROUNDER

suggests. “Between the external pres- But the report also makes clear that performers in Asia, rising by 0.5% sure to perform as a good global citizen problems remain, citing low salary against the US dollar. and thereby hopefully gain greater rec- levels and the concentration of wealth Another recent study, published on ognition and support, and domestic in the hands of the rich and elderly, Our World in Data, showed the eco- pressure from a strong civil society making it difficult for young people to nomic impact of COVID-19 worldwide composed of NGOs, academics, buy their own homes. The paper argues as least severe in Taiwan, while the activists and others, Taiwan has consol- that official figures mask the fact that economies of countries such as the UK idated a relatively strong social welfare the “rich-poor divide has grown wider and Spain – where relatively large num- system,” he says. in the recent past” and the top 1% har- bers of infections and deaths occurred Other indications of that strong vest 14% of the country’s total income. – experienced declines of 20%. This, social welfare system, in his view, However, it also notes that this wealth writes the report’s author, Joe Hasell, include the increasing recognition of gap is far less dramatic than in the U.S. proves that “contrary to the idea of LGBT rights and a relatively high pro- and about the same as in Sweden and a trade-off between health and the portion of women in political ofﬁce. South Korea. economy,” countries experiencing the For example, Taiwan ranks first on At the same time, it is widely recog- most severe economic downturns “are the Gender Inequality Index for Asia, nized that Taiwan has a fairly equitable generally among the countries with the and ninth overall, according to the social welfare system and a popular and highest COVID-19 death rate.” Gender at a Glance report produced by effective universal healthcare service. Hasell writes that factors con- the Executive Yuan’s Gender Equality The society is also said to be the hap- tributing to a country’s successful Committee. piest in East and Southeast Asia, and is COVID-19 response could include Furthermore, 38.7% of the nation’s ranked 25th overall in the latest World “previous coronaviruses, which may legislators are women (higher than Happiness Report. have boosted their level of alertness in China and the U.S.), while women Not only has Taiwan been resilient or people’s immunity and the speed of account for 51.1% of the workforce throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, their response.” He notes that the study and the wage gap between the sexes it is likely to emerge from the chal- “does not compare the standard of has decreased to 14.2%. In May 2019 lenge stronger than most countries. the countries’ healthcare systems, [or] Taiwan also became the first Asian Despite the economy decelerating address cultural or political factors that country to allow same-sex marriage, to a 1.54% growth rate in the first may have contributed to or hindered and it has been at the forefront of quarter of 2020, down from 3.31% in their responses.” LGBT issues and activism. the same period the year before, net Taiwan has made the most of pro- In addition, crime has retreated in exports have been largely unchanged. moting its “Taiwan Model” to counter Taiwan. A recent research paper from In comparison, China’s economy con- COVID-19, while its soft power diplo- Academia Sinica reports a 51% drop in tracted by 6.8% in the first quarter, macy, based on a just and equitable the number of criminal cases over the and the EU’s by 2.7%. Meanwhile, the foundation, will no doubt continue to past 15 years. Taiwan dollar has been among the best win friends internationally.

Social scientists have made the case for a correlation between Taiwan's low Gini coefficient and its effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic this year. PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 37

TW GINI.indd 37 2020/11/9 下午9:42 TECH REPORT

Offline Retail Gets Help from Made-in-Taiwan AI

Despite taking a hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers may soon see a rebound as AI and smart retail solutions allow them to integrate online and offline capabilities.

BY JENS KASTNER

hile the popularity of e-com- on a tray positioned below the camera. lever Philippines. During the initial merce has allowed it to more An AI algorithm integrated with the outbreak of COVID-19 this year, or less overtake the labor- bakery’s payment system then identiﬁes Philippine authorities ordered most Wintensive conventional retail industry, a what is being purchased and rings it up. physical retail outlets to close, except number of Taiwanese technology com- Viscovery says that its algorithm has to facilitate the speedy pickup of daily panies have begun offering AI-driven an accuracy rate of 98% and that rec- necessities. Using Shoplus, Philippine solutions that could allow brick-and- ognition time for multiple different grocery stores that distribute Unilever mortar shops struggling with minimum products is approximately one second. products were able to continue taking wage increases and labor shortages to The standard monthly licensing fee per orders from customers and directing regain their competitive edge. unit is around one-tenth of the labor them to pick up the purchased goods Central to these solutions are the costs of a human employee, which in when ready. Internet of Things (IoT) and com- Taiwan is around US$1,000 per month. “We expect this kind of shopping puter vision technologies. With IoT, for “We also provide the retailer with behavior to be a sustained trend in example, customers can view the avail- a content management system, in Southeast Asia even after COVID-19, ability and price of items before they which staff can add a new item to the given that Southeast Asian consumers enter a store, while computer vision shop’s portfolio by uploading just five like to pick up in person what they enables offline retailers to monitor images of that item,” says Viscovery order online,” says iKala CEO Sega aisles and checkout areas, as well as CEO Kevin Chen. He notes that Visual Cheng. “Southeast Asians are also more track in-store inventory and the move- Checkout can also be used to scan likely than consumers in other mar- ment of customers and employees unpackaged fruits and vegetables sold kets to chat extensively with merchants around a store. in supermarkets, as well as meals at online before making a purchase, and it One novel Taiwan-made smart retail company cafeterias. would be very difficult for a merchant solution is the Visual Checkout system Another Taiwanese AI startup to handle thousands of chats without employed by Taiwanese bakery chains offering innovative products for offline our AI-driven Shoplus chatbots.” IJySheng and 85°C Bakery Café. Devel- retailers is iKala, whose Shoplus solu- Meanwhile, Dr. Retail – the solution oped and marketed by Taipei-based tions can be integrated into a merchant’s offered by Taipei-founded, New York- computer vision AI startup Viscovery, Facebook page. Shoplus’ services headquartered SkyRec – uses video and Visual Checkout’s hardware consists of include AI for customer communica- mobile Wi-Fi signal analysis to iden- an inexpensive camera installed on each tion, processing of orders and payments, tify shopping behavior, in-store traffic store’s checkout counter. Customers product management, and logistics. flows, and shopping hotspots within a place the items they want to purchase One of Shoplus’ customers is Uni- store to help retailers plan their busi-

