India: The Forgotten Giant in Taiwan Opening Speech at the Inauguration Ceremony of the India Research Center of National Cheng-Chi University Da Hsuan Feng Senior Vice President for Global Strategy, Evaluation and Planning National Tsing Hua University “To ignore India like what we have been doing in Taiwan is to do so at one’s own peril.” April 24, 2014 President Wu, Ambassador Ong, Director of the Department of Eastern Asia and Pacific Affairs Ambassador Ho, Ambassador Manish Chauhan, Professor Ding, distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I am truly honored to be invited to this inauguration ceremony of the India Research Center of National Cheng Chi University. The establishment of an India Research Center is long overdue in Taiwan. Therefore, please accept my heartiest congratulations to Professor Ding and President Wu for their foresight in this effort. We live in precarious times in Taiwan. This is especially so in the past month. There is an old Chinese saying which everyone knows, which is井底之蛙. It means that sitting at the bottom of a well, the frog thinks that the sky is round! After living here for nearly seven years, I came to the conclusion that while one certainly cannot say that Taiwan as a society behaves like such a frog, it nevertheless is a frog at the bottom of a well whose “mouth of the well” looks either like the map of United States or Mainland China. 台灣今天非「坐井觀天」，而是「坐井觀美國與大陸」. I can understand why United States played such a pivotal role in Taiwan. After all, the relationship between Taiwanese and Americans for more than 6 decades are palpable in nearly all walks of life, from economic, to culture, to political and of course to military. Likewise, ever since there were re-interactions between the two shores in the late 80’s or early 90’s, the economic and cultural interactions between Taiwan and the Mainland cannot be closer. In many ways, the successes of Taiwan in the past three decades in a large part were due to such interactions. But time has changed. In the 21st century, while the globe has transformed, Asia has transformed spectacularly and with dizzying speed. While Taiwan may only see United States and Mainland China in its vision, the other parts of Asia not in the line-of-sight are also making spectacular transformation. India, which is clearly not on the line-of-sight of Taiwan’s society, is one such nation. Today, India is 1.2 billion in population. India produced the first two Asian Nobel prize winners. India is one of the BRIIC nations. India is a education-centric nation. And, my friend, India has the world’s most massive democratic system. I should also mention that in India and China, there is 40% of humanity and these 40% sits right next to Taiwan. To ignore India like what we have been doing in Taiwan is to do so at one’s own peril. Yet this is precisely what is happening in Taiwan. In all the top research universities, until today, there is not an India Research Center which will allow Taiwanese to explore the appreciation and the understanding of the ways and means of India. In many ways, India is simply a forgotten giant in Taiwan. Such a limited line-of-sight is making Taiwan less and less competitive in nearly all arenas in the 21st century. More important, it is making Taiwanese more and more fearful about its future. Fear, my friend, is never a good thing. This is why I am so excited to see the establishment of such a center here in National Cheng Chi University. I hope that with this establishment, it will be a watershed moment for a new era of Taiwan – India relations in particular, and a new era of Taiwan – India – Asia relations in general. Congratulations! Thank you.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 08:43:03 +0000
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