RUSSIAN TRADITION, UKRAINIAN PASSION : października 2013

One of my friend - European guy - asked me about Taiwan. I started to talk about Taipei 101, ASUS, Bubble milk tea... And suddenly I remembered that me and my group did a presentation "Taiwan Softpower". I hope that if someone write "Taiwan, Softpower" into google, he/she will open this page:
One part is made by myself and part is made by my Taiwanese group mate. It is not the final version of the presentation, but it contains all the information remarkable for this topic.

The importance of the soft power for Taiwan

From chic styles to cuisine, from cinema to comics, Taiwan is trying to project its soft power across the globe in an effort to step out of China’s shadow. “Soft power is Taiwan’s weapon of the weak given its limited military, economic and political resources,” said Lu Yeh-chung (盧業中), a political scientist at National Chengchi University. “It’s very important for Taiwan to employ soft power as a tool to attract support from other countries.”

Application and Examples of Soft Power

Taiwanese delicacies attract tourists around the world

I. Most of the people acquaint with Taiwan via bubble milk tea

The founder of Chun Shui Tang teahouse(春水堂), Liu Han-Chieh, first came up with the idea of serving Chinese tea cold in the early 1980s after visiting Japan where he saw coffee served cold. Then, in 1988, his product development manager, Ms. Lin Hsiu Hui, was sitting in a staff meeting and had brought with her a typical Taiwanese dessert called fen yuan, a sweetened tapioca pudding. It is said that this unique drink was invented out of boredom. Lin Hsiu Hui threw some sweetened tapioca pudding into her iced Assam tea on a fateful day in 1988 and one of the greatest Taiwanese exports was born.

Today, bubble tea shops occupy nearly every corner of Taiwan’s streets. Taiwan boasts over 50,000 bubble tea shops, serving up to 180 million cups annually. Bubble tea shops first spread to neighboring countries like Japan, South Korea and China. On the other hand, as the popularity of the treat traveled with Taiwanese immigrants, bubble tea shops can now be spotted in over 30 countries, including Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, the U.K. and U.S.

A British man named Assad Khan opened a store which is called Bubbleology in London in April, 2011. Bubbleology strives for authenticity and the ingredients all come from Taiwan, however the tea flavours are more exotic than the usual Asian teas. Assad Khan sold more than 500 cups every day and until now he has expanded several branches around Europe.

In Germany, McDonald's is now offering bubble tea at all of its McCafés. The signature street drink of Taiwan, bubble tea, was added to the menu of 800 McCafes in Germany starting June 11, according to the McDonald’s website. This is the first time a major global fast food chain has attempted to cash in on the trend.

The sensation of drinking bubble tea is an odd one, a mixture of eating and drinking simultaneously whereby you slurp the concoction through a fat straw before chewing on the tapioca pearls while negotiating the tea. People will find themselves with a surprising craving for those tapioca balls – so there's certainly something to it. Last but not least, bubble milk tea is undoubtedly a soft power to raise Taiwan's profile internationally.

II. Wide range of delicious food from night markets to restaurants

Taiwanese food is a mash-up of the cuisines of Min Nan, Teochew and Hokkien Chinese communities, as well as Japanese cuisine. The results of these culinary marriages are diversely delicious.Typical Taiwanese snacks are found everywhere, but Taiwan's night markets in particular, each night market having its own traditions and characteristics, are the places where these snacks can be found in abundance. The allure of the snacks sold in Taipei's night markets makes them truly irresistible--Lungshan Temple and the night markets at Huasi Street, Shilin, Tonghua Street, Raohe Street, Liaoning, and Jingmei, among others, all have their own special snacks giving off aromas that draw in diners from far away.

The Chinese food available in Taiwan covers the range from palace cuisine to street-stall snacks, and all have their characteristic and delicious flavors. The palace-style dishes such as Xiaolongbao(小籠包) served at Din Tai Fong attract numbers of tourists every day. Din Tai Fung’s bite-sized xiaolongbao have a consistently high quality. Their paper-thin wrappings hold rich hot broth and tender pork meatballs.

Next to these Chinese delicacies, the enormous variety of typical Taiwanese snacks is unique in the world and most perfectly illustrates the important place that the food culture takes into the lives of the Taiwanese people. Famous and unique Taiwanese snacks range from oyster omelets to fried rice noodles, tempura, Tainan Danzai noodles, Taiwanese spring rolls, rice tube pudding, and braised pork rice. Food is cheap and delicious, and by no means inferior, while each specialty makes Taiwan a more attractive and pleasing place worth a visit.

Green Energy in Taiwan as a future direction.