38 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

Tech.indd 38 2020/11/9 下午9:43 TAIWAN BUSINESS

Viscovery’s Visual Checkout integrates an AI algorithm for recognizing and ringing up items at a bakery with inexpensive hardware. PHOTOS: VISCOVERY

ness strategies. According to SkyRec’s Intel to develop cloud-based digital & Consulting Institute in Taipei. “By website, Dr. Retail has brought a 30% signage solutions that incorporate inter- analyzing this behavior, retailers aim to increase in the sales revenue of 2,000 active technology for consumers. optimize business operations and inno- stores across the U.S., Europe, the ComQi’s UpLift solution utilizes vate their business models.” Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific. radio-frequency identification tech- Liao adds: “Online and offline retail SkyRec points to what it calls the nology in conjunction with a content channels used to compete with each “touching rate” as the key factor in this management platform. With this tech- other, but they are now being integrated rise in store revenues, as opposed to nology, simply picking up a product to ensure that consumers enjoy a con- the more commonly referenced “dwell triggers the display of product-specific sistent, interactive experience across rate” – how long customers stay in one advertising or information on a screen different channels and platforms.” area of a store before moving on. In installed nearby. U.S. business consulting firm Frost one example, a retail outlet tried unsuc- Taiwanese companies specializing & Sullivan, for its part, notes that retail cessfully to raise sales by displaying a in digital signage, including AUO and has been one of the worst-hit industry well-known product from a popular Innolux, have forged strategic partner- segments in the global COVID-19 pan- footwear brand at the store entrance. ships with point of sales (POS) machine demic. Many retailers have been forced Using the Dr. Retail analytics operators, such as Taipei-based Flytech to shift their focus to conserving cash system, the store’s manager discovered and FEC from New Taipei City, to pro- and maintaining continuity of oper- that while the dwell rate at the entrance vide application services through smart ations in the short term. Over time, was the highest of any other area in the retail terminals. however, many retailers in advanced store, the touching rate for the products AUO, for example, uses sensor- economies are expected to be willing to placed there was quite low. However, embedded store shelves and AI-based try out smart retail technology. once the display was moved to a larger facial recognition and eye-tracking “Retailers need to transform their table in an area that, while less heavily technology to analyze consumer inten- traditional modes of operation to better trafficked, contained more space to tion and automatically, accurately adapt to competition from e-com- allow customers to try on the product, push product information to target merce,” says Kenny Yeo, Associate the touching rate increased along with customers. Director and Head of Asia Pacific Cyber sales transactions. “Demand for these products is Security Practice at Frost & Sullivan. ComQi, a subsidiary of Taiwanese driven by unmet needs hidden in con- “Experiential shopping – something panel manufacturer AUO, is also sumer shopping behavior,” explains that is impossible with e-commerce making a name for itself in smart retail. Rachel Liao, an industry analyst at the – will be key for brick-and-mortar The company has collaborated with semi-governmental Market Intelligence retailers moving forward,” he adds.

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 39

Tech.indd 39 2020/11/9 下午9:43

INDUSTRY A Special Report on the Education Sector F CUS The Coronavirus and Schooling

iSTOCK PHOTO

FOR TAIWAN’S UNIVERSITIES, COVID-19 IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

The pandemic has hit the bottom lines of struggling schools reliant on foreign students. Yet Taiwan’s ability to contain the coro- IN THIS REPORT navirus is also making it a more attractive place to study.

BY MATTHEW FULCO • For Taiwan’s Universities, COVID-19 is a Double-edged Sword

p41 aiwan has long had a surplus of Development Council calculates that universities, the legacy of well- the population will fall to 20 million by intentioned if myopic education 2050. • Startups Lead the Way in Remote reformsT in the 1990s. The island nation The problem has no easy fix. Taiwan’s Learning is home to 156 higher education institu- government has tried boosting the birth p44 tions for a population that is currently rate, to no avail. Enrolling more foreign 23.8 million but is expected to begin students is a better strategy. Taiwan’s uni- contracting this year. The National versities compare favorably to those in

