My first visit to Taiwan, one of the “Asian Tigers” known in the present day as the “Republic of China in Taiwan,” took place in the 1970s. It was the right country to visit because it was an original tiger and the most impressive of the lot, which included South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The then hermit Kingdom of China has since expanded and it is, in fact, leading in a way that was unexpected in those days.
I was immediately impressed, as I also traveled from Taipei in the north to Kaoshung in the south, and then from east to west. It was easy to get around because it is highly developed, organized and relatively small, spanning 36,000 sqkm, with hardly 25 million working and on the move around the clock Japanese-style.
This meant crowded streets with heavy traffic, but a well-controlled and vibrant tourist industry, with plenty of money being generated internally and billions of dollars pouring into it from its gigantic export industry given its size and number of people within its borders.
With a subtropical climate year round, it was a tourist paradise catering to the Chinese diaspora from as far away as the United States to the Asian mainland, which was a Chinese treasure house for some time.
While it is now acknowledged as one of the wealthiest countries in the world despite its expulsion from the United Nations, where it had been a member of the Security Council due to American support, it has survived both the expulsion and the phenomenal rise of the erstwhile communist mainland.
Only a few minor states at present recognize the regime in Taiwan, but this has not deterred the Taiwanese from building one of the finest economies, if not the finest economy, in such a small area with very few natural resources.
I was astounded by the Taiwan miracle, having arrived from the Middle East, which, despite its oil wealth, lagged behind it. In 1962, Taiwan had a nominal per capita income of $170, just like poorer Arab countries, Zaire and the Congo.
By the 1980s, it had leapt to $1350 and is rising fast. By 2011, its per capita gross national power soared to $37,000. When compared to other advanced countries, Taiwan was fast becoming a respected member. When I was there, foreign delegations from the third world, especially Africa, were arriving regularly for talks and trade relations.
Of course, the rich government helped by offering generous terms and encouraging more and more missions to visit since it was wary of the impending rise of mainland China next door.
According to its literature, Taiwan, despite political setbacks, has a dynamic, capitalist, export-driven economy and much greater liberalization in all spheres, be it economic, political, or social, with real GDP growth, which has risen more than 8 percent the last thirty years.
While it still does not compare to the mainland, it certainly remains higher than that of other giant Asian states. It is also incomparable to Asian states like India, Pakistan and “non-tigers.”
Apart from the oil-producing states of the Gulf, the Arab and African states had actually declined. Some of Taiwan’s neighbors, like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India, have done well to some extent, but are not full-fledged tigers yet.
The 1990s took off with much improved relations between Taiwan and China thanks to China’s change of economic regime away from the traditional communism or socialism that had shackled the country for so long.
This is in addition to the radical change of mentality in Taipei and its willingness to accept the realities on the ground, most notably that China existed and that Taiwan was no match to its power.
My own discussions with them indicated a change of heart long before that. Indeed, investments poured out from Taiwan to the mainland that both countries were in need to bolster trade, which had reached $150 billion by 2008.
The growth of Taipei’s skilled labor based in the mainland was still lagging behind in many fields. Both sides saw the wisdom of close cooperation to avoid military friction and promote their economies.
During one visit, I saw anti-aircraft guns next to the footpaths and more advanced artillery in other areas of the beautiful island, with trade figures soaring phenomenally. Taiwan’s total trade in 2010 reached an all-time high of $526 billion.
Both exports and imports for the year reached record levels without a drop of oil being extracted and exported nor an ounce of gold or silver being found and sold. At least India has gold mines that supply market demand with a portion of its requirements, which reach over 800 tons of gold every year.
Taiwan’s economic march forward included investments, not only in the mainland, but in other neighboring countries. In China alone, it has 50,000 businesses, which include one million business people, and the figure is on the rise.
My visits resulted in producing a book in the English language, which was reprinted in Arabic and in color and which sold pretty well. The figures quoted now appear modest compared with today’s results, which together make up the Taiwan miracle.
Taiwan had been a Japanese colony during the Second World War that was both exploited and developed by invaders as admitted by both sides during conversations.
l Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah
