Korea and Taiwan: Tigers Rising - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 379

Despite intermittent diplomatic friction, the cross-
strait relationship has blossomed in recent years. China
entered the WTO in 2001 and within a month, Taiwan
entered as “Chinese Taipei.”
Another symbol of rapprochement is the fact that
China did not object to “Chinese Taipei' s” participation
as an observer at the World Health Assembly , the gov-
erning body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
This is the first time Taiwan was granted observer status
at a United Nations body since it lost its seat to China in
1971.

SOUTHW ARD POLICY
Taiwan' s southward policy involves increasing invest-
ment in Southeast Asian countries to balance invest-
ments in China. The ASEAN nations, including
Vietnam, comprise Taiwan' s third most important ex-
port destination after China and Japan. Subic Bay in
the Philippines, Batam, Indonesia (just south of Singa-
pore), and Vietnam are key targets for investment, con-
struction, and development loans. Southeast Asia
supplies Taiwan with raw materials including minerals
and forest products.
This investment strategy is intended to upgrade Tai-
wan' s industrial capacity , internationalize its business op-
erations, and maintain its competitive advantage and
economic growth in the context of regional and global
dynamics. Moreover, strong economic impacts can only
strengthen Taiwan' s dfacto political influence in the
region.

THE DOWNSIDE OF DEVELOPMENT
Development has brought a lot of benefits, but many Tai-
wanese are not happy with its negative side effects. For
instance, there is a growing rich-poor gap as money be-
comes increasingly concentrated in the upper echelons
of society . By 2004, the richest 20 percent controlled
more than half the wealth in Taiwan. Business is notori-
ous for corruption and nepotism. Gambling, prostitu-
tion, and other criminal activities are serious issues.
Individualism, materialism, and hedonism are striking
blows at traditional Confucian values, to the dismay of
the older generation. Americanization is often blamed
for these trends.
Environmental quality has sadly deteriorated with
unchecked air, ground, and water pollution. T Traffic
congestion is out of control, and the infrastructure
cannot keep up with demands for electricity and

Figure 13-12
The T Taipei 101 building—the second tallest in the world.
© Reuters/Corbis Images.

power. One good sign is that people are forming issue-
oriented public interest groups and that environmental
organizations have multiplied. However, environmen-
tal and social campaigns have not kept pace with rapid
change and the uncontrolled growth of Taiwan' s mate-
rial culture.
One controversial project is the Taipei 101 building.
At 1,670 feet (509 m), it was the tallest building in the
world until 2010 when it was eclipsed by the Burj Khal-
ifa 2,717 foot (828 m) skyscraper in Dubai. Taipei 101
houses shops, restaurants, and offices (Figure 13-12).