Taiwan Today

The ten-member German Goodwill Mission that visited Free China toward the end of January made a good impression on their hosts and it is hoped that the visitors would bring away with them an equally good impres­sion of the land they have just visited. Before Hitler came to power, Sino-German relations were most cordial. Chinese students flocked to the schools and universities in the Reich in pursuit of higher learning. German manufac­tures were the most welcome among the goods imported to China. German scholars, physi­cians, technicians and military advisers were present in China in large numbers. Came Hit­ler and his alliance with China's then enemy nation, Japan, and Sino-German relations deteriorated. Strange to say, the relations be­tween China and Japan which were the first to break were also the first to heal. Soon after V-J Day, the enmity that had been existing between China and Japan for the bet­ter part of a century was forgotten and the two countries have since been living side by side and doing business with each other happily. On the other hand, the relations between China and Germany which began to deterio­rate long after Japan had been at war with China never seemed to have quite recovered.

To be sure, there has been no ill-feeling of any sort. There have been just indifferences to each other, due undoubtedly to the preoccupations of both countries - China with her anti-Communist activities, Germany with her reconstruction and industrial develop­ment. There have been occasional visits back and forth, but it was not until the present Goodwill Mission that there has been serious attempt to start trade between the two coun­tries. In the last two years, Free China's trade with West Germany hardly amounted to three per cent of her international trade.

This is highly disconcerting when it is remembered that Free China needs a good deal of capital goods which West Germany can well supply and West Germany needs some raw materials which China has in abundance. After the war, China has taken over from the Japanese a good deal of obsolete machinery. The American government has extended aid to some native industries, but there are spheres which do not interest American aid administrators: shipbuilding, for instance. One more instance will probably suffice. For a number of years, Chinese intellectuals have been agitating for a modern plant with up­-to-date machinery for printing English as well as Chinese, as all the existing plants and equipment are long out of date. Up to the present, no such plant has come into existence.

In this background, it is gratifying indeed that members of the German Goodwill Mission at a press conference held in Taipei made the statement that West Germany is willing to extend every assistance to Free China with the aim of modernizing all the out-dated industrial facilities and building up the economic potential of Taiwan. Dr. Gunther Serres, a member of the Mission, said in his capacity as convener of the West German parliament for trade committee, that West Germany would provide Free China's industry with the necessary machinery and equipment on a four or five-year installment payment basis.

The West German visitors have no doubt found that nine out of ten machines here are outdated. Here is a good market for the German-made machinery and partially processed goods. If credit can be forthcoming as stated by Dr. Serres, the future of trade between the two countries is very bright indeed.

Despite all this need, favorable condition, and the good will, however, there needs must be a few prerequisites before a sizable volume of trade can be expected to develop. Of these we need mention only the two follow­ing:

Since the government's removal to Tai­wan, there have remained but few establish­ed trading firms in each country that are known to each other. Nor are there trade­-promoting organizations that are interested in bringing buyer and seller together. Nor is there much information about the credit standing of the traders. This is especially true with regard to the firms in Taiwan, most of which are small, though their credit standing may be good. Trade under such circum­stances would be most difficult. Therefore, first of all, there should be some official or private trading agency between the two countries whose function it would be to bring the buyer and seller together.

Secondly, there should be direct shipping between West Germany and Free China. The lines now plying between West Germany and Far Eastern ports do not as a rule touch Taiwan. Transshipment is usually made at Hongkong which would unavoidably cause delay and raise freight and other costs. This and the fact that few firms in Hongkong are interested in developing Sino-German trade at their expense make direct ship­ping between the two countries a great ne­cessity. Ships that ply between Free China and West German ports can pick up good cargo in Middle East and Southeast Asian countries to and from China. They can also continue to go on to Japan with which coun­try both Free China and West Germany are carrying on a great volume of trade.

To sum up, the conditions and opportuni­ties for developing trade between Free China and West Germany are good. All that is need­ed is for some enterprising businessmen to get things organized and started.