超越依賴與互賴？台越鋼鐵產業連結的政治經濟

Beyond Dependence and Interdependence? Political Economy Behind Taiwan-Vietnam’s Steel Industry Link

建立「互賴」是學界認為台灣發展對外關係的重要理論依據，並用以解釋台灣與東南亞的政治經濟連結。當越南需要「外資」發展該國的鋼鐵產業，台灣也有對外擴張鋼鐵產能與市場的壓力，在二個因素的交互作用下，發展與越南鋼鐵產業的連結（互賴發展），成為台灣建立「新南向產業連結」的重點。理論上，「依賴發展加上複合互賴」應是產業連結完美的結合，也是台灣在新南向政策下推動「產業連結」的中心思想；但就實務而言，經濟互賴關係能否轉化為有效的國家實力，從而擴大台灣地緣政治經濟空間？卻是一個值得深入探討的議題。本文將以作者們過去的實地調查與個案訪談資料做為基礎，並以台越鋼鐵產業連結為個案，針對前述問題，就「學術理論」與「產業實務」進行對話。

It is widely believed in academic circles that to establish “interdependence” is an important theoretical ground for the development of foreign relations by Taiwan, and it is also applied in explaining the political-economy links between Taiwan and Southeast Asia. As foreign investment is needed in Vietnam for the development of its steel industry, and Taiwan is also under pressure to expand its steel production capacity and market, these two factors have become critical points for the establishment of Taiwan’s “New Southbound industry links”, which involves fostering “interdependent development” with Vietnam’s steel industry. Theoretically speaking, “dependent development combined with complex interdependence” is considered to be an ideal combination for the development of industry links, and this is also the central idea for the fostering of “industry links” in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. However, practically speaking, could a relationship of economic interdependence turn into effective national power and thereby expand Taiwan’s geopolitical and economic capacity? This paper is based on field studies and case interviews that the authors has previously conducted and proposes a dialogue between “academic theory” and “industry practice”, with a case study on Taiwan-Vietnam’s steel industry link focused on.