Anna Lee: Globalization

In order to develop the relationships with other countries and expand the international trade market, the government of ROC became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and followed the rules on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) several years ago. Since then, businesses on goods, services, exporters, and importers have become much more globalized. Globalization has increased the interconnection between Taiwanese and people from other countries. There were three major changes caused by globalization in Taiwan: job opportunities, culture, and fashion.

Globalization has changed job opportunities in Taiwan. Globalization advances progress in the field of information especially in information technology and international communication. Information flows much more easily because of innovations such as the Internet. Internet has allowed not only the government but also private corporations to communicate with international businesses more efficiently. The advancement of technology created an easier environment for financial transactions to occur in a global market. As a result, globalization should lead to more employment when the government or private corporations receive more orders and expand their business. However, the import of labor from South Asia and China makes cheaper labor possible which lowers the average salary. As a result, the job opportunities for local Taiwanese are threatened.

Globalization has changed Taiwanese culture. As the number of workers or home caregivers from Thailand, Philippine, and Indonesia increases, it is unavoidable that they transmit their own lifestyle to their coworkers or employers. They establish their own churches and stores, which make mixed culture in the community. Moreover, through mixed marriage the breed is mixed. It is estimated that the number of newborns in last year was about 200,000 in Taiwan, one tenth of which were born by mixed marriage.

Globalization has changed Taiwanese fashion. The Taiwanese are already familiar with the fashionable style of clothes, shoes, or hair from Europe or America. Recently, inexpensive clothes and shoes from developing countries have attracted Taiwanese attention. The average price of those goods is much lower than the average price of local merchandises. Some design is appealing to and acceptable by Taiwanese. One other change that globalization brought is food. Fast food such as MacDonald’s, Ken turkey Fries Chicken, Pizza, and other western food already have branches in Taiwan. Those foods are highly accepted by Taiwanese. In addition, there are diversities of restaurants provide foods from South Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam which are also welcomed by Taiwanese.

In conclusion, although some Taiwanese are worried about the job insecurity brought by globalization, there are still some people in favor of globalization. Globalization greatly influences people’s lifestyle. It is possible that one-day, homogeneity could be reached in every aspect of people’s living.