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 41

11 IF.indd 41 2020/11/9 下午9:45 INDUSTRY F CUS China and Southeast Asia (excluding Sin- democratic presidential election. This in Taiwan, calls China’s actions “political gapore). About 130,000 foreign students year, Beijing and Taipei have been at odds warfare.” Beijing “knows that these uni- studied in Taiwan last year, up from over China’s initial failure to contain versities are starving,” he says. roughly 127,000 in 2018, according to the pandemic, its obstruction of Tai- Both China and Taiwan currently the Ministry of Education (MOE). wan’s participation in the World Health have COVID-19 under control. The risk The coronavirus pandemic has thrown Organization, and Taiwan’s rising global of Chinese students bringing the virus to a monkey wrench in the works. Travel profile. Since the pandemic began, Chi- Taiwan is relatively low, and they have a bans caused many students to miss the nese military aircraft have threatened or near-zero chance of being infected here. spring semester. Taiwan began allowing entered Taiwan’s airspace regularly. Elsewhere in Asia, the virus is still international students to return in August, Given the tense cross-Strait situa- raging. Many of the 3,000 international except for students from China. The tion, the government’s cautious approach students who formally declined to enroll government cited “cross-Strait-related to Chinese students is understandable. this semester are based in Asian countries considerations” as the reason for not However, since China is Taiwan’s largest struck hard by the pandemic, including relaxing entry for Chinese students. foreign student market – 25,000 Chinese Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. According to the Mainland Affairs students studied here in 2019 – some uni- “The pandemic situation in these coun- Council (MAC), Beijing is causing the versities are feeling the pinch. tries is severe and there are few outbound impasse. The PRC objects to the use of The schools most affected are private flights, which has caused many interna- the word “national” on IDs given to Chi- and considered less competitive than the tional students to simply give up studying nese students who study in Taiwan, the top public universities, one reason they in Taiwan,” Deputy Education Minister MAC said in a statement. need to look abroad for students. Those Liu Meng-chi told The China Times in In April, China said it would no schools also enroll more international October. longer permit new students to apply to students because as private institutions, For universities already in dire straits Taiwan’s universities, citing the pandemic they have fewer constraints on their before the pandemic, the situation is and cross-Strait relations. Students cur- recruiting, says Hsu Mei, assistant dean grim indeed. For instance, in 2019 Toko rently enrolled in Taiwanese universities of National Taiwan Normal University’s University in Chiayi County had an must receive Beijing’s permission to con- College of Management. enrollment rate of just 37%, St. John’s tinue their studies. “They cannot get any students from University in Tamsui 43%, and the Tatung 2020 has been the worst year for mainland China and that has had a big Institute of Technology in Taipei 46%. cross-Strait relations since the mid-1990s, impact on them,” she says of the univer- when the PRC conducted missile tests in sities dependent on that market. Opportunity in a crisis the Taiwan Strait to express anger with William Stanton, vice president of then-President Lee Teng-hui and intimi- National Yang-Ming University and a The pandemic could last well into date voters ahead of Taiwan’s first fully former director of the American Institute 2021, stymieing the flow of interna-

National Chiao Tung University, pictured here, will undergo a merger with National Yang-Ming University in Taoyuan next February.

42 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

11 IF.indd 42 2020/11/9 下午9:45 A Special Report on the Education Sector

tional students into Taiwan. Unlike the tourism sector, universities cannot turn to increases in the domestic market for a reprieve. Rather, they have to accelerate their transformation. In some cases, that may mean calling it quits. “A lot of these universities probably shouldn’t exist anyway,” says Stanton of National Yang-Ming Univer- sity, referring to the overcrowded field. Since 2010, 10 Taiwanese universities have shut down or merged. The most recent merger occurred in 2018 when three schools in Kaohsiung consolidated to form National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology. That school is now Taiwan’s largest institute of higher learning dedicated to technology. When feasible, merging is a good option, says National Taiwan Normal Fortunately, Taiwan has been steadily the end of that period, 90% of doctoral University’s Hsu. “It allows universities attracting more students from South- degree courses, 70% in master’s pro- to combine resources, boost competitive- east Asia in recent years. Under the grams, and 50% at the undergraduate ness and achieve economies of scale.” New Southbound Policy, the govern- level would be taught in English. She points to the MOE’s approval of ment is focused on boosting education To be sure, the initiative faces obsta- the merger between National Yang-Ming ties with the ASEAN countries. Jennings, cles. The foremost is Taiwan’s lack of University and National Chiao Tung Uni- for example, has more Southeast Asian an English-speaking tradition. “There is versity, which will take effect in February than Chinese students in his classes. no historical or cultural reason for the 2021. Yang-Ming is known for its strong Some of the Southeast Asians are here on bilingual policy,” says Richard DeVries, medical school, while Chiao Tung excels scholarships awarded by the Taiwanese managing director of Taipei-based Geber in information and communications tech- government. Brand Consulting and a resident of nology. The new school plans to facilitate Stanton cites an increasing number Taiwan for two decades. interdisciplinary research, especially in of Vietnamese students studying bio- A native of Canada, where the offi- bio-ICT and digital biomedicine. technology at National Yang-Ming cial languages are English and French, The MOE will provide about NT$400 University. He anticipates a growing DeVries says that the Canadian gov- million (US$13.5 million) to subsidize the demand for degrees that combine training ernment devotes extensive resources to cost of the merger, according to Taiwan’s in technology with life sciences and/or bilingual education. Even then, achieving Central News Agency. medicine. Expertise in those areas will be bilingualism is difficult. At the same time, Taiwanese univer- crucial to ending this pandemic and pre- In addition, there is no guarantee sities must reduce their dependence on venting the next one. that Taiwan’s next administration would the China market. Under strongman Xi As of late October, Taiwan had carry on the policy, DeVries says. “An Jinping, Beijing favors coercion over recorded 550 COVID-19 cases and seven administration that sees Taiwan as more compromise in cross-Strait relations. Cut- deaths, one of the world’s best virus-con- culturally Chinese might not be enthu- ting off a key income stream for Taiwan’s tainment records. Its economy avoided siastic about making English an official universities is one more way for Xi to a shutdown and may well be one of the language.” pressure the Tsai Ing-wen administration. few countries to experience GDP growth Some observers believe Taiwan could “It’s like an unofficial economic sanc- this year. look to Singapore as an example. “Sin- tion,” says Ralph Jennings, an adjunct Having shown its mettle during the gapore provides a model: English is professor of journalism at National worst public health crisis in a century, the primary language of instruction, Cheng Chi University (NCCU). “Taiwan is at a point where it’s a more but ethnic Malay, Chinese and Tamil Beijing may also want to limit the attractive place,” Stanton says. Indian students also learn their own lan- exposure of Chinese students to Taiwan’s Making Taiwan a bilingual country, guages,” The Taipei Times said in an vibrant democracy and civil society, lest a goal the Tsai administration has set for October editorial. they wonder why they cannot enjoy the 2030, could further enhance the island That comparison may miss the mark. same freedoms at home. nation’s appeal to foreign students. The Singapore’s success in achieving English “They really enjoy being in Taiwan,” MOE is reportedly considering a plan proficiency is inextricably linked to its Jennings says of the numerous Chi- under which four universities would 144-year history as a British colony. “It’s nese students he has taught at NCCU. transition to heavier English-language not just engineered. There’s a legacy,” “They’re free. They blend in culturally.” instruction over the next few years. By says NCCU’s Jennings.

