Uni-President Enterprises Corp is going to invest US$30 million to set up a research and development headquarters in Shanghai. The company’s decision once again lays bare the fraudulent nature of “manufacturing in China and receiving orders in Taiwan” — a notion that pro-China academics and media use to rationalize the trend for Taiwanese companies to “go west” and invest in China.
If there is no manufacturing industry left, what research and development is there likely to be? If there is no nation and no sovereignty, what kind of culture and creativity can there be? If industry and the economy are not thriving, how much strategic planning and design is likely to be done?