End Blue vs. Green Enmity: Taiwan Needs Unity

End Blue vs. Green Enmity: Taiwan Needs Unity
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 1, 2012

Summary: At a recent forum, National Federation of Industries Chairman Rock Hsu said Taiwan's economy is drowning. What he meant was that people on Taiwan are like drowning men clutching at each other. The result is they drag each other down, and society as a whole sinks to the bottom even faster. Recently, two Blue Camp mayors shook hands, saying they hold no grudges, they merely want unity. What Taiwan needs is unity even if one still holds a grudge. On the world stage there must be no Blue or Green, there must only be Taiwan.

Full Text below:

At a recent forum, National Federation of Industries Chairman Rock Hsu said Taiwan's economy is drowning. What he meant was that people on Taiwan are like drowning men clutching at each other. The result is they drag each other down, and society as a whole sinks to the bottom even faster.

Rock Hsu said when he was younger, he almost drowned. A classmate jumped in the water to save him. But in his panic, Hsu desperately grabbed onto his classmate for dear life. As a result, they both sank and almost drowned. Hsu cited his own experience as a metaphor for Taiwan. His remark may strike a chord in many people. But to be honest, the situation on Taiwan is worse than what Rock Hsu described. A drowning man will frantically grab whoever is next to him out of blind desperation. But on Taiwan the motive is often different. On Taiwan, it is often a desire to take others down, to exploit them. It is less a desire to seek escape than a desire to drag others down, trip others up, and hold others back. This pattern of behavior merely ensures that everyone drowns and no one survives.

A drowning man does not deliberately drag someone else down with him. His is a reflex action. But Blue vs. Green infighting, ruling vs. opposition party infighting, and partisan infighting are "cost be damned" efforts to destroy each other. Unfortunately, the cost is often borne by the public. It often sacrifices the nation's prosperity and the peoples' well-being. Taiwan's situation could be likened to the Russo-Japanese War. Between 1904 and 1905, the Japanese Empire and the Russian Empire fought each other in Manchu-ruled China. The Qing government specially designated a war zone. The Japanese won. But statistics show that the Russo-Japanese War caused 20,000 Chinese civilian casualties, and property damage equivalent to 69 million catties of silver. The local Manchus could not help but lament, "The victorious Japanese rejoiced. The defeated Russians celebrated."

There is a popular expression in the Minan dialect, "Others eat rice noodles. I shout burn!" It means that there is no point in getting excited over things that have nothing to do with you. The Russo-Japanese War was a case of "Others eat rice noodles. I shout burn!" The "I" in Blue vs. Green confrontation on Taiwan today, is you, me, and him. Taiwan was once first among the Four Asian Tigers. Now it is the last. Taiwan once walked with its head up. Now it walks with its head down. Taiwan was once the "Taiwan Economic Miracle." Now it is the "Taiwan Joke." Taiwan was once the "Avenger Union." Now it is the "Voyage to Paradise." Who has been injured, traumatized, victimized, if not everyone on Taiwan?

Together we have experienced dramatic changes over the past two decades. These two decades are lost to us forever. During these two decades, the world turned upside down. On Taiwan, fundamental internal and external changes took place, simultaneously. Starting salaries for university graduates remained unchanged for two decades. In other words, during all that time, there was zero growth. But how did this happen? Andy Grove, former Intel CEO, said businesses inevitably undergo a period during which suddenly the situation is different, and things have changed. This is usually when a company is facing a strategic turning point. Grove said, "There is at least one point in the history of any company when you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance. Miss that moment - and you start to decline." Grove pointed out that businesses encounter four strategic inflection points. One. Senior management experiences cognitive dissonance because the company has stopped growing but has no idea why. Two. Entrepreneurs smugly assume they are doing certain things. In fact they are unwittingly doing something else entirely. Three. Chaos pervades the company. Employees cling to their jobs. Disputes rage without end. Four. Faced with such circumstances, middle and upper management are utterly impotent and utterly clueless.

This is the situation on Taiwan today. Grove was not saying that when these phenomena appear the company is doomed. He was merely reminding entrepreneurs that when a company detects these signals it means that the old tricks, the old strategies, and the old choices are no longer viable. Therefore they must be rethought. Therefore a new strategy is needed. Every business, every country faces different challenges at different stages. The important point is that amidst panic entrepreneurs must detect the strategic turning points, and negotiate the turns.

Taiwan's problems require more than the wisdom of its businessmen. Its political leadership needs wisdom as well. The habit of internal bickering leads to results even worse than those experienced by a drowning man. Polarization has permeated political views, social class, party affiliation, even individual lifestyles. An obvious example is widespread anti-business sentiment and hatred for the rich. Many people have unconsciously adopted an attitude of "Schadenfreude" toward others.

