When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan
Since 2008, the Taiwanese business group Want Want, having made a fortune in China, has returned to Taiwan to buy a major media group and attempt to exert political influence on Taiwanese society. This paper analyses the rise and rationale of this new type of media investor in the light of the busin...
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| Format: | Article |
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Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42808/ |
| _version_ | 1848796572810215424 |
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| author | Lin, Lihyun Lee, Chun-Yi |
| author_facet | Lin, Lihyun Lee, Chun-Yi |
| author_sort | Lin, Lihyun |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Since 2008, the Taiwanese business group Want Want, having made a fortune in China, has returned to Taiwan to buy a major media group and attempt to exert political influence on Taiwanese society. This paper analyses the rise and rationale of this new type of media investor in the light of the business/government relationship under China’s model of state capitalism. According to the analysis developed in this paper, when China needed foreign investment in the early 1990s, Taiwanese investors were warmly welcomed by the Chinese government, which provided Taiwanese businesses with tax incentives at that time. After 2000, however, when not only domestic Chinese entrepreneurs emerged but also more non-Chinese investors entered the Chinese markets, Taiwanese businesses realised that the investment environment had become much more competitive, so they had to work hard on building ties with Chinese officials. Under these circumstances, Want Want bought into media in Taiwan as an asset to be used in order to build social ties with the Chinese government, but in doing so, Want Want has also triggered resistance from Taiwanese civil society. Future researchers and regulators can continue to watch and define this new type of investment, which has become increasingly significant in this region. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:50:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-42808 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:50:07Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-428082020-05-04T18:52:48Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42808/ When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan Lin, Lihyun Lee, Chun-Yi Since 2008, the Taiwanese business group Want Want, having made a fortune in China, has returned to Taiwan to buy a major media group and attempt to exert political influence on Taiwanese society. This paper analyses the rise and rationale of this new type of media investor in the light of the business/government relationship under China’s model of state capitalism. According to the analysis developed in this paper, when China needed foreign investment in the early 1990s, Taiwanese investors were warmly welcomed by the Chinese government, which provided Taiwanese businesses with tax incentives at that time. After 2000, however, when not only domestic Chinese entrepreneurs emerged but also more non-Chinese investors entered the Chinese markets, Taiwanese businesses realised that the investment environment had become much more competitive, so they had to work hard on building ties with Chinese officials. Under these circumstances, Want Want bought into media in Taiwan as an asset to be used in order to build social ties with the Chinese government, but in doing so, Want Want has also triggered resistance from Taiwanese civil society. Future researchers and regulators can continue to watch and define this new type of investment, which has become increasingly significant in this region. Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine 2017-07-01 Article PeerReviewed Lin, Lihyun and Lee, Chun-Yi (2017) When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan. China Perspectives, 2 . pp. 37-46. ISSN 1996-4617 Taiwanese business Taiwan media merger media monopoly cross-Strait relations government-business relations http://www.cefc.com.hk/issue/china-perspectives-20172/ |
| spellingShingle | Taiwanese business Taiwan media merger media monopoly cross-Strait relations government-business relations Lin, Lihyun Lee, Chun-Yi When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title | When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title_full | When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title_fullStr | When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title_full_unstemmed | When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title_short | When business met politics: the case of Want Want, a different type of media capital in Taiwan |
| title_sort | when business met politics: the case of want want, a different type of media capital in taiwan |
| topic | Taiwanese business Taiwan media merger media monopoly cross-Strait relations government-business relations |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42808/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42808/ |