Taiwan and the Mainland Can Create More "Straits Combinations"

Taiwan and the Mainland Can Create More "Straits Combinations"
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 9, 2013

Summary: Taiwan's number one female tennis star Su-Wei Hsieh and her Hunan counterpart Peng Shuai formed a "Straits Combination" of "incomparable beauty and extraordinary charisma." At Wimbledon, the Mecca of world tennis, the dynamic duo won the women's doubles championship. This was the first time the two have ever won a Grand Slam since they teamed up. The Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai "Straits Combination" are defacto spokesmen for "Chiwan." Chiwan is a portmanteau of Mainland China and Taiwan. It is a perfect example of win/win cross-Strait cooperation.

Full Text below:

Taiwan's number one female tennis star Su-Wei Hsieh and her Hunan counterpart Peng Shuai formed a "Straits Combination" of "incomparable beauty and extraordinary charisma." At Wimbledon, the Mecca of world tennis, the dynamic duo won the women's doubles championship. This was the first time the two have ever won a Grand Slam since they teamed up. The Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai "Straits Combination" are defacto spokesmen for "Chiwan." Chiwan is a portmanteau of Mainland China and Taiwan. It is a perfect example of win/win cross-Strait cooperation.

The foreign media coined the term "Straits Combination" to describe the Hsieh Peng team. It is a combination that was applied to sports. But it is a combination that can also be applied to cross-Strait industrial cooperation, trade and investment, even political issues. The two sides can complement each other, giving them both advantages, and creating a win-win relationship.

Four years ago, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait experienced a major reconciliation. Mainland capital and Mainland businesses were allowed into Taiwan in June of that year. In the past, cross-Strait industrial cooperation meant "Taiwan brands made in Mainland China." The term "Chiwan" made its debut. Now "Mainland China brands made in Taiwan" is a new cross-Strait trend. The concept of "Chiwan" combines the advantages of both sides, and has South Korea worried.

Last year, Japan attempted to "nationalize" the Diaoyutai Islands. This aroused outrage among people on both sides of the Strait against a common enemy. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) previously offered to work with Japan on the joint development of the East China Sea oil fields. But political sensitivities and the Diaoyutai Islands sovereignty dispute have made it impossible to reach any agreement. The CNOOC made its offer in good faith. It proposed joint development of East China Sea oil fields and South China Sea oil and natural gas fields. Now however, it shifted its attention to Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corporation.

CNOOC General Counsel Zhao Liguo has visited Taiwan at least five or six times. His mission was to promote cross-Strait cooperation in the exploitation of these oil fields. To promote broader CNOOC and CNPC cooperation, CNOOC transferred some of its Congo mining interests to CNPC. CNOOC and CNPC now have a joint investment in Congo mining, bringing the two even closer together.

Actually CNOOC and CNPC began cooperating with each other as early as 1994. In late December 2008, former CNOOC general manager Fu Chengyu and former CNPC chairman Pan Yan met in Beijing and signed four agreements, including a "partial interests in Kenya 9th district transfer agreement." This took cross-Strait cooperation in the oil industry one step further. The CNOOC and CNPC partnership is the oil industry's "Straits combination."

The biotech industry is universally recognized as a cutting edge industry. The two sides of the Strait are one people who speak the same language. As National Science Council Member Chu Ching-yi noted, the biopharmaceutical value chain is long. The Mainland Region of China has 1.4 billion people. Foreign pharmaceutical companies are eager to sell drugs to the Mainland. Individuals on both sides of the Strait are genetically closer than anywhere else in the world. This facilitates the cross-Strait biopharmaceutical division of labor. Taiwan can perform first stage clinical trials. The Mainland can provide many patient samples. It can also perform the second and third phase trials. This combination, this division of labor, if used in liver cancer and lung cancer testing, can produce excellent results.