Recently, two Blue Camp mayors shook hands, saying they hold no grudges, they merely want unity. What Taiwan needs is unity even if one still holds a grudge. On the world stage there must be no Blue or Green, there must only be Taiwan.

破除藍綠心結 台灣需要大團結
2012-07-01
中國時報

全國工業總會理事長許勝雄日前在一個論壇上表示，他認為台灣經濟已進入「溺水式的困境」。意思是說，台灣現在就如同溺水的人一般地互相拉扯，造成了整個社會更快速、更嚴重的陷溺。

許勝雄說，他少年時曾經溺水，當時有位同學跳下水去救他，而他把同學視為唯一的希望，就不顧一切地死命抱住同學，結果造成兩人一同向下沉淪。許勝雄以自己的經驗比喻台灣，這番描述可能會讓很多人心有戚戚；不過，老實講，台灣的現狀可能比許勝雄所形容的還要更不好。畢竟溺水的人之所以會瘋狂地抓住旁邊的人，往往是出於一種求生本能，但是看看台灣的情況，互相抵消、消耗的人，與其說是想要給自己求一條生路，不如說是更想要困住、絆住、扯住對方；這種行為模式，最終會連自己都游不出去。

溺水者並沒有想要讓對方滅頂的意思，但台灣的藍綠對立、朝野對立、政黨對立，卻是要「不計一切代價」地毀滅對方。不幸的是，所謂的不計一切代價，往往就是指犧牲國家發展與人民福祉。台灣的處境就像當年的日俄戰爭。一九○四、一九○五年間，日本帝國和俄羅斯帝國在中國（清朝滿州）的土地上打仗，清朝政府為這場戰爭專門劃出了一塊交戰區，最後日本取得勝利；然而，據統計，日俄戰爭造成中國平民傷亡兩萬人，財產損失折合白銀六千九百萬兩。當地的滿州人不禁發出悲嘆：「日勝何喜，俄敗何欣。」

台語有句俗諺說：「別人吃米粉，我喊燒！」形容事不關己的熱心沒有意義，當年的日俄戰爭卻是「別人吃米粉，我被燒」。今天台灣的藍綠大對抗裡的「我」，就是你、就是我、就是他！台灣從亞洲四小龍之首變成之尾、之外；從「走路有風」變成「走路漏風」；從「台灣奇蹟」變成「台灣滑稽」；從「海角一樂園」變成「復仇者聯盟」，受傷、受創、受害的，豈不正是台灣的每一個人嗎？

我們一同經歷劇烈變動的二十年、「回不去了」的二十年！這二十年時間裡，世界出現天翻地覆的變化，台灣也出現了根本性的變化，內、外變化加在一起，最具體的結果就是台灣的大學畢業生的起薪近二十年沒有變化，意思是沒有成長。然而，這一切，究竟是怎麼發生的呢？前英特爾總裁葛洛夫說，企業總有一段時間會感覺到「欸，情況不一樣了，事情變了。」通常這就是企業面臨「策略轉折點」的時刻；他的名言是：「如果無法順利通過轉折點，企業便會在越過高峰之後，往下滑落。」葛洛夫指出，企業出現策略轉折點的情境有四：一，經營階層感到煩亂，因為公司業績無法成長，但卻又說不出確切的原因；二，經營者以為自己是在做某些事情，然而，實際上卻是另一回事；三，公司內部混亂，團隊成員各持已見、紛爭不斷；四，面對現狀，中高階層經理人一籌莫展，無計可施。

感覺起來，這些情況跟現在的台灣很類似，不過，葛洛夫並不是認為當出現這些現象時，這家公司就完蛋了，而是提醒經營者，一旦公司有這些訊號，那就表示「過去的招數、策略、選擇，已經不管用了」，因此要思考、提出新的策略。每個企業、每個國家都可能在不同的階段面臨不同的挑戰，重點是在經歷一段慌亂的時光之後，經營者能不能明確抓住策略轉折點，並在轉折中再次躍進。

台灣的問題當然不只是國家經營者智慧、領導力有待提升，內部互相消耗的慣性，帶來結果可能比溺水者更糟糕。從政治立場到社會階層、從政黨到生活，台灣的對立甚至已滲透到深層意識，「反商」、「仇富」只是其中比較明顯例子，可能很多人已在不知不覺中養成了「見不得別人好」的價值觀。

日前，兩位藍營的五都首長握手言歡，表示彼此間「沒有心結、只有團結」。其實，台灣更需要的是「就算有心結也要團結」的氣度與格局。要知道，在世界的舞台上，沒有藍綠，只有台灣。