Taiwan is a country, where a lot of attention is being focused around technology. One of the future directions might be renewable energy, so called “Green Energy”. As president of Epoch Foundation Paul S. P. Hsu mentioned in one of interview promoting his book “Taiwan’s Soft Power”, green energy is future of Taiwan. Prices for oil and coal are permanently rising. Especially peak year for high price level was in years 2007-2009. This fact forced businesses and government to rethink ways and costs of deriving energy, which accounted cheaper ways like renewable energy sources: hydropower, geothermal, comprise biomass, wind and solar power. According to data, in year 2010 photovoltaic and wind power provided 0.07 percent of energy, hydropower provided 0.28 percent of Taiwan’s energy production and solar and thermal power 0.08 percent. In 2008 the government of Taiwan announced a program called “Framework of Taiwan’s Sustainable Energy Policy”, which main goal will be decrease energy intensity by 20 percent from 2005-2015 but as well cutting CO2 emissions to the 2000 level in 2025. Preservation of the environment is one of the biggest plans for developed economies, so one of the most new technology will be green technology. As Paul S. H. Hsu said about Taiwan being one of world leaders in IT, he also mentioned that IT industry is already overwhelmed. The link between IT and renewable technology as that those technologies requires engineers and extraordinary IT specialists like programmers, which Taiwan has. Well educated and well prepared scientist might be one of the new leaders in developing wind energy, lighting up the fact that Taiwan has a perfect terrain. Mister Hsu also emphasized the possible pitfalls, which could leave Taiwan’s Green Energy Plan behind. First of all the issue regard to the fact, how those plans and specialists would be converted into successful and profitable plan and it is going to be launched into the international market. The crucial point to resolve it is cooperation between specialist in different fields like IT-engineers, construction-engineers but as well economists and managers with “international business” background. Taiwan’s wind power industry is still developing at its initial stage. To compare, back in 2008 China was already one of the four major nations in production of wind power technology. If all business and engineering fields would work all together, “green energy technology” can turn out as new brand for Taiwan’s and also be linked to countries’ soft power.

Taiwanese niche markets as an example of great designed industry.

Taiwanese niche market combines luxury goods and technologically advanced products, which are based on special design. It is another example of Taiwanese soft power, besides the fact that niche market refers only to small group of customers. One fact should be mentioned about establishing Taiwan Design Center by government. It is a page, to promote creative design. „Its main mission is to upgrade original creativity of Taiwanese designers, promote international design exchanges, upgrade market competitiveness of Taiwanese industries, help enterprises build up their own brand, raise value-added of the said industries…”. Governmental support is the crucial part of creating a softpower view, especially for niche markets.

Niche Market in Taiwan is one of the best in producing luxury yachts. Taiwanese yacht industries is very modern and famous but only within small group of milliners, who particularly are interested in buying such luxury goods. It is the soft power but not within the everyday customers, like ASUS or HTC users, but within rich people of this world. Thing, that makes Taiwanese yachts being remarkable in world yachts market is: trained staff, refined craftsmanship, quick delivery, customization capability and competitive cost. According to yacht ranking Yacht Kingdom, Taiwan is placed high among the major yacht builders on the world. In 2006 export value of yachts reached US$350 million, in 2008 export value reached US$250 million (annual growth rate of 17.1% ). In 2010, Taiwan was 7th in the world in orders received in the “mega yacht” type. Taiwan made an entry to the market in 1970s. From the same beginning yachts was relatively cheaper but had a great quality. In 1987 export reached the top, when exported 1,755 yachts, with total value ,over US$190 million. As the industry is an export-oriented, most yacht manufacturers have established their operations around Keelung and Kaohsiung harbors. Taiwanese yachts are not only known by Asian milliners, TV stars and businessman, but also by western customers. Yachts, which are made in Taiwan had been seen as a “sunset industry” now are being shown as a “effective instrument in promoting the image of Taiwan”. The government has also made goals for production to be increased, reaching the value to US$650 million by 2015. While the goal is achieved, Taiwanese yacht production will move into the top four in the ranking of countries in mega-yacht production.

Another noticeable section of Taiwanese niche market is medicine. With reference to a high cost of those kind of “medical tours” and a high quality, in became the next niche. Western counties has gained many information about the effectiveness of Asian medicine. Medicine is based on herbs and other natural recourses, which attract people form North America and Europe. According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Taiwan received 81,462 medical tourists by the end of the third quarter of last year, more than double the 39,428 visitors who came in 2011. During last year about 60 percent of patients came for treatment, 27 percent for health check-up. As South Korea has the biggest number of plastic surgeries made every year, Taiwan is one of the leading countries specialized in treatments.

