I think this can certainly be the case. But I’ve seen quite a few foreign talents be given pretty important positions. Taiwanese general value competence above all else, they’ll trust you once you prove yourself as useful in most cases.
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Of course there are always exceptions and times are changing here in Taiwan. However, old habits die hard and many Taiwanese businesses are run in ways that are quite “special”. I have a Taiwanese lawyer friend who works for a large Taiwanese company in their “corporate compliance office”. Pretty interesting what goes on there.
It’s not a Taiwanese company, he doesn’t have any Taiwanese supervisor.
I think it was Louis XXII of France who once said, “the grape doesn’t fall far from the vine”.
I’m not Taiwanese, true. HQ is not Taiwanese either (they are English-speaking, but with a weird accent). I’ve been employed for 3 years; 2 yrs as Office Rep. The CPA is the only Taiwanese/Chinese-speaking entity involved.
Up until now I was the main person to communicate with the CPA (or so I thought). For f’s sake, I’ve signed the contract with the CPA for the accounting work they do for this TW branch. And now they replace me!? They probably made a great deal…
It’s generally better not to be the official rep. Are you getting more salary because of it? IF not, don’t sweat it, they did you a favor.
The business does something shady and if you are the official rep, your ass is grass. You are NOT? No problemo senor.
I wouldn’t want to be the official rep
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Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t. Either way, I think your Time Travel Club membership is going to be revoked yesterday. 
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You didn’t keep us posted. 
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He did in another thread about his overseas income and taxes.
For anyone in the future reading thread please note this important comment. This position comes with some responsibilities and liabilities a normal employee should not cover.
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Satisfying the BigDaves with a late update.
What tommy525 said, unless you’re hired for the job and are trained to do it, don’t get into being an office rep.
If you do, make sure the overseas company is well aware of the responsibilities and will compensate for it. And have yourself fully educated about your liabilities.
I got this position, as the previous guy was in a hurry to go someplace else. At first he made it seem like it’s simply managing utility bills, but soon enough my name was on the bank account and I had to make monthly reports to the CPA.
I mean, I did well. I cleaned up the previous guy’s act, made awesome spreadsheets, never missed a penny, and managed the office decently – despite it had nothing to do with my main job.
Anyway, the rep change was only the beginning of a downsizing effort by HQ, where I was cut. What HQ did not understand, however, was that having the office rep on site kept the other TW workers in check. They saw me as some sort of boss with reporting duties to the CEO (which I didn’t have). Once I was gone they started to get at their necks, and half of them quit in their dismay.
And the guy from HQ who oversaw all this change, was later oust by the company as well.
So in the end I had a good chuckle about it.
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Aha!!! NOW we finally understand why you were so butt-hurt about having these extra responsibilities taken away from you!
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