Taiwan: More than just Sunshine and Rainbows

Hey all, it's the loaf on your block back with another blog after a long time.

From what I've perceived over the past few years, it appears that Taiwan is generally put under a rather positive light. Wealthy, educated, technologically advanced, highly democratic, and the list goes on.

Now, I don't want to sound pessimistic, or salty, even. I agree that Taiwan is a great place and frankly I cannot imagine how different the world would've been without the existence of Taiwan. But, while I do certainly recognize that Taiwan is excelling in many aspects, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. I noticed that many people have quite unrealistic images of Taiwan in mind: a utopia in an alternative universe. It is surely not the wonderland in the East that many picture it to be, far from that.

To be entirely fair, a lot of the world also has a similar misunderstanding of Anglo-America and Western Europe. Like anywhere else, it has its fair share of problems, too, on various levels of severity, and I am here to recognize its beauty while also going a bit beyond just the good.

So, as many of you may already know, I am a Mainlander. This is why I especially want to clarify my position before any actual content of the blog.

I am not leaning towards any particular side of the conflict (if you know you know).

First of all, no, I am not one of those "Little Pinks". I grew up overseas in a country that had little political affiliation with either side. My main attachment to China is my cultural heritage and I frankly do not really care that much about politics.

This also does not make me a "separatist" or a "traitor" though. I am not a diehard independent Taiwan fan. Kinda far from that, in fact. To me, it is hard to look past the recent history that resulted in the division of "Greater China". While very distinct, the cultural and historical ties are deep enough for me not to fully support its sovereignty.

For this reason, I also don't really like to refer to Taiwan as a country despite it enjoying de facto independence. I am not scared or anything, it simply is not what I can convince myself to believe in.

I don't seek to change anything though. I'm a peace advocate after all, and I think that keeping the status quo is the only reasonable and feasible way to go on for now. In my eyes, a forced reunification would do nothing but harm. All that bloodshed would not be worth the flash of national pride.

As far as I am aware, there is a significant bit of Taiwanese people online that are not willing to take any criticism about Taiwan from an outsider, particularly not a Mainlander. Since I am not locked in either echo chamber, however, I believe that my identity as a Mainlander would only benefit me in providing a more well rounded perspective as I am also able to factor in the information available in Mandarin. Of course, it is up to you to decide if that holds true based on whatever I write below.

TLDR - I am not really politically attached to either side and hope to provide an unbiased insight based on everything I observed.

Before my criticisms, I need to give credit where it is due. Taiwan is amazing in many ways and definitely one place to visit on my bucket list. I would definitely be lying if I told you there is nothing good about Taiwan, because there's quite a bunch.

Here goes some positives:

- A very impressive economy for its size

- Pioneering semiconductor industry

- Fairly democratic and enjoys a good level of freedom on an individual level

- A very high human development index

And here's some more, but those ones are more subjective:

- Scan to pay is common and convenient (duh)

- Rich and distinct blend of traditional Chinese cultures (culinary in particular)

- 00s pop culture

Let's just quickly go through each and every point i mentioned.

Taiwan's GDP (in nominal terms) in 2023 stands at an impressive $790.7 billion (USD), slightly larger than Poland's and smaller than that of Switzerland, which would place it in 21st place. However, it is home to roughly 24 million people, putting it at 57th population wise.

In terms of per capita income (once again, nominal), it is wealthier than every first level subdivision on the Mainland. In fact, amongst Sinophone regions, that figure is only weaker than those of Singapore and the two Chinese SARs.

One of the main reasons why Taiwan is this important in modern day geopolitics is its semiconductor industry. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is the largest chipmaker in the world and is a key supplier to Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and many more. Oh, and of course, Huawei before some drama happened. It also has the second highest market cap amongst non-US companies (first being Saudi Aramco).

(So yes, for those who didn't understand, if you use an iPhone or have a gaming PC, you won't be having as juicy of a device without TSMC)

Currently, TSMC alone accounts for over half of the global semiconductor market.

In terms of freedom, based on a variety of sources, Taiwan is on par with many advanced countries these days such as Germany and Japan. A fairly large economy, a high emphasis on education, and an overall good standards of living all contributed to a high HDI of 0.926, placing it just above Japan and South Korea.

And now, my personal favorites...

As a Mainlander myself, one thing I cannot have enough of is scan to pay. It is just too convenient. Think about it: pull a phone, *boop*, and it is done. No need to bother with coins and cash, no fear of accidental overpays, et cetera. Having everything digital also makes it very easy to track your spendings and budget better.

Well, it does have one downside, as in it would suck if you don't track your spendings. Because of how convenient everything is, you could end up spending a lot more than you planned to without realizing.