Zhongtian Group Diamond Biotech Venture Capital Deputy CEO Tang Chun-je recently noted that cross-Strait cooperation in biotechnology enjoys a "three P advantage" in "Program, People, and Place." With these three advantages, the two sides can expect to become an international biotechnology development center, and establish a joint Chinese biotech industry.

Consider sports from an industry perspective. Doubles tennis is more difficult than singles. The difficulty is in finding the right partner. Only when one finds the right partner, can one plus one be greater than two. Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai first formed a partnership at the age of thirteen. Their "Straits Combination" did not achieve fame overnight. They had to constantly adapt and adjust. Industrial cooperation is not blind groping. But cross-Strait coownership provides many advantages. With "Straits Combination" economic cooperation, Taiwan businesses need no longer go it alone. They can reduce costs and accelerate the recovery of their investments.

Su-Wei Hsieh has played tennis for over 20 years. Since turning pro, the highest rank she has ever achieved in women's singles is 23rd in the world. This is the highest rank any woman tennis player from Taiwan has ever achieved. Asian players on the tennis court lack the speed and strength of European and American players. Achieving Grand Slam pinnacle level success in tennis is extremely difficult. Winning a singles championship is even more difficult. Shu Wei's father Hsieh Chi-lung is a tennis coach. He understands his once rebellious runaway daughter. He knew that for her to make an achievement in her career worth remembering, she had to find a way to break through.

Last year, Hsieh Chi-lung personally appealed to Peng Shuai and her mother. He analyzed Shu Wei and Peng Shuai's performance since their 2008 doubles victory in Bali. Altogether the two won four WTA Pro Tour doubles titles. Peng Shuai excelled at defending the baseline. Shu Wei excelled at net volleys. He argued that if this pair of "Daughters of China" formed a "cross-Strait alliance," the could win a Grand Slam doubles championship. They could achieve a world's first and go down in history.

In singles competition, Xie and Peng might have ended up as competitors. But if the two stood on the same side of the net, they could form an alliance that would defeat all comers. The two have known each other since they were young. They are the same age. They have complementary characteristics. They have no language barrier. They have no problem communicating off the court. On the court, when it comes time to confront their opponents, they have no trouble communicating with each other. A simple look at the other and they know what stroke to use. Together the seized the fruits of victory.

The Wimbledon women's doubles championship is now in hand. But Xie and Peng's cross-Strait Grand Slam victory is merely the beginning of the "Straits Combination." The Wimbledon victory adds fresh impetus to cross-Strait "Chiwan" cooperation. The two sides can now create many more "Straits Combinations," in addition to the wildly successful Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai Straits Combination adds fresh impetus to cross-Strait "Chiwan" cooperation. The two sides can now create many more "Straits Combinations," in addition to the wildly successful Su-Wei Hsieh and Peng Shuai Straits Combination.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2013.07.09
社論－兩岸，可以創造更多的海峽組合
本報訊

    　台灣「網球一姐」謝淑薇與湖南姑娘彭帥這對「薇力無比、帥氣非凡」的海峽組合，在世界網球聖殿─溫布頓網球錦標賽女子雙打力戰群雌，摘下合拍以來的第一座網球四大滿貫賽冠軍。謝淑薇與彭帥的「海峽組合」，無異是「chiwan」代言人，兩岸合則兩利的最佳典範。

    　被外國媒體稱之為海峽組合（Strait Combination）的謝、彭兩人，可以在體育競賽上發揮，同樣的組合更可以在兩岸產業合作、經貿投資，甚至政治議題上，發揮互補優勢，進而創造雙贏。

    　四年前，兩岸大和解，陸資、陸企相繼在當年六月登台，以往兩岸產業合作以「台灣品牌、大陸製造」為主軸，「chiwan」的出現，「中國品牌、台灣製造」成為兩岸概念的火熱風潮，「chiwan」結合兩岸優勢，讓南韓聞風喪膽。

