Chen Li-Yi, M.A., born in Tainan, Taiwan, studied philosophy, with special interest in the field of political theory, at National Cheng Chi University, Taipei, from where he first graduated. After fulfilling two years of compulsory service in a front unit and main procurement group of the R.O.C. military, he studied Labor Studies at Private Chinese Culture University, Taipei, where he participated in organizing the Social Asia Forum, which was held by Asian countries in turn, and worked in a computer company until obtaining his M.A. degree. The title of his M.A. thesis is “Labor Relationship and Labor Consciousness: discussing the existence of labor consciousness and what it should be in our modern society.”

For decades, Taiwan’s socio-political development has been considered as an example of Asia adapting to a western defined modernization. And of course, this emulation of the western production mode has led Taiwan to a remarkable output performance, as seen in GDP or GNP figures of the 70s and 80s. But why does Taiwan’s growth seem to be stagnating during the last years?

Focusing on the political issues of labor policy in Taiwan could be a way to explore this difficulty. In particular, it should be inquired, which problems that were not experienced in earlier developed societies, now appear in the process of development in Taiwan as a late-comer in. Do these problems result from the lack of political participation on the part of workers due to the historical background? And have workers themselves ever acknowledged of being aware of using political rights to serve their citizens rights? If society doesn’t consider and recognize the underlying theories and ideas upon which modern socio-economic structures are founded, continues to ignore the factors from which these structures arise, and instead simply duplicates them, the Taiwanese society cannot make progress nor emancipate itself from the struggles such as the conflict between the minimum wage rate and minimum wage, the state will continue to misemploy the policy toward foreign labor to work for Taiwan’s foreign policy and fail to regard the protection of labor rights as that of human rights. The reflection of the development of labor policy in Taiwan may not resolve all difficulties that we face, but it may indeed be an important key to help people to find a way out and offer an model for other developing countries.