People with Money vs. the People of Taiwan: Orwellian Newspeak

People with Money vs. the People of Taiwan: Orwellian Newspeak
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
December 26, 2011

Summary: A number of entrepreneurs have publicly expressed support for Ma Ying-jeou. Since then Tsai Ing-wen has added a new slogan to her campaign. She now says that "Ma Ying-jeou is surrounded people with money. Tsai Ing-wen is surrounded by the people of Taiwan." Such sophistry is highly inappropriate. Such a linguistic formulation amounts to Orwellian Newspeak.

Full Text Below:

A number of entrepreneurs have publicly expressed support for Ma Ying-jeou. Since then Tsai Ing-wen has added a new slogan to her campaign. She now says that "Ma Ying-jeou is surrounded people with money. Tsai Ing-wen is surrounded by the people of Taiwan." Such sophistry is highly inappropriate. Such a linguistic formulation amounts to Orwellian Newspeak.

Tsai Ing-wen is deliberately characterizing the entrepreneurs who support Ma Ying-jeou negatively, as "people with money," rather than affirmatively, as "entrepreneurs." She hopes to create an artificial dichotomy by characterizing those who support her as the "people of Taiwan." She is clearly using "people with money" as a term of opprobium. She is clearly attempting to incite class antagonisms between the bourgeoisie ("people with money") and the proletariat ("the common people"). She even added the phrase, "the people of Taiwan," in an attempt to incite antagonism between "people with money" (who "invest in the Mainland") and "people who lay down roots on Taiwan." She disguises her incitement of "ethnic" (social) antagonism by characterizing "people with money" as people who engage in land speculation, political cronyism, and who enjoy economic privilege.

But are Tsai Ing-wen's characterizations accurate? Are they fair?

Before Tsai Ing-wen made her remarks, a number of entrepreneurs spoke out, publicly expressing support for Ma Ying-jeou. They include Hong Hai's Terry Gou, Delta's Bruce Cheng, and Yulong's Kenneth K.T. Yen. These men do fit the definition of "people with money" completely, But they are obviously not the same "people with money" that Tsai Ing-wen referred to. Terry Gou pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He single-handedly built the largest manufacturing company on Taiwan. His foundries are among the best in the global electronics industry. He provides jobs for 800,000 employees the world over. Britain's Economist magazine lists him as one of the world's top ten employers. Terry Gou runs a tight ship. Some have called him "tyrannical." But he is totally dedicated. He is a rare kind of workaholic. He built a vast business empire. As a result Forbes magazine has listed him repeatedly as the richest man on Taiwan. But he has never engaged in real estate or land speculation. Still less has he ever played the stock market. In 2007 he donated 15 billion dollars to the National Taiwan University College of Medicine. He set a record for the largest corporate donation to the hospital in history. In 2008, he announced that he would donate 90% of his wealth to charitable causes. At the time he was worth an estimated 30 billion dollars. Today he is worth over 100 billion dollars.

Delta is a world-class component supplier. The components it produces are widely used in a variety of industries. Bruce Cheng is a veteran domestic entrepreneur. Within the domestic business world, he is its most environmentally conscious member. He has endowed schools and universities. He has provided aid to students. Delta has received numerous awards for corporate responsibility. During its early years, Kenneth K.T. Yen's Yulon Group was a state owned enterprise. Back then the government's policy was to protect national industries. But the automotive market was eventually decontrolled. The company soon reached its nadir. Kenneth Yen was not yet 30 when the company fell into his lap. He dived in. He restructured and expanded the company. Eventually Yulon returned to life. This bit of history is known among business leaders, as the "young master's revitalization." The Yulon Group has long-term commitments to support domestic basketball, child care for Aboriginal children, and other public welfare activities. The Yulon Group's "Wu Shun-wen News Award" is the ROC's counterpart to America's Pulitzer Prize.

The success that these entrepreneurs enjoy today, their accumulated wealth, is not the result of government/business collusion or economic privilege. Instead it is the result of their own efforts In a highly competitive domestic and international marketplace. After achieving success in business, they devoted themselves to contributing to society. These publicly respected entrepreneurs have declared their support for Ma Ying-jeou. What is shameful about that? What is wrong with that? Yet Tsai Ing-wen, through a single devious insinuation about "people with money," has tarred these entrepreneurs as robber barons. She has demonized these entrepreneurs, merely because they expressed support for Ma Ying-jeou. She has successfully manipulated the language. But she has done so in a highly unethical fashion.

What's even more absurd, is the fact that Tsai Ing-wen is also seeking support from "people with money." She is also seeking to convey the impression that industry leaders support Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai Ing-wen has set off on a five-day tour of various industries. She has received support from several technology companies and traditional companies. They have also come forward to offer their support. Are these company chairmen, general managers, and board directors paupers? Are they not "people with money?" Are entrepreneurs who support Ma the only ones who must fear being portrayed negatively as "people with money?" Are entrepreneurs who support Tsai the only "bona fide entrepreneurs?" Such definitions and distinctions are based purely on who supports whom. Is this right? Is this justified?

At least the entrepreneurs who support Ma have never had any private business dealings with the Ma family, At least the Ma family has never profited from these "people with money." That is hardly the case with Tsai Ing-wen in the TaiMed corruption scandal. Conclusive evidence has surfaced proving that the Tsai family profited through its connections with "people with money." They include Ying Yan-liang of the Ruentex Group, through whom Tsai Ing-wen pocketed over one billion dollars. Are there really no "people with money" on Tsai's side?