    　去年，日本企圖將釣魚台國有化，激起兩岸人民同仇敵慨，中國海洋石油總公司（中海油）曾與日本就共同開發東海油田交換意見，不過因涉及敏感，加上釣魚台主權爭議，始終未能達成共識。之後，中海油主動釋出誠意，開發東海油田及南海油氣田的合作夥伴，轉為台灣的中油公司。

    　中海油總法律顧問趙利國為推動兩岸合作開採油田，已經來過台灣考察拜會至少五、六次，而中海油為求與中油擴大合作平台，還將轉讓非洲剛果礦區的權益給中油，形成中海油與中油相互投資剛果礦區，關係更加緊密。

    　事實上，中海油與中油早在一九九四年就開始合作，二○○八年十二月底，中海油前任總經理傅成玉與中油前任董事長潘文炎，兩人在北京共同簽署包括「肯亞九號區塊部分權益轉讓協定」等四項協定，兩岸石油界的合作更進一層，中海油與中油是石油界的「海峽組合」。

    　生技業是全球公認的明星產業，兩岸同文同種，國科會主委朱敬一曾表示，生技製藥的價值鏈非常長，中國大陸有十四億人口，國際藥廠都想賣藥至大陸，由於兩岸基因相似度是全球唯一，兩岸生技製藥分工，可由台灣做臨床實驗第一階段，中國大陸病人樣本多，可做第二與第三階段，這種組合與分工，應用在肝癌與肺癌，會產生很好的利基效果。

    　中天集團旗下的鑽石生技創投副總裁湯竣鈞日前也表示，兩岸生技合作具備「Program」、「People」、「 Place」，也就是計畫、人才與在地「三Ｐ優勢」，只要好好把握住這三大優勢，兩岸可望成為國際生技開發重鎮，創造屬於華人的生技產業。

    　從產業看運動，雙打比單打難，難在對的人難找，只有找到對的人，才能發揮一加一大於二的效益，謝淑薇與彭帥從十三歲起就開始搭擋，「海峽組合」功成名就並非一蹴可幾，磨合與調整隨時都在進行；產業合作也非瞎子摸象，台海兩岸各擁優勢，經濟合作上的「海峽組合」，則讓台灣企業界不必單打獨鬥，降低成本，加速投資回收。

    　謝淑薇投入網球已逾廿年，征戰職業賽場以來，她在女子單打的世界排名最高曾來到第廿三，這已是台灣女將歷來之最。亞洲球員在網球場上的速度與力量不如歐美，想在網壇四大滿貫賽頭角崢嶸極為不易，爭奪單打比賽冠軍則更是艱難。淑薇的父親謝子龍身為教練，自然明白曾經極度叛逆且離家出走的愛女，若要在職業生涯留下永恆記憶，就必須尋求突破。

    　謝子龍去年索性親自擔任說客，向彭帥和其母親遊說，分析淑薇、彭帥自二○○八年峇里島網賽女雙搭檔奪冠以來，前後已拿過四個WTA職業巡迴賽的雙打冠軍，彭帥專精於底線重抽，淑薇則擅長網前截擊，這一對「中華兒女」若是「兩岸合璧」，絕對有機會在大滿貫雙打賽中捧起金盃，創造「世界第一」的千古佳話。

    　如果在單打賽場上，謝、彭或許是各據一端的競爭對手，然而，當二人站在球網的同一邊，自然結合成聯手禦敵的合作夥伴。她們自青少年時期即相識結交，二人年齡相仿、個性互補，更加沒有語言的障礙，不僅場外溝通沒有問題，即便臨場迎敵的剎那，她倆也很容易藉由彼此眼神的交換，做出正確的揮拍決定，聯手搶下勝利的果實。

    　溫布頓女子雙打賽冠軍到手，只是謝、彭在網球四大賽場上樹立起「海峽組合」旗幟的開始，這座溫網金杯，更是兩岸合寫「chiwan」新里程碑的全新動力。兩岸，除了謝淑薇、彭帥之外，可以創造更多的海峽組合。