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 43

11 IF.indd 43 2020/11/9 下午9:45 INDUSTRY F CUS

STARTUPS LEAD THE WAY IN REMOTE LEARNING

E-learning startups cater to rising demand for online self-learning among individuals. These firms can support the public sector and businesses, too.

BY MATTHEW FULCO

aiwan has controlled the coro- we haven’t needed to be,” says Richard course. He speaks in Chinese, with subti- navirus pandemic so well that its DeVries, managing director of Taipei- tles in English. K-12 schools have been able to based Geber Brand Consulting and the The course was a big hit, attracting maintainT classroom instruction. The only father of two children in Taipei’s public- 20,000 new users to Hahow, says the interruption to school came in February, school system. company’s co-founder and CEO Arnold when the government delayed the start That’s where Taiwan’s online learning Chiang. “We want to show that learning of the spring semester by two weeks as a startups come in. Many cater to adults can be very diverse,” he says. “It doesn’t precautionary measure. learning independently online, but they have to be academic.” For Taiwanese children and their can also cooperate with businesses and Typically, Hahow’s content is paid, families, safely maintaining classroom the public sector. relying on crowdfunding to ensure that instruction during the worst pandemic in In April, Taiwan’s government invited there is sufficient interest for a course. a century is a boon. Children’s educations Hahow, a Taipei-based interdisciplinary If at least 50 students are willing to pay have not been compromised, while their online education platform, to co-pro- for a given course, Hahow will produce parents have been able to continue their duce a free 48-minute video course that it and make it available online. Chiang regular work schedules. explains in layman’s terms what the coro- says that Hahow is the first company in Concerns exist, though. If remote navirus is and how people can protect Taiwan to combine online learning with learning becomes a larger part of edu- themselves from it. Former Vice President crowdfunding. cation in the future, Taiwan may be at a Chen Chien-jen, an epidemiologist who Hahow has grown steadily on the disadvantage. “Maybe we’re not at the led the crucial early stage of Taiwan’s back of its diverse course content, which forefront [of remote learning] because fight against COVID-19, teaches the teaches everything from presentation

PHOTOS: HAHOW

44 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020

11 IF.indd 44 2020/11/9 下午9:45 A Special Report on the Education Sector

skills and how to apply for a job over- tent with the influencers and shares classroom. “Normally, we have 60 to seas to balloon art and drawing cartoons. revenue with them. The courses focus 80 students in a class, so it’s a challenge Courses are taught by non-traditional on building practical English skills in a for a teacher to teach a class that size instructors with expertise in the respec- short period of time (typically 8 to 52 online,” she says. “Just monitoring all tive course areas. The company earned hours) and cover topics such as essential the students to make sure they’re paying US$5.5 million in revenue last year and communication, grammar, and TOEIC attention is hard from behind a com- expects further growth in 2020. vocabulary, as well as English used in puter screen.” In Hahow’s courses, “Taiwanese business and the news media. Hsu found that compared to her in- can discover what interests them and With more than three million users in class lectures, online students were less what they are good at,” Chiang says, Taiwan, VoiceTube has a solid local fol- engaged with the course material. Grades Because of Taiwan’s conservative edu- lowing. It has another 400,000 users in were lower than usual during the spring cation system, which is laser-focused on Japan, its largest international market. semester. achieving high test scores, “many Tai- VoiceTube is also present in Hong Kong, NTNU did benefit from its consider- wanese don’t know what they like.” Malaysia, and Vietnam. able information technology resources, While Hahow has grown during the which enabled the school to smoothly pandemic, competition is intensifying. Performing a test run set up the remote learning platforms, Chiang says that since February, two or Hsu says. Rather than any inadequacy three new e-learning companies have Within Taiwan, Tsai sees one espe- with the technology, she suspects that been set up in Taiwan every month. cially promising new market: schools. the problem was the inevitable learning Johnny Tsai, co-founder and CEO VoiceTube is currently discussing coop- curve for online education. Since Tai- of VoiceTube, an e-learning platform eration with 30 different educational wanese students are generally unfamiliar that uses YouTube videos for instruc- institutions. with distance learning, this first time was tion, says that his company’s sales are up Taiwanese schools have a much bound to have some hiccups, she says. about 20% annually, compared to 200% greater interest in online services now Classroom instruction resumed in a year earlier. Amid tougher competi- than before the pandemic, he says. May, once the risk of COVID-19 com- tion, VoiceTube’s user acquisition costs “Taiwan was fortunate that it did munity transmission was minimal. While have tripled as measured by spending on not have to widely implement remote everyone was glad to be back at school, search engine optimization, advertising, learning this time. But that day may Hsu discovered a new problem: Stu- and social media. come, and schools want to be prepared.” dents’ classroom learning skills had Established in 2013, VoiceTube ini- Some of Taiwan’s universities did atrophied. tially focused on online English-language switch to remote learning for the spring “It was as if they were not used to instruction. Recently, it has diversified semester. One of them was the College of learning in the classroom,” she says. into other languages, business topics, Management at National Taiwan Normal “You don’t have to be as alert if you’re and computer programming. VoiceTube University (NTNU). Hsu Mei, the col- attending a class at home in front of a has a library of 100,000 videos from lege’s dean and an economics professor, screen.” which students can choose. An algorithm told Taiwan Business TOPICS that the Nevertheless, Hsu says she’s confident helps them select content best tailored to experience was instructive. Overall, she that NTNU and other universities could their interests. did not experience any major problems in resume an all-remote learning program if This year, its best-selling courses have her classes. circumstances required. “We have done been the Vclass series taught by local However, she felt that teaching a successful test run. We will be prepared influencers. VoiceTube co-produces con- remotely was less effective than in the for next time.”

