The Origins of MJW Association

The Origins of MJW Association

When Chiang Ching-Kuo visited my company, Cheng Kuang Precision Industrial Co., Ltd., in 1974 to inspect what he astonished my “automated mechanical corps,” he was deeply impressed. In his astonishment, he referred to me as the “Father of Taiwan’s Precision Industry.” He then asked me to use technological capability to assist the nation in conducting “people-to-people diplomacy.”

As a result, I helped my longtime friend, Tainan Mayor Chang Li-Tang, establish a sister-city relationship with "San Jose" in California, thereby building a direct bridge between Taiwan and Silicon Valley.

Fig 1: Li-Chang Kuo creating Taiwan’s Precision Industry in 1974.

In 1975, San Jose Mayor Janet Gray Hayes led a delegation to visit Tainan. Members of the delegation included engineers from IBM—many of whom were Taiwanese. Because I had long been interested in the "Third Sector" and was also a member of the Junior Chamber, I believed that establishing a “Yushan Technology Association” in San Jose could promote the exchange of talent, capital, and new products.

Indeed, we held discussions at "Cheng Kuang Precision" by the Yanshuei River —  about how to invest in and develop what would become the future "Personal Computer" (PC) industry. In the authoritarian era of the time, establishing a Third Sector organization in Taiwan was virtually impossible, so Mayor Hayes and the delegation members all enthusiastically supported the idea.

A saying circulated in those days: “Silicon Valley technology influences the world, but Cheng Kuang Precision influences Silicon Valley.”

Fig 2: Cheng Kuang Precision — the cradle of world technology.