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Taiwan

Take A Tour Of Taiwan's New Hands-On Condom Museum

UNITED DAILY NEWS, RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL (Taiwan)

Worldcrunch

TAIPEI - “Just by smelling it, I can tell where it comes from and what its quality is...” This unique touch of boastfulness comes from You Qi-Cheng, who runs condom manufacturer Fuji Latex.

Mr. You's claim of olfactory prowess quickly circualated on the Chinese Internet, after the recent announcement of the opening of a condom museum in Taiwan, the United Daily News reported.

The new museum, which will open in April, is the result of the New Taipei City government’s policy against deindustrialization. The government wants to promote “factory tourism.”

Over the past decade, Taiwan has seen many of its manufacturers delocalize to Mainland China. When Fuji Latex announced its intention to close its Taiwan factory and to move to China, New Taipei City intervened and convinced Mr. You to transform his factory into a working museum.

“Intellectually-stimulating sightseeing is the new trend in tourism development,” You said. Not only will visitors be able to visit the workings of the condom factory, they will be able to learn about the history of the condom, its evolution the invention of this piece of rubber, its evolution, as well as contraception and sex education. There will also be a “hands-on area” for visitors, according to Radio Taiwan International.

Mr. You has come a long way. “Things were pretty complicated when I started this business 40 years ago. Other people were allowed to get good locations for their businesses whereas my firm was considered to be of a highly sensitive nature and was only allowed to operate discreetly 30 meters away from the main road. I also had to make personal sacrifices – I could only have two children although I would have loved to have more. After all, I didn’t want people to tease me that the protection I was selling couldn’t protect me.”

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Economy

Globalization Takes A New Turn, Away From China

China is still a manufacturing juggernaut and a growing power, but companies are looking for alternatives as Chinese labor costs continue to rise — as do geopolitical tensions with Beijing.

Photo of a woman working at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

A woman works at a motorbike factory in China's Yunnan Province.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — What were the representatives of dozens of large American companies doing in Vietnam these past few days?

A few days earlier, a delegation of foreign company chiefs currently based in China were being welcomed by business and government leaders in Mexico.

Then there was Foxconn, Apple's Taiwanese subcontractor, which signed an investment deal in the Indian state of Telangana, enabling the creation of 100,000 jobs. You read that right: 100,000 jobs.

What these three examples have in common is the frantic search for production sites — other than China!

For the past quarter century, China has borne the crown of the "world's factory," manufacturing the parts and products that the rest of the planet needs. Billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba.com platform is based on this principle: if you are a manufacturer and you are looking for cheap ball bearings, or if you are looking for the cheapest way to produce socks or computers, Alibaba will provide you with a solution among the jungle of factories in Shenzhen or Dongguan, in southern China.

All of this is still not over, but the ebb is well underway.

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