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 45

11 IF.indd 45 2020/11/9 下午9:45 ADVERTORIAL

GSK: Taking the Lead in the Fight Against Diseases Worldwide

normal, healthy lives by taking only one experience combatting infectious diseases pill per day and even more freedom in the to the fight against COVID-19. As the future. pandemic continues to spread in countries Although GSK’s product portfolio across the globe, with many experiencing covers a wide range of disease areas, a second wave of infections, the need to Stanley has focused much of his produce a universally available vaccine two decades at the company on the becomes ever more pressing. Yet making development of vaccines. enough of the product to inoculate a or GlaxoSmithKline Taiwan (GSK) “Vaccines are, outside of clean majority of the world’s population in a General Manager Mick Stanley, a drinking water, the most important short amount of time is a challenge that F company is only as successful and invention of the past century,” he says. governments and industry the world over progressive as the people behind it. He “And I enjoy applying my love of business are now facing. cites the multinational pharmaceutical and of creating successful plans and In order to overcome this difficulty, firm’s ability to balance performance with meeting the company’s financial objectives GSK is contributing its adjuvant pursuing solutions that positivity impact to doing something that is at its core noble technology to the vaccines being patients and public health as one of the and prevents diseases.” developed by its partners around the main reasons he’s stayed with them for the Stanley observes that Taiwan has a world. This technology, which involves last 20 years. very high rate of pediatric vaccination. a special component that can be added A big part of GSK’s mission, says However, he notes, there is still a lack of to a vaccine to boost the body’s immune Stanley, is simply to allow employees to public health education and awareness as response, can help reduce the amount be themselves – regardless of ethnicity, it relates to vaccinating the island’s adult of vaccine needed to get the same result background, gender, or sexual orientation population. – and to equip them with the tools and “With adults, there isn’t the same confidence to be the best they can be, both sense of urgency to vaccinate compared to personally and professionally. infants,” Stanley observes. “But the reality “When I think about the company’s is that there are nine million people here core values, I think about respect, above the age of 50, and vaccines can play transparency, and always being patient- a big role in managing their health and the focused,” Stanley says. “In addition country’s budget.” to fostering a diverse and inclusive GSK is now bringing its extensive workplace, we also want to create a flexible working environment for our people to flourish, and where employees feel that they can balance their worktime and off-hours roles,” he adds. And while the growth and well-being of GSK Taiwan’s 300 employees are among the company’s utmost priorities, its central objective is to provide patients with innovative treatments, notably in the areas of respiratory, HIV, immuno- inflammation, and oncology, and to improve their quality of life. Over the past four decades, GSK has made significant strides in the treatment of HIV, a disease that has killed over 30 million people worldwide. Stanley notes that the advances made in this area have allowed HIV-positive people to live

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GSK.indd 46 2020/11/9 下午9:46 ADVERTORIAL

and allow for more vaccine availability. is currently undergoing a clinical trial implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine The company aims to produce one billion to determine if it is effective in treating once it becomes available. If it is successful vaccine adjuvant doses in 2021. patients who are experiencing severe in this effort, he notes, it’s example could “This was the best choice for GSK in coronavirus-related pulmonary disease. serve as a blueprint for the rest of the that it will give the world the best chance The company has also set aside special world, and GSK could help in spreading to have a lot of vaccine at scale,” he adds. laboratory space to help with diagnostic the message. “In the end, it’s not a race to win – to beat testing in the UK and Belgium, providing “We can, from our position here, the competition – but to get something out a pressure relief valve for public health educate other countries on how to do it there fast that’s safe and effective.” authorities in those countries who right,” he says. In addition to its vaccine efforts, GSK are struggling with limited laboratory “There will be other pandemics in the is researching treatments for severe cases capacity. future – it’s going to happen. But what’s of COVID-19 or secondary complications, After experiencing Taiwan’s effective important is that we have the systems in looking at the therapeutic efficacy of some early handling of the pandemic within place to shut them down quickly – to trace existing products in its portfolio. One is its borders, Stanley says he is optimistic and contain them, develop a vaccine very a monoclonal antibody therapy which about the government’s distribution and fast, and end them.”

