Focusing on the IT & high-tech industries, this book offers an analysis of foreign SMEs in Taiwan & China, presenting indices of knowledge capital, innovative ability, the utilisation of information technology & social infrastructure that can be used to evaluate cross-strait competitive advantage.

Focusing on the IT and high-tech electronic industries, this book provides an analysis of foreign small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan and Mainland China. A comparative analysis of Taiwan and Mainland China's business and investment environments is conducted, and several indices — knowledge capital, innovative ability, the utilization of information technology and social infrastructure — are used to evaluate the cross-strait competitive advantage. This important book helps readers understand the criteria involved in choosing an investment region, while increasing awareness of the particularities of conducting business in Asia.

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. China’s relation to Taiwan has been in constant contention since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949 and the creation of the defeated Kuomintang (KMT) exile regime on the island two months later. The island’s autonomous sovereignty has continually been challenged, initially because of the KMT’s insistence that it continue to represent not just Taiwan but all of China—and later because Taiwan refused to cede sovereignty to the then-dominant power that had arisen on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. One thing that makes Taiwan so politically difficult and yet so intellectually fascinating is that it ­­is not merely a security problem, but a ganglion of interrelated puzzles. The optimistic hope of the Ma Ying-jeou administration for a new era of peace and cooperation foundered on a landslide victory by the Democratic Progressive Party, which has made clear its intent to distance Taiwan from China’s political embrace. The Taiwanese are now waiting with bated breath as the relationship tautens. Why did détente fail, and what chance does Taiwan have without it? Contributors to this volume focus on three aspects of the evolving quandary: nationalistic identity, social economy, and political strategy.

Praise for Investment Banking & Investment Opportunities in China "I first met Tom Liaw when my company was exploring potential opportunities in Taiwan. He clearly knew the market and proved invaluable in explaining the financial landscape and in arranging meetings with potential clients, other market participants, and senior government officials. Investment Banking and Investment Opportunities in China should prove equally valuable as we now look to further expand our activities to mainland China." -Douglas Reinfeld-Miller, EVP, Ambac Assurance, and Chairman/CEO, Ambac Assurance UK Ltd "There is no more important market than China today. Dr. Liaw's book provides an overview of the current situation and recommendations as to how investors can profit from China's amazing growth." -Donald Tang, Chairman, Bear, Stearns Asia Ltd, and Vice Chairman, Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. "Professor Liaw's book takes you on a quick walk through the major milestones in China's economic development over the past two decades. It shows a clear understanding of the environment for doing business in China and explains hot topics in the marketplace. This book is simple, easy to read, and yet highly informative." -Jesse Wang, Vice Chairman, China Central SAFE Investments Ltd, and Chairman, China International Capital Corporation Ltd "Provides a clear map of China's financial system, investment banking business, and investment opportunities. It should be read by all who are interested in China." -Mao-Wei Hung, Dean, College of Management, National Taiwan University "Dr. Liaw's book is a comprehensive professional reference work for those of us involved in the global investment arena. I highly recommend it." -Charles P. Menges, Jr., CFA, Principal, Business Global Wealth Management, a Unit of Alliance Bernstein LP "China's development has a unique track, including the financial market. People who want to profit from China should have a clear view of this market. Dr. Liaw's book, explaining China's market opening and foreign participation, is the one necessary for them to read." -Wei Xing, Director of Rules and Regulations, China Insurance Regulatory Commission

Taiwan "is becoming the most dangerous flash point in the world for a possible war that involves the United States, China, and probably other major powers," warn Robert D. Blackwill, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy, and Philip Zelikow, University of Virginia White Burkett Miller professor of history. In a new Council Special Report, The United States, China, and Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War, the authors argue that the United States should change and clarify its strategy to prevent war over Taiwan. "The U.S. strategic objective regarding Taiwan should be to preserve its political and economic autonomy, its dynamism as a free society, and U.S.-allied deterrence-without triggering a Chinese attack on Taiwan." "We do not think it is politically or militarily realistic to count on a U.S. military defeat of various kinds of Chinese assaults on Taiwan, uncoordinated with allies. Nor is it realistic to presume that, after such a frustrating clash, the United States would or should simply escalate to some sort of wide-scale war against China with comprehensive blockades or strikes against targets on the Chinese mainland." "If U.S. campaign plans postulate such unrealistic scenarios," the authors add, "they will likely be rejected by an American president and by the U.S. Congress." But, they observe, "the resulting U.S. paralysis would not be the result of presidential weakness or timidity. It might arise because the most powerful country in the world did not have credible options prepared for the most dangerous military crisis looming in front of it." Proposing "a realistic strategic objective for Taiwan, and the associated policy prescriptions, to sustain the political balance that has kept the peace for the last fifty years," the authors urge the Joe Biden administration to affirm that it is not trying to change Taiwan's status; work with its allies, especially Japan, to prepare new plans that could challenge Chinese military moves against Taiwan and help Taiwan defend itself, yet put the burden of widening a war on China; and visibly plan, beforehand, for the disruption and mobilization that could follow a wider war, but without assuming that such a war would or should escalate to the Chinese, Japanese, or American homelands. "The horrendous global consequences of a war between the United States and China, most likely over Taiwan, should preoccupy the Biden team, beginning with the president," the authors conclude.

Focusing on the IT & high-tech industries, this book offers an analysis of foreign SMEs in Taiwan & China, presenting indices of knowledge capital, innovative ability, the utilisation of information technology & social infrastructure that can be used to evaluate cross-strait competitive advantage.

The "Taiwan question" has long been considered one of the most complicated and explosive issues in global politics. In recent years, however, relations between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland have improved substantially to the surprise of many. In this ground-breaking collection, distinguished contributors from the US, Asia, and Europe seek to go beyond the standard "recitation of facts" that often characterizes studies focusing on the Beijing-Taipei dyad. Rather, they employ a variety of theories as well as both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to analyze the ebbs and flows of the Taiwan issue. Their discussions clearly illuminate why there is a "Taiwan Problem," why conflict did not escalate to war between 2000 and 2008, and why cross-Strait relations improved after 2008. The book further reveals the limits of realism as a device to gain traction into the Taiwan issue, demonstrates the importance of taking into account domestic political variables, and shows how theory can be used to advance the cause of better China-Taiwan relations and to analyze the potential for future conflict over Taiwan. New Thinking about the Taiwan Issue is essential reading not only for students, scholars and practitioners with an interest in studying relations across the Taiwan Strait, but also for any reader interested in economics, international relations, comparative politics or political theory.