yes, I’m at the age where I like a city such as KHH.
Can relax on any street for coffee or tea and watch the traffic go by.
For those in their 20s or 30s, there’s not much hope for high-paying jobs like there are up north.
I’m a big fan of KHH too in that regard.
But I’m interested to see if anybody can come up with ANY scenario where better paid jobs will appear in KHH? So far TSMC is the only one that I can think of that could offer well laid jobs.
Even if they get the Chinese tourists back they are low paid tourism jobs.
If the Taishang come back to setup more factories they are also low paid jobs.
Actually kind of easy.
All about tax-free trade zones, high margin products, new technology.
Can make KHH home to any of the following with huge huge tax breaks (if you cut taxes enough, they will come)
-bitcoin-related firms, cryptocurrency, blockchain
-biotech
-new energy
-robotics
-big data storage
-etc. etc.
I mean fuq, it ain’t rocket science to attract firms.
Look at what NYC and Virginia did to get Amazon’s two new sub-HQs.
What jobs? If people worked blue collar in the steel industry what would you do it? Educate them for IT?
Ah Amazon, people like to work for Amazon!
really, that’s your comeback?
KHH high schoolers go to tech colleges in the north (Hsinchu and north). If there were tech jobs in KHH they would come back. They don’t come back for blue-collar jobs.
Tax breaks are definitely one way but it seems limited on effect here.
Yet another science park hmmm…Although they already have the Tainan science park with almost all the stuff mentioned.
There’s no Amazon, FedEx going to magically setup in KHH, again political issues and already lots of completion in the market.
Crypto city would be pretty cool. That could bring in a LOT of money if done right.
Financial sector…Intl finance workers would have absolutely no interest in moving to KHH and Taiwans income taxes are far too high and local firms block competition anyway .
Biotech has the same problem , intl experts simply won’t move to KHH and there’s no significant hub there. It’s really hard to do biotech right, Taiwan is doing pretty well all told.
Some kind of block chain tax haven is your best bet to get the money rolling. Many of these people and teams are young and mobile and there is a relatively big industry in Asia already.
New energy ? You mean solar ? That’s usually a money losing biz, there are plenty of investments in Taiwan already. Taichung has got some wind turbine manufacturing plan nailed down.
A poll released on Thursday (May 7) by the research organization shows that the number of Taiwanese who identify with the KMT has dropped to 9.2 percent, the lowest the party has ever seen.
Ouch.
Will they learn this time?
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Spoiler Alert:
No.
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Political studies scholar Gunter Schubert—editor of the terrific Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Taiwan—has a thoughtful piece at Commonwealth Magazine in which he asks: what lies ahead for the KMT? His conclusion: “The KMT stands at a crossroads, and whatever road it takes, it is going to be extremely bumpy.”
Guy
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Seems like they are learning how to box now 
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Maybe they’re staging a boxer rebellion.
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Here’s an old favourite, back again, with Hung Hsiu-chu visiting Xiamen on January 28:
Translated from the UDN story linked above:
According to the news, [former KMT chair] Hung Hsiu-chu said that “Chinese-style modernization is a modernization shared by both sides of the strait. Taiwan should not and cannot be absent in the wave of national rejuvenation. Compatriots on both sides of the strait should work together to complete the cause of national rejuvenation and cross-strait reunification.”
Guy
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With the TPP around, the KMT isn’t necessarily going to lose in the current voting system. The KMT has a solid 32% percentage of the vote, and all we need is enough people who don’t hate the CCP and/or the KMT enough, and aren’t that aware of the math involved in first-past-the-pole to split green votes down to around 30% to award KMT a win.
TPP will just be another People First Party with Ko following footstep of James Soong
PFP’s demographics highly overlapped with those of the KMT, mainly rural people and old people, especially those with nostalgia for the CCK era.
TPP is grabbing people with graduate degrees under 45, which used to be the kind of voter that the DPP depended on to show up at the polls if they wish to win in an election.
TPP did badly at local elections 2 months ago. As tensions with Beijing running high, Ko’s attempt to lean close to them will damage TPP’s image.
TPP needs to breakout from the one-man party image as well.
In a first-past-the-post voting system, the third party doesn’t need to do well, it just needs to make the party they want to sabotage do a tiny bit less well. When was the last time that the PFP did well anyway?
TPP also won a municipal mayorship, albeit with a KMT person and funding.
What’s up with the KMT? C Donovan Smith writing at the Taiwan News helps explain how they got here, and what makes them extra special as a political party. It’s a great read.
Guy
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