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GSK.indd 47 2020/11/9 下午9:46 EXECUTIVE SUITE

Meet Jamie Lin of Taiwan Mobile

At only 42 years old, Taiwan Mobile President Jamie Lin is a young face in an industry still dominated by the previous generation. Not one to be discouraged, Lin has brought his world-class business education and extensive experience in the startup world to Taiwan’s fiercely competitive telecommunications industry. He is now working with his team at Taiwan Mobile to push the bounds of what a traditional telecom operator can do.

Lin sat down with TOPICS Deputy Editor Jeremy Olivier in October to discuss his reasons for returning to Taiwan from the U.S., the unique nature of Taiwan’s telecoms industry, and how he finds inspiration and energy in his passion for creating a lasting impact with his work.

You have a bachelor's degree in engi- During that time, I saw the resurgence Have you changed anything about the neering and an MBA from NYU. How of internet companies and witnessed management structure or style of the did your education inﬂuence your even- how the campaign for Barack Obama company? tual career? How have you applied the leveraged the internet to vault him from We have deﬁnitely been acting more knowledge and skills gained from living a one-term senator to being President of like a startup. For example, we have and working in the U.S. to your career the U.S. been engaging in several new ventures, in Taiwan? On top of that, I was there when such as our recent partnerships with Before I even went to NYU’s Stern Apple and Google introduced smart Google, NVIDIA, and Riot Games. School of Business, I had already started phones to the global market with the These are all new, unproven busi- my first company and put five years of iPhone and Android. I realized that the ness models, and like a startup we are work into it. I had also held a general internet was going to become this thing throwing them out there and seeing manager role at my previous company’s that you carry with you all day and what sticks. China operation, so I had accrued some that you use essentially every waking I’ve been encouraging my team to leadership experience as well. minute. I saw these big shifts taking understand that a certain percentage of However, at that time, so much place and I understood that although these endeavors will pan out and if they about doing business was still a mystery my original plan was to settle down in do, the outsized return will more than to me, and going to Stern really helped the U.S. permanently, I needed to bring compensate for any failed ones. And me open up that black box. I went there some of this excitement and innovation I’m happy to say that the company has with all of these questions that I wanted back to Taiwan. been very receptive to this strategy. One answered, and I ended up taking more of the reasons why I think that’s the credits than were required for the MBA. You’ve had a lot of experience in case is that Taiwan’s telecom industry In the end, it made me a much better the startup community over the past is super-competitive, and the companies businessperson. two decades, including in your concur- here are therefore very used to change. After graduating, I spent the next rent role as chairman and partner at It’s in our DNA. four years launching a new startup with AppWorks. Have you brought a similar In terms of management structure, friends I’d met in my MBA program, startup-style approach to heading one I didn’t change much. However, I did which also made a huge impact on me. of Taiwan's largest telecom operators? introduce two new organizations or

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small teams. One of them was the cor- porate development team, which is responsible for sourcing strategic investment and M&A opportunities and making recommendations on how we take advantage of them. The other team I put together is a full-stack growth hacking organization, tasked with finding areas of the company that require growth. Both teams were formed around six months ago, but have hit the ground running and have already made some major progress.

You mentioned that the telecommunications industry in Taiwan is very makes my job easier as I aim to trans- On the other hand, my background competitive. What are some of the other form the company through these new in engineering may also present some major characteristics of this sector? endeavors. obstacles. Since I approach issues logi- What sets it apart from those of other And as I said earlier, Taiwan Mobile cally and pragmatically, I don’t bring a countries in the region? is very nimble in that it’s so used to lot of emotions into my work as a man- Taiwan is a unique market for tele- competition and change. It has the 300- ager. However, people are people, and communications. Thanks to low-cost pound weight of a gorilla, but it moves they do have feelings that I need to be unlimited data plans, our industry has as fast as a gazelle. So, as long as you aware of, so I try very hard to empa- some of the lowest average revenue per can point it in the right direction, it can thize with them and put myself in capita globally coupled with the second make a big difference. their shoes. I also have to remember highest per capita data consumption. In The challenge then is how to pick to choose my words carefully when addition, Taiwan has the most network the right direction for the company to addressing conﬂicts or workplace issues operators of anywhere else in the region follow. At any moment, there are count- and make sure that I’m not exacer- – ﬁve companies compared to the three less opportunities for a company like bating tense situations. Focusing so or four of most other countries – and Taiwan Mobile to choose from. This is much time and energy on this aspect the highest 5G spectrum costs in the where my experience as a venture cap- of my job takes away from other areas world. italist comes in handy. As a VC, you’re and makes me that much less produc- Adding to that situation, we have a always looking to choose the startups tive during the day. regulator that is really keen on making that could really go big. So, in the case sure that things go exactly as they of our recent ventures, I had to first What kinds of activities get you planned. We must apply for prior reg- decide which areas we wanted to go feeling "recharged?" ulatory approval for many of the into, then determine who would be the To be honest, my work with activities we do – even merely adjusting best partner to go into them with. AppWorks and Taiwan Mobile is our rate plans – and some things take what really gets me recharged. I didn’t longer than we would like. These fac- Do you have a particular philosophy choose to take on these roles because tors make telecoms a very challenging as a manager? What do you see as your I needed the income or wanted any yet exciting and dynamic industry. strengths? Any weaknesses? of the peripheral benefits that they My training as an engineer really would afford me. I chose them because What are some of the unique advan- imbued me with a desire to solve prob- I’m really passionate about seeing the tages of leading a company as large and lems and create win-win scenarios. impact these organizations can make. I established as Taiwan Mobile? What Within a company, there are sometimes feel that this is both my work and my are some of the challenges? How have conflicting objectives between different purpose, and all of the progress I make you approached these challenges since departments, and I’ll have situations running AppWorks and Taiwan Mobile starting in your role? where two department heads will come recharges me. I think the biggest advantage is to me and accuse the other of standing The activities I do in my off-hours that we can get the attention of top in their way. Rather than taking sides, I are thus more about staying in good global companies, whereas when I was am usually able to think outside of the enough shape to keep improving and working with startups, it was almost box and find a new way for them to making progress at work. I exercise not impossible to get them to work with work together and achieve their objec- so much because I like it or it makes me us. But at Taiwan Mobile, companies tives without sacrificing one party’s feel happy, but rather because I want to like Google will seriously consider the interests over the other’s. I see this kind make sure my body is in the best con- opportunities you’re offering and the of problem-solving as an engineering dition to be more productive during potential to collaborate with you. This task, and I really enjoy doing it. working hours.

