WHEN Taiwanese Consul Steve C. C. Hsia saw Makati City for the first time, he was amazed with the number of skyscrapers that line up its business district’s horizon.
“We [from Taiwan] know Manila is a very advance city, but we didn’t expect that there are so many high-rise buildings,” he told the BusinessMirror during an exclusive interview.
“Yeah, I’m surprised. Back home, we only have Taipei 101 [which has 101 floors], and a new one coming up with 70. Most of our buildings are 30 or 40 [stories high]. But you have a very beautiful skyline,” added Hsia, who accompanied a group of Taiwanese students touring Southeast Asia on a weeklong visit in the country.
The said young adults comprised the 2018 International Taiwan Youth Ambassadors—outstanding students from various Taiwanese universities who undertook a rigorous exam to qualify for the aggrupation. They were given a glimpse of what their “southern neighbors” look like and how their citizens interact, as well as a chance to see for themselves other societal aspects.
Taiwan, formally called the Republic of China (ROC), hopes that these students would be the catalysts for a better understanding of their nearby nations, and bring their island-state closer to the 600 million diverse inhabitants of the Asean region.
Hsia put it succinctly when he said ROC, under President Tsai Ing-wen, has launched the New Southbound Policy since assuming office in 2016 to create “a gateway for Taiwan to expand its array of multifaceted cooperation and partnership with Asean countries.”
The consul, who has a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from the National Chengchi University, said: “We think this can be a platform for these young generation to communicate, to understand each other, to make friends [even, and] to lay the foundation for the future.”
“Our young generation can…eventually become government officials or business leaders who can work together with their newfound friends,” Hsia added.
Currently posted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as director general on Home Assignment, Public Diplomacy Coordination Council, Hsia said the southbound policy program started “when I was still in charge of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.”
“[Its] main goal is to have more chances and opportunities for the younger generation to understand international affairs and explore the world, with the hope that they can help [our] government make its voice heard.”
An emerging market
Hsia said, “Our New Southbound Policy is very important now because in the last 10 or 20 years, we had focused our economic activities on the Chinese market. Our government said we should encourage our businessmen to diversify to other Asean countries.”
He said Taiwan considers the Philippines as an emerging market.
Hsia explained that the group went to Palau before coming to the Philippines.
Speaking of Palau, he stated that it “is Taiwan’s closest ‘diplomatic ally,’ while the Philippines is our closest neighbor, since it is only one and a half to two hours away by flight.”
First-time visitors
ASKED how the youthful and exuberant Taiwanese students reacted when they saw Manila for the first time, Consul Hsia brimmed with approval.
“They like the malls,” he pronounced. “They bought many chips,” which he learned they bought as gifts for their friends and relatives back home.
“The malls and shopping centers here are different,” as he gushed after finding out that they were very large and crammed with consumer goods, food items, and many things in between.
“In Taiwan the shopping areas are spread out; here [they are] very concentrated. The malls in Greenbelt are triple the size our large shopping centers. I could just imagine the Mall of Asia would be much bigger.”
“Greenbelt is just in front of our hotel, so I went out and bought dried mangoes while for the girls, they got chips. They told me the chips are ‘very good,’ and they purchased a lot to bring [home and] share with their friends.”
According to Consul Hsia, the young ambassadors were scheduled to participate in a cultural performance at the University of Santo Tomas, where they will display their talents.
“The boys will also show how to play the diabolo,” which is the Taiwanese version of the yoyo, or sometimes called “Chinese yoyo.” Hsia revealed there had been many competitions of the game in Taiwan, and the students with him who happen to play the ancient game just won a championship.
Varying views
HSIA shared that prior to his assignment in Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was posted in the Netherlands, then in Washington, D.C.
Asked how he views the current relations between Taiwan and the United States, he relayed that when he was young, he received a form of assistance to study there. At that time Taiwan was host to a large US military installation, and he saw the relations in a positive light.
“Everything about the US seemed good. So on my first overseas assignment to the US, I thought, ‘wow, everything is great.’ But when I got posted in the Netherlands, I found out they have different ideas from the Americans.”
As he got accustomed to the Europeans’ way of life, Hsia started to appreciate their way of thinking, where “you don’t have to do everything in a hurry. You do things slowly and make things better, or even perfect.”
He observed that Americans are always “in a big hurry; so business-like. But the Europeans, they enjoy their lifestyle, and so it changed my perspective.”
Enjoying things Filipino
THE consul said the students also visited the Philippine Tzu Chi Foundation and had a call on some city mayors.
He accompanied the new head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, Representative Michael Peiyung Hsu, who paid a courtesy visit to publisher T. Anthony C. Cabangon in the BusinessMirror office.
The visitors were welcomed and delighted with a feast of original Filipino cuisine, which consisted of kare-kare, bistek (the local version of beef steak), chicken adobo and a surprise delicacy in balut, the unhatched embryo of a mallard duck. A handful gamely devoured and sipped the soup that comes with the package.
From his evaluation, Hsia found out that the latest batch of youth ambassadors have improved a lot, compared to their previous counterparts “because these students easily caught up to learn the program. I think it’s because they are young and talented, and when they go back to their campuses, they can share their experiences with their junior colleagues.”
Hsia said these promising young students “can be young ambassadors and can be the voice of Taiwan because when we travel abroad, they could show their talents to foreign friends and let them find out how Taiwan is.”
“They are Taiwan’s future hope and they will carry on the torch of enhancing the robust and cordial relationship between our two countries. They will make a contribution to forge the closer bond between our peoples,” he declared.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano