The Riches of the Orient

On our last day in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, I attended a breakfast meeting at the Grand Hotel with a small group of fellow junketeers. Our guest and speaker was Dr. Yu-ming Shaw, the director of the Chengchi University Institute of International Relations. Born in Mainland China, he moved to Taiwan in 1948. Later he studied at the University of Chicago and taught at Notre Dame.

Like South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, the Republic of China (as Taiwan is correctly called) has been doing so well economically that an explanation is overdue. Taipei (population four and a half million in the metropolitan area) certainly seemed to be growing before our eyes. One hot Sunday afternoon a thousand jack-hammers were splitting eardrums downtown as work on a new subway proceeded overtime. No doubt the project will be finished ahead of schedule. Taiwan’s growth rate approaches 9 per cent this year.

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Tom Bethell

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On our last day in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, I attended a breakfast meeting at the Grand Hotel with a small group of fellow junketeers. Our guest and speaker was Dr. Yu-ming Shaw, the director of the Chengchi University Institute of International Relations. Born in Mainland China, he moved to Taiwan in 1948. Later he studied at the University of Chicago and taught at Notre Dame.

Like South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, the Republic of China (as Taiwan is correctly called) has been doing so well economically that an explanation is overdue. Taipei (population four and a half million in the metropolitan area) certainly seemed to be growing before our eyes. One hot Sunday afternoon a thousand jack-hammers were splitting eardrums downtown as work on a new subway proceeded overtime. No doubt the project will be finished ahead of schedule. Taiwan’s growth rate approaches 9 per cent this year.