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Jamie Lin.indd 49 2020/11/9 下午9:48 AMCHAM EVENT

A Virtual Trip Around the World – at the American Ball

mCham Taipei’s 2020 Amer- ican Ball was an evening of A glitz and glamor as nearly 300 members and their guests arrived at the Grand Hyatt Taipei dressed in dashing tuxedos and elegant evening gowns. While the COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted international travel, the theme of this year’s ball – Fly Me to the World – aimed to bring the world to attendees. The event featured a world- class meal, international performances, and dance-worthy sounds from around the globe. As guests began to trickle in, they made their way from the photo stand in floor. There they were treated to an eye- everyone at ease. He was joined onstage the hotel’s lobby to the registration area catching display of duty-free products by AmCham Taipei Chairperson CW outside the Grand Ballroom on the third supplied by Ever Rich, including high- Chin and President Leo Seewald, and value Taiwanese tea sets, as well as other the three raised a toast on behalf of the local snacks and assorted goods. Those host organizations. wishing to further memorialize their As the night continued, guests were attendance at this premier event had the treated to a sumptuous interconti- chance to strike a pose at two photo sta- nental meal, whose courses included tions upstairs. Spanish-style smoked halibut, pineapple The evening’s festivities kicked off sorbet with coconut crumble for lovers with a lively dance performance, trans- of Hawaii, Netherlands-style roasted porting the audience to France and U.S. beef tenderloin, and a coffee choc- Spain with traditional songs and beau- olate bonbon representing Italy. It tiful costumes. It was a hard act to was the kind of feast that lets you follow, but Master of Ceremonies Roger savor the world without ever needing Yee rose to the occasion, eliciting laughs to leave the dinner table. To comple- and applause from guests and putting ment this delicious spread, bottles of

50 TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 Robert Mondavi Winery Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay were provided by drinks sponsor Sergio Valente, while whisky drinkers enjoyed glasses of Johnnie Walker Black Label Sherry Finish from Diageo. Live music for the American Ball was provided by Sher- wyne Pereira and his band MODA, while local DJ Rick Kraft spun a range of contemporary jams and classic tunes, getting people in the dancing spirit. Those who still had room after dinner could take a break from the dance- ﬂoor for a late-night snack of pulled pork sandwiches and Spanish churros. Meanwhile, free-flow refreshments were available at the bar throughout the night. The 2020 American Ball was made possible by the gen- erosity of a number of sponsoring organizations. These included Grand Prize Sponsor Samsung; Wine & Liquor Sponsors Diageo and Sergio Valente; Gold Sponsors Amgen, Grand Hyatt Taipei, and HSBC; Décor Sponsor Merck; and Silver Sponsors Corning, The Rehfeldt Group, and GSK. The party featured raffle drawings with attractive prizes throughout the night. The grand prize, from Sam- sung, was a 65” QLED 4K television. Other prize sponsors included the Grand Hyatt Taipei, Amba Taipei Songshan, CÉ LA VI Taipei, eslite hotel, Everrich, Hotel Eclat Taipei, Hotel Indigo Taipei North, Hotel Royal Group, Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei, Madison Taipei, Mandarin Oriental Taipei, Mellow Fields Taipei, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, The Landis Taipei, The One, The Place Taipei, Regent Taipei, Sherwood Taipei, Westin Tashee Resort Taoyuan, and W Taipei.