High technology is one of the main points in Taiwan industry. One of the niche in a markets, combined with high-quality goods are motorcycle parts. “Taiwan has been making motorcycles for more than half a century, and has developed advanced techniques and a complete supply chain for the industry”. Taiwanese company is one of the world best and biggest components producer. In this area, Taiwan competitors are industrialized markets such as North America, Europe and Japan. According to Taiwan Transportation Vehicle Manufacturers Association (TVMA), in the first quarter of 2012, exports of Taiwan-made motorcycle accounted for 41% of total sales. The chain of activities makes those product a high-quality: so called “Asian precision”, inspecting all products before shipment, investing in upgraded production equipment (including computer numerical control CNC facilities). This year Taiwan has also moved the production into market for F1 motorcycle racers. CENS company expects to reach a profit of NT$500 million (US$16.67 million) this year. Taiwanese shipments have usually maintained an annual growth of 2~3% in recent years.

The charity of Tzu Chi raises Taiwan's profile

The Tzu Chi Foundation

It is an international humanitarian organization and the largest non-governmental organization in the Chinese-speaking world with a special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

The organization was founded by Dharma Master Cheng Yen證嚴法師, a Buddhist nun, on May 14, 1966 in Hualien, Taiwan. While the Tzu Chi Foundation has Buddhist origins and beliefs, the organization is also popularly known for its selfless contributions to society in numerous ways in the areas of charity, medicine, education, and culture.

Assist Japan after earthquake in 2011

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in northeast Japan destroyed countless homes and lives, and triggered a major tsunami and a nuclear meltdown. Right after the disastrous earthquake taken place in the northeast Japan, nearly one hundred Tzu Chi volunteers set out for Japan to aid victims and give care to them. Although the amount of the volunteers is not very big, they helped lots of victims indeed. They went deep into the disaster area to deliver hot meals and distributed resources to the survivors. They fed nearly 1,000 people per day in a town on the east coast of Japan while most of the towns in NE Japan were devastated by the tsunami caused by the quake and many residents have been unable to return home. In the following 10 days, the Tzu Chi volunteers have delivered tens of tons of life necessities and been participating in long term assistance. In the months that followed, Tzu Chi also held several aid distribution events to provide financial support to families in need. Relief funds were gathered in 38 countries across the globe, and a total of 4283 Tzu Chi volunteers paid their own way to Japan in order to personally help survivors. As a result, Tzu Chi volunteers personally distributed 5.3 billion yen to 96,000 survivors of the tsunami and earthquake. Thanks to the assistance of the Tzu Chi foundation and volunteers, the disaster area in Japan can be rebuilt more smoothly.

The rescue of Hurricane Sandy in America in 2012

In October 2012, a destructive Hurricane landed in New Jersey and affected 24 states resulting in power failure, flood and 147 deaths. It was estimated causing damage in the US amounted 65 billion dollars. The Tzu Chi Foundation mobilized some four thousand people rescuing people suffer from the hurricane. They offered not only hot meals, blankets and those life necessities, but also emergency cash debit cards. It worth 10 million dollars in total and it helped 18 thousand households and more than 60 thousand people benefited from it. This your, the White House honored the Tzu Chi Foundation as Hurricane Sandy Champions of Change.

Influence

The Tzu Chi foundation has reached into countless parts all over the world to rescue people in suffer. Now more and more people in the world know about the Tzu Chi foundation. They may be helped before or watch some disaster relief operations in the news. Consequently, whenever they think of Taiwan, they link it with the Tzu Chi and they think of benevolence, care giving and humanity. As a result, Taiwan became more popular and some foreigners show respect to Taiwan because of Tzu Chi.

Taiwan's Strengths and Weaknesses in Computer Technology

In today's society, computer technology has an undeniably important position in our everyday life. Therefore, it definitely plausible for a technology companies to have a significant impact on a country's soft power. Thus, while analyzing Taiwan's soft power, it is reasonable to consider Taiwan's consumer technology industry. Two areas of particular interest to focus on are the hardware and the software industries.

First of all, after analyzing Taiwan's computer hardware industry, the results are quite optimistic. In recent years, Taiwanese consumer electronics companies have encountered much success in global markets. For example Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC has been growing dramatically since the early 2000s. Then in late 2011, HTC rose to the top of the United States smartphone market at 24 percent leading ahead of Samsung's 21 percent and Apple's 20 percent. Taiwanese hardware manufacturers have also been exceptionally successful in the worldwide personal computing market. Well known Taiwanese PC vendors include inexpensively-targeted desktop and laptop manufacturer Acer Inc. and ASUS, known for producing tablet computers along with desktops and laptops. Both Acer and ASUS have become well known technology companies as a result of their success throughout the world. As of 2013, the list of top personal computer vendors, ordered by number of units sold, has Acer squarely at fourth place, along with ASUS following up at fifth place.

