"Right now the two sides are discussing creative and cultural activities, which is to say matters in the realm of the spirit and soul. In contrast to economic activities, culture, because it is not about production, is relatively ignored in Chinese societies," avers Chan Wei-hsiung. But, he adds, that's not the way they think in the UK, the first country to come up with the concept of "creative industries."

As it is used in the UK, the term refers to lines of business that have the potential to create wealth and jobs through the establishment and exploitation of intellectual property rights over ideas that result from individual creativity, skill, or talent.

When the government in Taiwan first launched polices to support "cultural and creative industries" (CCIs) back in 2002, there was no profound underlying theory; they simply borrowed the definition used in the UK, except that they omitted the most important word: "individual." Chan explains that the UK considers the individual to be the single most important component of society, with each individual free to choose his or her own lifestyle, and society having the obligation-through education, law, and social systems-to help individuals reach their goals.

But over the last 10 years Taiwan has moved from the collective toward the individual, providing fertile soil for the growth of CCIs. Taiwan's manufacturing sector pulled our society out of poverty, becoming the world's leading OEM manufacturer. In that society, collective values prevailed over individual values, and most people followed the cultural rules in their lifestyles, working hard, raising their kids, and holding out no great aspirations for life.

But with the entry of mainland China and Eastern Europe into the capitalist market, from 1990 to 2000 manufacturers in Taiwan relocated overseas, and from OEM shifted to ODM. This transformation pushed Taiwan from collective values toward individual values. ODM requires individuals with creative spark to come up with new designs and marketing ideas. The more pluralistic a society is, and the more it encourages individual expression, the more kinds of consumers it will produce, and the more new producers will appear to satisfy their demands.

The entrepreneurial model of the new generation, Chan avers, is not like that of people like Acer founder Stan Shih, who aimed for corporate success bringing wide respect and admiration in society. The entrepreneurs of today start businesses to satisfy themselves. Take independent coffee shops as an example, says Chan. Taipei has at least 50 coffee-shop owners who think that they know how to make java better than anyone else in the world! Their commitment and confidence is a reflection of their individual passion.

In contrast to Taiwan, collective values still reign in the mainland, and copying the leader is the norm. Individualistic artists find themselves under a tremendous amount of social pressure, living at odds with mainstream values. It is hard for a society where individual choice is not encouraged to nurture creativity, Chan concludes.

If your starting point is that culture and creativity are what lend meaning to modern life, then there are great opportunities for Taiwan in the mainland.

Take for example, the singer Cheer Chen, a self-made artist who wasn't manufactured by the music industry's star-production system. Her songs about the stifling atmosphere that collective values impose on the younger generation really strike a chord with young people in mainland China. She is a symbol of freedom that encourages young people to pursue self-realization.

It is easy to overlook sports in any discussion of CCIs. In the US, each major-league baseball team plays 162 games per year, for each of which fans spend three or four hours at the park, where there are restaurants, museums of team memorabilia, and recreational facilities, forming a kind of amusement park.

From an individual point of view, professional sports are not primarily about winning or losing, they are about pushing oneself to the next level of excellence, testing one's own limits and pursuing one's own dreams, in control of one's own fate. Taiwan has what it takes to inject meaning into sport, but our market is small, so there has to be cooperation with mainland China.

What cultural and creative industries produce are meaning and values, and there is a lot of opportunity for the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to complement each other.