Surrounded by Giants: The Making of Modern

Taiwan

Ofelia Fu

Michelle Wu

Introduction A. Small Island Country

1. Less than 1/10 size of Japan

2. 23 million people

B. Precarious position: The Taiwanese high-wire act

-China, Japan, US

C. Preview

1. Brief Political History

II. Multi-cultural

III. Economically Diverse

IV. Educationally Focused

I. Brief History of International Relations

A. Japanese Colony for 50 years 1. Infrastructure 2. Cultural Influence B. KMT arrive in 1949 1. Capital 2. Government 3. Language and Culture C. Close American ties 1. Culture 2. EconomyII. Delicate Balancing Act 1. Must keep good relations with each 2. Cultural flow from each

II. Multi-cultural

A:Indigenous culturesB: International impact 1. China 2. Japan 3.North America/ Europe 4. Foreign worker ( Thai, Philippine)C: Foreign-Friendly 1.Culturally accepting 2.Multi-lingual

II. Economically diverse

A.  Large international companies 

￭ TSMC

￭ ASUS

￭ ACER

￭ HTC

￭ GIANT

B. Myriad small shops and restaurants

I. Entrepreneur wonderland

2. Shopping malls and night markets

III. Education Focus

98.29%

1.71%

Figure 1. The percentage of literacy

Source: http://www.wearn.com/bbs/top-ic.asp?topic_id=236492

Literate

illiterrate

1990 1995 2000 2005 20100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

University rate

%

Figure 2. The University rate in Taiwan

year

Conclusion

Shaped by geo-political events

Small but economically dynamic

Rich in cultural variety

Future uncertain

References http://

www.i-part.com.tw/diary/diary_viewpage.php?o=2257102&d=371

http://www.wearn.com/bbs/topic.asp?topic_id=236492

Discussion Questions

1. Taiwan now has a system with near universal university education. However, the difference in the quality of education and the ability of the students from the top university to the bottom universities is extremely large. Do you think trying to send all citizens to university is a wise goal for a country to pursue? Why or why not?