TAIWAN BUSINESS TOPICS • NOVEMBER 2020 51

11 ball.indd 51 2020/11/9 下午9:49 SEEINGSEEING TAIWAN TAIWAN

Chinese communists. When it became clear that their situation was hopeless, they were evacuated. Some of the men – many with wives and children in tow – were sent to Qingjing Farm. When they arrived, it was a wilderness. Much of the farm is more than 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) above sea level. The ex-soldiers cultivated cabbages and tea and raised sheep. Some of their children now operate homestays or restaurants in the area. The farm’s sheep are one of its most popular attractions. Lowland Taiwan is too crowded and too warm for graz- ing animals, so Qingjing Farm draws QINGJING FARM Taiwanese (and people from elsewhere in Asia) who are eager to see sheep in a truly pastoral setting. The Astounding Highlands North of Qingjing Farm, High- way 14A leads to the highest stretch of in the Heart of Taiwan paved road in the country. This section of highway, which crests at an elevation of 3,275 meters (10,745 feet), rewards aichung is an excellent launchpad Tourists bound for popular desti- sightseers with superb vistas. for anyone wishing to explore nations in the mountains do not need Aowanda National Forest Recre- the stunning mountains that to hire a car. Every day, a dozen buses ation Area is accessible only to those crowdT Taiwan’s interior. connect Taichung with the hiking base with their own vehicle. This 2,787-hect- The city encompasses intensively and hot springs resort of Guguan. If are (6,887 acres) reserve encompasses farmed coastal lowlands, mid-elevation they book their tickets in advance, they several watersheds between 1,100 and landscapes, and expanses of high-alti- can proceed by bus from Guguan to 2,600 meters (3,609 to 8,530 feet) tude wilderness within Shei-Pa National Lishan via a scenic but restricted-access above sea level. Park. At the same time, Taichung’s stretch of the Central Cross-Island Thanks to its mild climate, the area thoroughly modern core area, home Highway. has become a popular summer getaway. to over half its 2.8 million residents, Buses to Puli are even more has more than its fair share of interna- frequent. Often overlooked by visitors tional dining choices, a wide range of in their eagerness to reach Sun Moon accommodation options, and some fine Lake, Puli is a key transportation hub museums. where it is possible to change buses and When the current disruption from travel on to Wushe or Qingjing Farm. the COVID-19 pandemic ends, Taic- Wushe is the busiest settlement in hung’s international airport will again Nantou County’s Renai Township, handle flights from cities in Japan, whose multiethnic population is just South Korea, China, and Southeast under 16,000. In addition to villages Asia. where almost everyone is a member Getting around Taichung is becom- of the Atayal, Bunun, or Seediq indig- ing easier and easier. By the end of enous tribes, plus a sprinkling of this year, the first segment of the Taic- Taiwanese of Han Chinese descent, hung Metro should be up and running. there is a community descended from The 18-station Green Line will consid- Yunnanese anti-communist soldiers erably shorten journey times between who fled Myanmar and Laos in the the Taichung High-Speed Railway 1950s and 1960s. Station and locations in the city center. After the government of Chiang Kai- The city bus network has also been shek relocated to Taiwan in late 1949, improved, and most journeys under 10 thousands of his Yunnanese support- kilometers are free. ers continued fighting Mao Zedong’s AOWANDA NATIONAL FOREST RECREATION AREA

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MONA RUDO MEMORIAL PARK

However, it is in the fall that its tranquil natural beauty becomes utterly sublime. Set against the browns and greens of a pristine woodland, Aowanda’s maple

trees display a captivating range of BIKE PATH AROUND SUN MOON LAKE reds and oranges. To find out more about Aowanda or any of Taiwan’s cloth weaving and farming. other forest recreation areas, go to the Males were typically given Forestry Bureau website (https://www. vertical stripes on their chins, forest.gov.tw). while females were tattooed on The drive to Aowanda takes visitors both cheeks. Forehead tattoos through Seediq settlements. The Seediq, appeared on both men and like Taiwan’s other indigenous peoples, women. It was believed that such are Austronesian and speak a language tattoos ensured that after Seediq that is altogether different from Manda- tribe members passed away, they rin and Taiwanese. would be recognized in the here-

The first time many people outside after by their ancestors. THAO PEOPLE Taiwan heard about this tribe was The Japanese colonial author- when they saw a trailer for Warriors ities tried to stamp out the practice of leave the island where they believed of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, a 2011 tattooing. After 1945, when Japan’s their ancestral spirits reside. Only a cinema epic. The movie depicts the defeat resulted in Taiwan coming tiny fragment of the island remains, Wushe Incident of 1930, a heroic but under the control of Chiang Kai-shek’s and most Thao – the tribe totals fewer ultimately unsuccessful uprising by Republic of China, Christian mission- than 850 people – now live on the lake’s Seediq villagers angered by Japan’s aries succeeded in converting most southeastern shore. oppressive colonial rule. Seediq to Catholicism or Protestant- The Thao language is on the verge Unlike some other indigenous groups ism, undermining the spiritual-religious of extinction, but certain tribal tradi- in Taiwan, the Seediq people are patri- significance of tattoos. tions live on. During Thao festivals, the lineal, tracing descent from the father. Nowadays, Seediq facial tattoos unique way rhythms are pounded out In traditional tribal communities, exist only in photographs, but artisans using wooden pestles and stone slabs women focused on farming (mainly are keeping the tribe’s clothing heritage has earned this ethnic group a special taro, millet, and sweet potatoes) and alive. The traditional material is ramie place in the hearts of musicologists. making cloth, while the men hunted fiber, and the most common color is red. To find out if there is going to be and did heavy labor. Marriage within Textiles were seen as women’s work, a public performance of pestle music, three degrees of consanguinity was but the manufacture of containers and contact the Sun Moon Lake National prohibited, and young people had to utensils was a task for men. Common Scenic Area (www.sunmoonlake. receive their parents’ approval before items made using bamboo or Formo- gov.tw). In addition, the website of getting wed. san supplejack included fishing nets and the central government’s Council of Until well into the 20th century, backpack-baskets. Indigenous People (www.cip.gov.tw) the bodies of clan law and protocol, Travelers in central Taiwan may also profiles all 16 of the country’s aborigi- known as Gaya and Waya, also dictated encounter the Thao people, who lived nal tribes. patasan (the ritual tattooing of faces, in the Sun Moon Lake area for centu- For further information about visit- hands, and feet). Men could receive a ries before the Japanese authorities ing Taiwan, please contact the tourism facial tattoo after they had decapitated decided to turn this body of water into hotline at 0800- 011-765 (toll free within an enemy or shown skill in hunting. For a hydroelectric station. Taiwan) or go to the Tourism Bureau’s AOWANDA NATIONAL FOREST RECREATION AREA women, tattoos indicated their ability at Rising waters forced the Thao to website (www.taiwan.net.tw).

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