"Make love not war!" was a rallying cry among 1965 youths in America. Many rebels flashed the two-fingered Peace sign - formerly considered "V" for victory - at each other, and vowed they wouldn't take up arms, in Vietnam or anywhere else.
Half a world away, many fellow Americans were getting their first glimpse of Asia as they stepped onto Vietnamese soil. They began a battle against the Communists in the North in a bloody clash of cultures that would last a decade.
Today, the scars are healing - and Vietnam is keenly drumming up foreign direct investment from its former foe. Strong business ties help countries work towards common goals, peacefully.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY the same. As this special anniversary issue of Asian Business goes to press, all eyes in the region are glued to yet another longstanding conflict, that between mainland China and Taiwan.
On March 18, Taiwan voters propelled Chen Shui-bian, a 49-year-old human-rights lawyer, to power as the island's new president. Days earlier, China's Premier Zhu Rongji had threatened voters not to cast their ballot in favour of Chen - who China sees as advocating independence for Taiwan. "Otherwise they will have no opportunity to regret," thundered Zhu. He stressed: "The Chinese people are ready to shed blood and sacrifice their lives to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the motherland."
Chen, it seems, is using good business sense to stem what is so far only a war of words. Days after his success at the polls, Chen agreed to Beijing's decades-old demand that Taiwan restore the commercial, postal and communication links to the mainland that have been cut off since 1949. And a close associate of Chen's says Chen is likely to do away with his predecessor's "no-haste" policy that discouraged large-scale private investment in the mainland.
Such gestures will do more than boost business ties between the two. Taiwan has the capital, both intellectual and financial, to help bring China into the New Economy. That may not halt Beijing's barrage of rhetoric, but it is likely to keep a barrage of missiles at bay.
IN ITS DEBUT ISSUE, THIS PUBLICATION ANNOUNCED THE editor's goal, to "select editorial material with the interests of the industrial man of today's Asia in mind" and to aim our "efforts at developing understanding among the men in Asian industry as a stepping stone toward the Asian economic community that must come in our time".
It promised to "narrate the experiences and accomplishments of successful enterprises and entrepreneurs in the hope that others may learn or draw inspiration from such accounts".
In 35 years, this magazine's name has changed, but not its mandate (although its editors - and its readers - recognise that women play an equal role in Asian business). And we continue to publish profiles of the region's small- and medium-sized businesses, to help the region's entrepreneurs learn from each other.
Here's to the next 35 years of reporting on business in Asia!
Introduction
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Asian Industry is the first publication designed specifically
to meet the need of the growing number of Asians who are being drawn
into modern industrial activity.
As its name indicates, it will be a magazine about industry in
the Asian region. Its editors are Asian. They will select editorial
material with the interests of the industrial man of today's Asia in
mind. They will edit all material with their eyes on current problems
and will aim their efforts at developing understanding among the men
in Asian industry as a stepping stone toward the Asian economic
community that must come in our time.
Asian Industry recognizes the progress that has already been made
toward the development of modern industries in some countries of the
region it covers. With the outstanding exception of Japan, however,
Asia still has a long way to go on the road toward industrialization.
Asian Industry hopes to help accelerate the rate of industrial growth
by making information regularly available to key people in the
industrial enterprises of this region.
Asian Industry will narrate the experiences and accomplishments
of successful enterprises and entrepreneurs in the hope that others
may learn or draw inspiration from such accounts. It will report on
new developments and trends and take up problems that may be of
interest to those already involved in the industrial process.
To enable readers to keep up with what is new, Asian Industry
will devote a substantial amount of space to reporting on new machinery,
equipment, instruments, materials, fabricated components and industrial
supplies offered by manufacturers the world over. Each issue will be
equipped with an inquiry card that simplifies the process of requesting
additional information on any item described in the New Products
section each month.
The Editor
January 1965