Traditional culture is another thing I can never have enough of. Despite being hungry (metaphorically and literally) for all that experience, I rarely got to travel for a variety of reasons. I've never gotten the opportunity to visit Taiwan, although they have recently begun handing out tourist visas to Mainlanders from overseas again, so I might be able to pay a visit sometime.

When I travelled back to Zhejiang just this past summer, I had to opportunity to revisit Hangzhou and add Jinhua to my list. Wanted to visit Jingdezhen in nearby Jiangxi as well, but didn't have the time to because university started really early unfortunately. But anyway, I spent about 10 hours a day walking around the cities, visiting all the museums and the preserved traditional buildings. Oh, and I also slept about 4-6 hours each day (I sleep 8+ normally) without feeling tired at all. My phone would almost run out of battery twice a day, which really isn't a great idea given how phone-reliant modern day Mainland China is.

That was just to show how much I love travelling, and we are kinda getting off-topic, whoops...

Anyway, you can probably tell what kind of person I am when travelling now. The two images below are the Confucius Temple in Tainan and a Miaohui (庙会) respectively. What is a miaohui, you ask? Oh it is a religious gathering that literally translates to temple fair. I am quite literally an atheist, and atheists like me would still enjoy tagging in on these events for the markets setup in the area. To me, it is tied to my cultural identity rather than religious beliefs of any sort.

But wait, I'm an introvert. Why am I going out for a social event in that case?

Food, my friend. They got that food...

The nicest things you can expect from one of those, assuming that you aren't there for religious purposes, would be the food. There will be a lot of not-crazy-pricey street food stands set up in the area for you to enjoy.

Speaking of food, Taiwan's local cuisine is something I've always wanted a local experience of. As you may be aware, modern day Taiwanese people are largely descendants of those who fled the Mainland during the Civil War. These people are from a variety of regions but a plurality come from the South, particularly Fujian. (In fact, Taiwan used to be under Fujian province until the Qing government decided to establish Taiwan as a separate province of the empire in 1885) Prior to the influx of Han Chinese soldiers and refugees in 1945, Taiwan was a Japanese colony for half a decade, too. As such, you can expect a very unique blend of mostly traditional Min cuisine with elements of other Mainland cuisines and a bit of a Japanese touch.

The images below are four pretty well known dishes. I've had and enjoyed lo bah png and braised beef noodles. However, I have not had the opportunity to try out grilled chicken butt and gua bao. These are two of the dishes I'm really looking forward to tasting.

Oh and they do deserve the credit for boba too. I'm not gonna put another image though because it's getting a bit cramped lol.

One last major thing I like and am sincerely grateful for is the pop culture in the 00s. Taiwan was the hub for Mando-pop in the first decade of this century and that era brought about many skilled and well-known artists such as Jay Chou, Wang Leehom (lmao L bozo iykyk), Wu Qing-feng, Jolin Tsai, and Angela Chang. For its influence in the Sinophone world at the time, it also attracted many skilled artists from other regions such as JJ Lin and Stephanie Sun from Singapore.

Taiwan's music industry remained dominant in Mando-pop until Mainland China took over the spotlight in the early 10s. Unfortunately, within a few years of that happening, the toxic idol industry eventually spoiled the modern Chinese (and East Asian as a whole kinda) entertainment industry. It is difficult to name a significant number of good songs written these days, let alone talented original creators. For this reason, songs from the 00s are still mainstream to a significant portion of Gen Zs and most older generations.

Well, what is one thing you think of when you think about East Asia? Smart kids? Well, let's start with that.

B-but dude, isn't the populace being well educated a good thing?

Oh it definitely is, don't get me wrong. However, there is a massive problem behind this phenomenon, that is, the environment that built to this.

In China, historically speaking, education is the only way to move up the social ladder. While an academic might not earn as much as some other professions, the social status is just there. These jobs are regarded highly culturally. Naturally, this evolved to become a common idea across East Asia.

Children in the East tend to go through an unnecessarily stressful childhood where they are met with standards that are not so reasonable. Beginning from primary school, or even kindergarten, they would be dragged around the city all day going through extra classes and extracurriculars. Those extracurriculars are usually not to help them develop a hobby, though. It's all for that juicy application in the future.

Obviously, it paid off for those that pulled through and excelled in society, but that is only a very limited portion of the populace. Most people struggle hard academically, physically, and emotionally going through this process, just to eventually get eliminated by fiercer competition. And that's the people that pulled through. A kid at one of my cousins' school couldn't stand the stress of middle school and jumped off the 6th floor. Unfortunately, I don't have good news to tell here, a young soul was forever taken away, just like that.

