Don Lee of the Los Angeles Times reports on the impact of a slowing Chinese economy on Taiwan:
China’s economy has slowed sharply, affecting hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese working and living on the mainland. With their factories tottering, investments shrinking and competition from locals rising, many Taiwanese are wondering whether hitching their fortunes to China is the right way to go.
Taiwan’s economy shrank a record 8.4% in the fourth quarter. By some measures, the current quarter looks worse. Exports to China, Taiwan’s largest trading partner, plunged by about half in January and February compared with a year earlier, far more than the overall drop of 37%. Taiwan sends many of its staple products, including computer parts and electronic devices, to the mainland for reprocessing before they’re shipped to the United States and elsewhere.
As opportunities in China have dried up, a growing number of Taiwanese have come home, some of them abandoning factories and mobs of unhappy Chinese laborers and suppliers. Taiwan’s unemployment rate has jumped to 5.3%, prompting the government to extend jobless benefits and issue consumer vouchers to stimulate spending.
