臺灣科技企業靜悄悄向本土回遷

On the same day that Apple jolted the tech world with the announcementit will manufacture some Mac computers in the U.S., another piece of tech news slid by largely unnoticed: Two of Apple's Taiwanese suppliers were also planning to bring jobs home.

就在蘋果(Apple)宣佈它將在美國生產部分Mac電腦這一令科技界震驚的消息那一天，當天的另一則科技新聞卻基本未引起外界的注意，這則消息是：蘋果的兩家臺灣供應商也計劃將部分就業崗位轉移回臺灣。

Apple's announcement has made bigger waves because Apple is Apple, and because outsourcing has long been a big headline-grabber in the U.S. But it's also been bigger because, rather than trumpet their decision the way Apple has, the two Taiwanese companies -- Catcher Technology Co. and Largan Precision Co. -- haven't sought the limelight.

蘋果的這則聲明之所以能引起更大的反響，既是因爲蘋果畢竟是蘋果，也是因爲業務外包一直是美國媒體大肆報道的消息。但還有一個原因就是，宣佈將回遷部分就業崗位的可成科技(Catcher Technology Co.)和大立光電(Largan Precision Co.)原本就沒打算像蘋果那樣大張旗鼓地宣傳其回遷部分生產業務的決定。

The announcement that Catcher and Largan planned to invest in new factories in Taiwan that will create some 3,800 jobs over the next few years came not from the companies, but from Taiwan's government, which approved the companies' investment plans on Dec. 6.

宣佈可成科技和大立光電計劃在臺灣投資設立新工廠、並以此在未來幾年創造約3,800個就業崗位這一消息的不是這兩家公司，而是臺灣政府。12月6日, 臺灣政府批准了這兩家公司的投資計劃。

This was supposed to be the first coup in a new Taiwanese sweetener program to lure businesses back home. But both Catcher and Largan -- which maintain operations on both sides of the strait -- have declined to make any on-the-record comments to China Real Time or other publications and have expressed their desire to avoid media attention. A Catcher official said that 'moving back' was a mislabeling, as the company will continue to operate factories in China, despite expanding its Taiwan operations.

兩家公司在臺灣投資設廠的計劃有望成爲臺灣政府在出臺新的優惠措施以吸引本地企業迴流方面的首批成果，但可成科技和大立光電都拒絕向“中國實時報”欄目和其他出版渠道就此事發表正式評論，並表示他們不希望媒體關注此事。這兩家公司在臺灣海峽兩岸都有業務。可成科技的一名管理人士說，稱該公司將業務“回遷”臺灣是一種錯誤的說法，因爲儘管它將擴大自己在臺灣的業務，但可成科技仍將繼續在中國大陸開設工廠。

The difference between the two 'onshoring' stories illustrates how Taiwan's manufacturing woes, though similar in some ways to the U.S.'s, are in other ways more complicated. Taiwan's tech companies -- which have largely moved production to mainland China for cost reasons over the past few decades -- have to juggle delicate and sometimes conflicting relationships with governments on both sides of the strait, along with the interests of their big-brand foreign customers.

蘋果和這兩家臺灣公司在處理將業務回遷本土一事上有如此不同的態度，這說明美臺兩地製造業所面臨的困境有其不同之處。臺灣製造業所面臨的困難雖然在某些方面與美國相似，但在其他一些方面卻更爲複雜。臺灣的科技企業在過去幾十年裏已經基本上將其生產業務遷移到了中國大陸，以降低成本，但他們卻不得不同時拿捏好與海峽兩岸的政府以及與他們大牌海外客戶的商業利益間的微妙關係，而且這些關係有時還彼此存在矛盾衝突。

With wages rising across China and growing labor unrest threatening operations at mainland factories, Taiwan sees an opportunity to try to convince its 'salmon to swim back home,' as local media have put it. Officials at Taiwan's Industrial Development Bureau, which announced Catcher's and Largan's factory plans, said they didn't know of any companies willing to discuss their participation in the program.

