Chiwan (pronounced as Caiwan, rhythms with 'shine one') is a new term that caught a lot of attention world wide. This term, coined by a newspaper in South Korea, refers to the combination of China and Taiwan, and hence the name 'Chiwan'. Some people refer it as 'Chaiwan', however since there is a district in Hong Kong is called 'Chaiwan', I think Chiwan is a better term.
Taiwan and China were not cooperating much last time due to different political stances, but the Mah government represents a new set of faces towards the communist country. Ties are getting warmer and a few trade pacts were signed. For one Taiwan has accumulated a lot of technical know-hows after decades of experiences designing high-tech gadgets for big names like Apple and IBM. China has a vast eager market and almost unlimited supply of cheap labors. The effect of the brawn of China married with the brain of Taiwan has sent chill down to splines of all the major economies. South Korea is among the first to feel the impact from this strategic alliances as it sees its export dropped.
I am typing this blog as an engineer in Singapore, and I am looking at the new dynamics with interest. What I am pretty sure is Singapore will be hit by Chiwan eventually. As the pool of engineering talent dries up because of lower pay, companies will have to move to places where the talents are.
While I was typing this post, there is news about Seagate to shut down all the operations in Singapore and lay off as many as 8000 workers.
I will say this is just the start of the economy crisis...
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