The entrepreneurs mentioned support Ma and not Tsai because the DPP's policies are far from reassuring, The DPP refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus. Therefore a DPP victory would lead once again to cross-Strait deadlock, The benefits derived from three years of consultations would be greatly diminished or disappear altogether. Based on today's economic situation, next year's global trends, this means heavy losses for Taiwan's economy. Perhaps Tsai Ing-wen should think about these problems, instead of about how to manipulate the language.

有錢人vs.台灣人民 是惡質語言操弄
2011-12-26中國時報

自幾位企業家公開表態支持馬英九後，蔡英文的競選詞語多了一項：「站在馬英九身邊的盡是有錢人，站在蔡英文身邊的則是台灣人民。」，對於這種說法，我們認為是一種極不恰當的語言操弄。

蔡英文刻意把支持馬英九的企業家，捨棄較正面的「企業家」一詞，而以「有錢人」三個字形容，來相對於她形容支持她的「台灣人民」對立起來，顯然把「有錢人」作為負面字眼形容；明著的意思當然是一種階級對立─資產階級（有錢人）與無產階級（一般庶民）的對立；而特別加上「台灣人民」，又把「到大陸投資」的「有錢人」與生根台灣的人民對立起來，它也同時隱含著族群的對立。其中更隱藏讓民眾聯想到過去那些藉著炒作地皮、官商勾結、經濟特權，而攢下一桶桶黃金的「有錢人」。

蔡英文的這種語言文字的隱喻，正確嗎？公平嗎？

在蔡英文講出這番話前公開表態支持馬英九的企業家，包括鴻海郭台銘、台達電鄭崇華、裕隆嚴凱泰等，百分之百合於「有錢人」的定義，但顯然不是蔡英文要隱喻暗示的「那種有錢人」。郭台銘白手起家，一手打造出台灣最大的製造業企業，在全球電子產業代工廠中也名列前茅；其在全球所雇用的員工數有八十萬人，被英國經學人雜誌列為全球前十大雇主。郭台銘治軍嚴謹，被評為「霸道」，但他全力投入工作，堪稱少見的工作狂。他打造的龐大事業，讓他多次成為富比世雜誌評選的台灣首富。但他從來不碰房地產與土地、更不炒作股票玩金錢遊戲。二○○七年，他捐出一五○億元給台大醫學院，創下全球企業對醫院最大的一筆捐贈；二○○八年，他宣布要捐出九成的財產（當年價值估計約三百億，今日估則超過千億元）從事公益。

台達電是世界級零組件產品供應商，所生產之零組件產品廣泛應用於各產業。鄭崇華則是國內元老級企業家，也是國內企業界中，最重視環保的企業家；他持續對各教育單位與大學捐贈，嘉惠學子，台達電更曾因善盡企業的社會責任而多次得獎。嚴凱泰的裕隆汽車集團，雖然早年曾在政府扶植民族工業政策下得到保護，但在汽車市場開放後即失去保護傘，使企業一度陷入低潮。嚴凱泰不到三十歲接班，全力投入整頓企業與發展，最後終於讓裕隆重振雄風，這段過程被企業界稱為「少主中興」。裕隆集團也長期投入支持國內籃球運動、關懷原住民孩童等公益活動；其集團的「吳舜文新聞獎」更是國內新聞界的標竿。

這些企業家成就今日的事業、累積了財富，靠的不是搞官商勾結、特權經濟，而是靠著自身努力，在競爭激烈的國內外市場中脫穎而出；他們事業成功後也不忘回饋社會。馬英九得到這些社會形象正面的企業家表態支持，不知那裡丟臉、又何錯之有？但蔡英文巧妙的一句「有錢人」的隱喻，把這些企業家都打成奸商、連帶讓得到其表態支持的馬英九變成失分─這是成功的語言文字操控，但卻極不道德。

更可笑的是蔡英文也同樣在爭取「有錢人」的支持。為營造產業界也挺蔡的形象，蔡英文展開一連五天的產業之旅，也得到一些科技、傳統產業企業的支持，出面表態支持者同樣有企業的董事長、總經理。難道，這些董、總座「很窮」、不是「有錢人」？或是，企業家挺馬後就變成是充滿負面隱喻的「有錢人」，挺蔡的才是純正的「企業家」？這個定義與分野，純然以挺誰為分類標準，這樣對嗎？說不過去吧？

甚至，我們可以說，那些挺馬的企業家，可沒誰與馬家有私人生意交易，馬家可沒由這些「有錢人」身上獲取家族利益；但蔡在宇昌案中，可是與「有錢人」潤泰集團尹衍樑有證據確鑿的「家族生意交易」，而且獲利一千多萬元。蔡的身邊沒有「有錢人」嗎？

其實，這些企業家挺馬不挺蔡，最重要的原因是對民進黨的兩岸政策不放心，因為民進黨不承認九二共識，將讓兩岸再陷僵局，過去三年的協商成果即使不化為烏有，也會大打折扣；以兩岸目前經濟格局與明年全球經濟大勢看，這將會對台灣經濟造成重創。或許，這才是蔡英文該好好思考的地方，而不是耍弄語言文字。