A high emphasis on education builds a well educated populace. That is a good thing, don't get me wrong. But, at what cost is this happening now? Is it really worth it? I wouldn't say so.

The current system also lacks the physical aspect of education. Not that PE isn't a thing in the East, but it isn't really looked at highly unless you reach an internationally competitive level. Schools would often replace PE classes with other classes to catch up on other academic material, and parents do not really care about sports and mostly see it as something of a much lesser importance. For that reason, young people in the East are typically less physically fit.

Oh and South Korea's situation is the worst of all, you can do your own research on that if you're interested in learning more. I myself can only really speak from the Mainland Chinese perspective.

Okay, past education now. They'll at least be better off and live a less stressful life after all that, right? Right....

Alright, time to talk about the toxic work culture.

In Mainland China, we have this term called "996". This basically means working from 9 am to 9 pm for 6 days a week. Yeah, a 72 hour work week, very extreme. Sadly, it is also not too uncommon in the East. Workers often have to put in more effort than they should but are not compensated with a fair pay. In this case, you also shouldn't really be expecting your boss to be treating you too well. You are just subordinate to them in every way and can be abandoned should you fail to complete everything they wanted you to do.

If you work an office job, it is also not too uncommon for your boss to require you to tag along and drink and all. Don't get your hopes up now, it's not to relax. You are there to drink and try to get the customers to vibe with you and pull the deal through. You can't stand alcohol too well? Welp good luck, because you will be pressured into drinking.

If you are a woman who just recently found out that you're pregnant, should you report it to the company and take pregnancy leave a few months into pregnancy? Well, that is another problem. A lot of people choose to hide this bit of information when it really isn't something that should be kept unknown. Pregnant women are seen as less competitive at work and reporting this information could get you dismissed. Oh, and combine this information with the drinking part. Sweet, ain't it?

Not sure if you heard of this bit, but housing in East Asia is insanely expensive. Isn't that normal because East Asia is extremely populous? No, have you seen all the 30 story practical ghost towns in Chinese cities? Yeah, let me explain.

Ownership of property is another thing regarded highly in Eastern societies. One unrealistic standard this led to is that men should own at least a property before actually settling with a marriage. Obviously, that wouldn't apply to everyone, but this idea is extremely common amongst older generations as property is a symbol for security.

Many companies and wealthy individuals take advantage of that. As you can expect, properties are played around like stocks. This essentially eliminates their original purpose and turns it all into a very capitalistic game. So, if you were wondering why the East has this many residential skyscrapers, there's your answer.

Not that capitalism is necessarily bad, of course. But, it should never play with essentials like housing.

Well, on the bright side, at least Taiwan's situation isn't as bad as some other places *cough cough*

From what I heard, Taipei, despite being the most expensive city in terms of housing prices in Taiwan, is about half as pricey as Shanghai. Yeah... yikes.

Those problems above are really bad and are the primary reasons behind the highly stressful lives and low fertility rates all across East Asia other than the glorious nation of the DPRK, that's another story. But that's so general, dude. Okay okay, let's talk about something that is specific to Taiwan now.

Traffic.

Yes, traffic. But isn't traffic really bad in, say, Beijing too? Oh, there's a difference between having some of the worst traffic jams known to man and Taiwan's situation. You'll see what I mean.

Scooters are extremely common in Taiwan, to the extent where I can't find exact words for it. Just look at this picture below.

Yeah, it is really packed. As you can probably tell, scooters do not offer the level of protection that cars do. In the past year, Taiwan saw over 3,000 deaths due to traffic accidents. For reference, Germany, with a population nearly 4 times that of Taiwan, had 2,776 traffic-related fatalities in the same year.

Why is that the case, you ask? This is where things get a bit ugly.

So, in May last year, a Taiwanese history YouTuber I watch, cheap, uploaded a video on this topic. Essentially, he received a sponsorship from the Department of Transportation in Taipei requesting a video regarding traffic safety, as that has been a serious problem in Taiwan. After he submitted his first draft to them for review, they outlined their complaints. I'm not going to be translating everything in that video, but essentially, what they listed directed all the blame at scooter riders.

Yes, you heard it right. Instead of attempting to implement fixes such as improving the currently poorly designed roads or enforcing stricter driving tests, they chose to do nothing on their part, and shifted all the blame to the scooters.

Now, don't get me wrong, the traffic being a mess is partially due to drivers having little care for others on the road. But, is that something a government agency should be putting out? If there are problems with the drivers, shouldn't you be considering solutions such as harsher punishments like a full suspension of the license with a very heavy fine, or simply what I mentioned above, enforcing stricter rules during the tests? If this is a problem with the morals of individual drivers, shouldn't the government work on improving the moral education of its citizens?