由於中國各地的工資都在上漲，而中國大陸日漸增多的勞工騷亂事件也在威脅着當地工廠的運營，臺灣從中看到了說服本地企業將業務回遷臺灣的機會，臺灣當地媒體將這種回遷稱之爲“大馬哈魚洄游”。臺灣經濟部工業局的官員們說，他們不知道有哪些臺灣公司願意談論他們參與臺灣政府吸引本地企業迴流的計劃。宣佈可成科技和大立光電回臺灣投資設廠計劃的就是臺灣經濟部工業局。

Hui-Ying Chen, deputy director of the IDB's industrial policy division, said Taiwanese companies returning to invest often want to stay low-key, possibly to avoid accidentally offending clients or the local governments they work with. She said that since many of these companies continue to run factories in China, they likely want to avoid saying anything that might come off as negative toward the business environment there. Moreover, Taiwanese upstream suppliers tend to hold a strong belief that any publicity is bad publicity.

該局產業政策組副組長陳慧英說，返回臺灣投資的臺灣企業常常希望保持低調，這可能是爲了避免無意中冒犯到客戶或他們與之打交道的地方政府。她說，由於這些臺灣企業有許多仍在中國大陸經營有工廠，他們或許希望避免發表任何可能會被解讀爲對大陸當地商業環境持負面看法的言論。此外，臺灣的上游供應商往往都堅信，任何形式的公衆關注都不是好事。

'When they call for information, they will leave their telephone number, but often they won't even tell us what industry they are in,' she said. 'Although they want to invest in Taiwan, many don't want their names announced.'

陳慧英說，當臺灣企業向經濟部工業局有關部門諮詢信息時，他們應該留下自己的電話號碼，但他們甚至連自己屬於哪個行業都不願透露；雖然他們希望投資臺灣，但他們不希望自己的名字被宣佈出來。

Taiwan's new reinvestment incentives began last month, with an aggressive goal of more than doubling the returning investment from overseas Taiwanese businesses to 200 billion New Taiwan dollars (US$6.89 billion) over the next two years. Companies need to meet certain requirements, such as producing critical components or marketing products under their own brand.

臺灣新推出的再投資優惠措施於上月出臺，其雄心勃勃的目標是，未來兩年內使海外臺灣企業重回臺灣本土進行的投資增加一倍以上，達到新臺幣2,000億元(合68.9億美元)。企業要享受這些優惠措施需要滿足幾個條件，如在臺灣生產重要零部件以及用自有品牌進行產品營銷等。

The big lure is that returning companies can increase the proportion of foreign workers they hire to 40% of their work force from 30%, says Ms. Chen. Companies often cite a paucity of domestic blue-collar workers as a barrier.

陳慧英說，這些新優惠措施的一大誘人之處是，返回臺灣進行投資的企業可以將企業內外籍勞工佔員工總數的比例由目前的30%提高到40%。臺灣企業常常說，本地藍領工人不足是妨礙他們在臺灣投資的一個因素。

The measure has been controversial, though, especially among unions, who say that this opens the possibility of importing cheaper labor and disadvantaging domestic workers. Taiwan currently has the same minimum wage for foreign and domestic blue-collar workers, but business groups have been advocating separate wage tracks.

但這些優惠措施也引發了爭議，特別是工會人士的不滿，他們說這些措施爲臺灣引進較爲廉價的外籍勞工創造了可能性，而這種做法對本地勞工不利。目前臺灣的本地藍領工人和外籍藍領工人都適用相同的最低工資標準，但臺灣的商業團體一直建議政府讓這兩個羣體分別適用不同的最低工資標準。

The incentives have also drawn some criticism from economists such as Kenneth Lin, economics professor at National Taiwan University, who says the island needs to incentivize automation instead of cheap labor if it wants its companies to move up the value chain. Stan Shih, doyen of Taiwan's tech industry and founder of the island's largest computer company Acer, also recently warned that Taiwan has to make sure the manufacturers it lures back produce high-value products.

這些優惠措施也招致了臺灣大學經濟學教授林向愷等經濟學家的批評。他說，如果臺灣希望自己的企業沿着價值鏈向上攀升，它需要採取措施鼓勵這些企業提高自動化水平，而不是使用廉價勞工。臺灣科技業資深人士、臺灣最大電腦企業宏碁股份有限公司(Acer)的創辦人施振榮最近也警告說，臺灣必須確保它吸引回來的製造商將生產高價值產品。

Acer Chairman J.T. Wang had a more positive appraisal. Local media quoted him as saying at a recent tech event that the focus on reinvestment was the 'most correct thing' Taiwan's government has done in five years.

但宏碁董事長王振堂對這些優惠措施卻有較爲積極的評價。臺灣當地媒體在報道中援引他最近在一個科技界活動中的話說，將關注點放在吸引臺灣企業回臺再投資上是臺灣政府五年來乾的“最正確的事”。