On the software side, however, Taiwan based companies have displayed disappointing results. Most of the software companies are local and thus have little impact outside of Taiwan. In fact most of the Taiwanese developed software that reaches consumers outside of Taiwan consists of the various add-ons and modifications for existing operating systems developed by the hardware vendors. Such software is often quite hard to distinguish from the original operating system itself so many consumers entire fail to give this software any notice. Thus, the results of Taiwanese software development has received very little recognition in the worldwide consumer software market.

Although the success of the consumer computer hardware industry is most certainly beneficial for Taiwan's soft power, the consumer software market should not be overlooked. Most customers of electronic gadgets are most interested in the user experience provided by the device. Therefore, the most obvious part of this user experience is actually the software not the hardware. For example, because Apple develops both the hardware and the software for the iPhone, Apple can easily receive distinction and brand recognition for the iPhone's superior function and innovations. But in the case of Taiwanese computer companies, they mainly focus on the hardware. Therefore even if they can supply superior hardware, such as more memory and faster processors, it will still be hard for them receive distinction because their systems are bogged down by cheap American developed software operating systems such as Windows or Android. Another example of increasing soft power through software is Japan. In addition to creating software for systems from camera to Playstations, Japan's software industry is also well known for interactive electronic entertainment. Not only does this help increase Japan's fame for software products, but it also helps them distinguish themselves and this kind of entertainment can also be used a channel for exporting culture, a key ingredient for building soft power. But in the area of interactive electronic entertainment, Taiwan has fail to produce any significant product that has received international acclaim. Thus Taiwan's software industry is entirely missing out on this method of exporting local culture to the worldwide consumer market.

In conclusion, Taiwan has a booming computer technology industry. This could potentially help Taiwan to increase its soft power. But a focus software would most likely have a great impact on increasing the fame of Taiwan in technology circles around the world, leading to an increase in soft power.

Travel Advertisements and Tourism

On Taiwan’s primary Tourism website, the slogan “Heart of Asia” is being pushed into the minds of the consumer, to convince them that Taiwan is an obligatory stop, if one wishes to experience Asia the right way. Taiwan is the heart, while Korea, Mainland China, and Japan might be the foot, pancreas, and liver of Asia. As soon as one enters to the travel site, we are bombarded with various slide shows to highlight how different and interesting Taiwan is: aboriginal culture, natural scenery, food, festivals, and shopping. The pictures are bright, colorful, and vibrant, the people are happy, content and the overall vibes are positive and inviting. The site is translated into English, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish and Dutch, in hopes that its message reaches different targets throughout the world. Taiwan is using the method of advertisement to gain soft power, to set itself apart from the rest of Asia, to effectively market its culture to gain more tourism.

According to the yearly statistical data provided by the Bureau of Tourism in Taiwan, the most popular destination for tourists coming into Taiwan are temples. In 2012, a total of 62,339,944 of tourists were recorded to visit the temples of Taiwan; this demonstrates that the folk culture of Taiwan provides an important distinction from other countries, and Taiwan utilizes its folk culture to effectively gain attention from foreigners. The second on the list records that 14,758,197 tourists choose to go to private sites in Taiwan every year; this means that they opt for privately owned tourists sites, cultural sites, and sightseeing. The private tourism market is a strong aspect in promoting tourism in Taiwan. Every year 11,052,156 tourists visit Taiwan’s Historical sites, 5,871,698 visit recreational forest parks, and 1,830,295 visit swimming beaches. Based on this data, we can assume that these top aspects of Taiwanese tourism, is what Taiwan is putting their primary focus on, when they promote the image of Taiwan to potential travelers.

Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office

One example of tourism advertising abroad can be seen through TECO (Taiwanese Economic and Cultural Office) in New York. “The Taipei Cultural Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York was formerly known as the Cultural Center, one of the two major components of the Chinese Information and Culture Center (CICC) of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York ... Moreover, the Cultural Center also consisted of two cultural institutes, Taipei Gallery and Taipei Theater.” The Cultural Center is in charge of promoting and planning various activities to enhance the cultural image of Taiwan through the unique aspects of performing and visual arts. They have claimed that the cultural promotion of Taiwan in North America has increased since its establishment in 2002 as direct result. On the website, one can read many articles, event announcements, and information on upcoming films, galleries, and projects put on by Taiwanese Americans and Taiwanese immigrants, so others can explore the unique artistic culture of Taiwan, and hopefully be inspired to visit Taiwan.