This made it to all the news networks and they did apologize publicly within less than a week. Did they implement any actually sensible solutions? I don't know. Only time will tell.

Speaking of morals, that's another thing I want to talk about. I don't doubt that most people in Taiwan are very welcoming. In fact, I haven't actually met a Taiwanese person critical of my identity as a Mainlander in real life. But, this isn't something I'm gonna skip over. The sheer level of hate I've seen online is far beyond the political level. It is purely discrimination.

But, isn't it common for a few discriminatory comments to pop in everywhere? I suppose? I really hope not, but as an active viewer of Mandarin content on YouTube, I personally have seen discrimination against China in pretty much every comment section, even under cat videos.

Yes. Cat videos...

The discrimination is extended towards any simplified script users to some extent. There have been cases where Malaysians for example were mistaken for Mainlanders and ended up receiving a load of hate comments.

Well, what do these particular people really think of Mainlanders? Pretty much anything bad is Chinese behavior to them. Here's an example below.

Basically, the top level comment was mentioned some old news about two girls getting beaten up by a man whom they refused to add on WeChat. Yeah, I think you can see what I mean now. Antagonizing for no good reason.

Oh yeah, I don't know if you guys have heard of this, but a few months ago, Cathay Pacific was involved in some drama. Basically, on a flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong, a passenger asked for a blanket but the attendant did not speak Mandarin. So, he tried to communicate in English, but ended up calling it "carpet" as his English wasn't too great. Now that isn't something crazy funny to laugh at, it just isn't the man's first language. But, the flight attendant decided that it was something very funny and mocked the passenger's poor English behind his back. Someone else ended up recording their conversation and exposed this behavior online.

If you just put some thought into it, the flight attendant is clearly in the wrong, right? She made fun of a customer who simply attempted to communicate with her as they did not share a fluent language in common. Once again, quite a few individuals reacted about how you expected.

I no longer have screenshots for that, but basically, some comments received several hundreds (if not thousands) of likes for saying things along the lines of "don't expect others to respect you if you don't respect others."

I'm just speechless. I'll let you decide who is in the right in this.

Why are these horrible takes so seemingly common though? Is it just that some people are left in the wild online and decided to go off? No. It's the media in Taiwan intentionally radicalizing and brainwashing these people.

News outlets should be for the people by the people. But guess what? Pretty much every notable channel is privatized and their sole motive is to profit. Nothing wrong with that, until you realize that one very good way to profit is feeding people exactly what they wanted to hear, essentially locking them in echo chambers. News outlets are essentially grounds for political propaganda.

But at least their internet is very free, right? No, not exactly. Because of those exact echo chambers I was talking about, a good amount of people chronically online are brainwashed into believing that Taiwan is by far the best in the world, and thus anyone or anything criticizing Taiwan deserves a raid. In fact, while I'm pointing out very realistic problems in this blog, if only JetPunk was bigger in Taiwan, this can make it to the news there.

And how do I know? Well, there's this Belgian-Chinese YouTuber called Ceylan who has lived in Taiwan for about a year now. He recently received a lot of hate and was broadcasted on all major news outlets in Taiwan. What did he do? He said that the weather there is d*****t.

Yeah, just that.

But the media did more than that. They decided to splice his video on his decision to leave Taiwan for a variety of reasons, and basically fabricated him into a complete hater. See the problem now? Yeah no it doesn't stop there.

Many journalists there simply lack basic morals. and I mean it. They have to add sexualizing tags to every bit of content. Oh, a woman who broke a law? Yeah we must add description of her chest. Oh, an attractive famous woman who literally did nothing? Yeah no, we're gonna make dirty stories of her up just for some clicks from fellow degenerates. These are also in Ceylan's video linked above, if you know Chinese that is, since his video isn't in English in any form.

I don't think I wanna continue with this, but I hope the message is across.

Well, after all that rant, what do I have to say?

Honestly, I don't know.

Don't get me wrong, Taiwan is a good place to live in in many ways. With a strong economy, an educated populace, and mesmerizing traditional and modern culture, there is no doubt that a lot of people can live there comfortably and happily for their entire lives.

Realistically, there simply is no perfect place to live in. There has to be a compromise somewhere, and I believe this blog pointed most of these problems out pretty well. I don't want to be that person who is overly critical to the extent where I seem politically biased, because I am not. If anything, I really hope for the best. I would really love to visit Taiwan someday. But, these are also very real problems that Taiwan is currently having and deserve more attention than they currently receive.

All the best. The world will be a better place.

Anyway, here are some songs I listened to while writing all this.