We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2009
Fourteen years have elapsed since a shattered Nationalist Government fled to Formosa with the hope of reorganising and revitalising its forces and of building an effective base for a counter-attack against the Chinese Communists. At that time it appeared to have little chance of survival. However, because of changing international conditions and Formosa's impressive domestic economic performance, the Nationalist Government has been able to re-establish itself as an effective political force. Formosa's economic achievements have given the Government a certain international prestige and, combined with military assistance from the United States, have allowed it to maintain a large, well-equipped military establishment.
1 Excluding dollar assistance under the U.S. Military Assistance Programme (MAP).
2 Preliminary figures available for 1962 show a fall-off in the rate of growth; gross national product increased 6·5 per cent, and national income 6·8 per cent. Until 1962 two series of national income statistics were available, one published by the Government's Director-General of Budgets, Accounts and Statistics (DGBAS) and the other by the AID Mission in Taipei. The AID series, now discontinued, was based on primary data supplied by the Chinese, and the major difference was in the treatment of inventories. National income statistics used here are all derived from the DGBAS publication in both Chinese and English—National Income of the Republic of China, National Accounts in Taiwan, for 1952–61, Preliminary Estimates of National Income in Taiwan for 1962 (Taipei: 1963)Google Scholar, hereafter DGBAS. Formosa's statistics, while not reaching the standards of the more developed countries, are considered to be quite good. The most serious deficiencies are in employment and labour statistics.
3 Ministry of Economic Affairs and Central Bank of China, The Republic of China, Taiwan Production Statistics Monthly (Taipei), 09 1962, pp. 4 and 53Google Scholar, and DGBAS, p. 19.Google Scholar
4 I-shih, Su, “Taiwan chih nung-chia sc-te”Google Scholar (“The Income of Taiwan's Farm Households”), in Bank of Taiwan, Taiwan chih nung-yeh ching-chi (Taipei: 1962), p. 123.Google Scholar
5 The increase of agricultural employment during the period would appear to be understated. Labour force data runs into serious problems of definition, particularly in handling unemployment. Except for the industrial sector, employment statistics are derived from household registration data. For employment statistics, see Economic Research Centre, Council for U.S. Aid, Taiwan Statistical Data Book (Taipei: 1962), p. 7, hereafter, Data Book.Google Scholar
6 Consumption data is found in DGBAS, pp. 16–21Google Scholar, and United Nations, Yearbook of National Account Statistics, 1960 (New York: 1961), p. 50.Google Scholar
7 Chow, , Senyung, , editor, 12th General Report of the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (Taipei: 1962), p. 131Google Scholar, hereafter, JCRR XII. Statistics are from production data and are probably understated.
8 Op. cit., p. 51Google Scholar. In 1958 the life expectancy on Formosa for males was 60·5 years and for females, 65·0 years.
9 Data Book, pp. 133 and 140Google Scholar. For a discussion of some of the educational problems of Taiwan, see McCusker, Henry F. and Robinson, Harry J., Education and Development—the Role of Educational Planning in the Economic Development of the Republic of China (Stanford: Stanford Un. Research Institute, 1962).Google Scholar
10 Statistics on foreign trade are derived from exchange settlements of the Bank of Taiwan and are widely published. One easily available reference is the Data Book, pp. 109–120Google Scholar. Figures for 1962 are from Council for U.S. Aid, Industry of Free China (Taipei: 02 1963), pp. 86–92.Google Scholar
11 The table is derived from data in DGBAS. Figures for gross domestic savings are residuals.
12 The “old faithful” who must be retained in the armed forces is simply a drag on military modernisation.
13 The Government apparently tolerates the abundant publicity given to corruption in the hope that corrupt practices will be discouraged.
14 JCRR, XII, p. 68.Google Scholar
15 For a discussion of conditions in the countryside, see Kirby, E. Stuart, Rural Progress on Taiwan (Taipei: JCRR, 1960).Google Scholar
16 Statistics on public finance are found in the Data Book, pp. 89–94Google Scholar. The statistics, however, are not comprehensive, especially as to expenditure data. For a brief discussion of the Chinese tax system and some recommendations for reform, see Crocket, Joseph P., Taxation in China (Taipei: 1960), mimeographed.Google Scholar
17 This is a simplified discussion of a very complex problem involving many types of fertilisers, the establishment of a local fertiliser industry, administrative difficulties and rivalries, and other factors.
18 DGBAS, p. 39Google Scholar. The table includes expenditures of U.S. aid-generated local currency provided in support of the military budget but not dollar assistance under the Military Assistance Programme. The table also does not include the approximately U.S.$50 million (from U.S. aid) which was used to remove from the Chinese armed forces a large number of the aged, sick and other ineffectives during this period. The present exchange rate is N.T.$40 to U.S.$1.
19 Financial statistics are found in Economic Research Department, Central Bank of China, Republic of China, Taiwan Financial Statistics Monthly (Taipei) 01 1963.Google Scholar
20 Savings and time deposits rose from NT$822 million in 1953 to NT$9,500 million in 1961.
21 The wholesale price index for Taipei. For price statistics, see Bureau of Accounting and Statistics, Provincial Government for Formosa, Taiwan Monthly of Commodity Price Statistics (Taipei), No. 48, 12 1962.Google Scholar
22 Taiwan Financial Statistics Monthly, pp. 56–60.Google Scholar
23 Population statistics exclude persons in the armed forces. In 1961, armed forces personnel were about 600,000. For population statistics, see Director-General of Budgets, Accounts and Statistics, the Taiwan Economic Indicators, Republic of China (Taipei), No. 28, 06 1962.Google Scholar
24 Data Book, p. 5.Google Scholar
25 Op. cit., p. 24.Google Scholar
26 Op. cit., pp. 7–10.Google Scholar
27 New York Times (International edition), 12 22, 1959, News of the Week in Review, p. 3.Google Scholar
28 For example, see Yin, K. Y., Economic Development in Taiwan, 1950–1960, Record and Prospects (Taipei: 1961), pp. 38–39.Google Scholar
29 For one study in relation to Taiwan, see JCRR, A Study on the Effects of the Population Trend on Economic Development in Taiwan (Taipei: 1961)Google ScholarPubMed, English abridgment, preliminary and mimeographed.
30 Op. cit., p. 16.Google Scholar
31 Director-General of Budgets, Accounts and Statistics, Statistical Abstract of the Republic of China, 1961 (Taipei: 1961), pp. 390–393Google Scholar. This source lists 3,750 students going abroad for study from 1955–60. This is considerably underestimated, since it covers only those who had permission to leave the country as students. However, many young people go abroad for study who are not able to qualify under the government's strict regulations for study abroad. This source also states that during the same period 367 students returned to Formosa.
32 Yuan, Executive, Ti-san ch'i Taiwan ching-chi chien-she szu-nien chi-hua (Taiwan's Third Four-year Economic Development Plan) (Taipei: 1961), p. 38Google Scholar. An abridged English version is available.
33 Kopp, William T. and Osborn, Ned D., The Feasibility of a Transistor Radio Plant in Taiwan (Stanford: Stanford Un. Research Institute, 1962).Google Scholar
34 There are 65 government enterprises, the majority of which are owned by the Central Government. For a description of the financial activities of the enterprises owned by the Central Government, see Statistical Abstract, pp. 466–504.Google Scholar
35 For a description of the planning process and some recommendations for improvement, see Watkins, Ralph J., Economic Development Planning in Taiwan (Washington: 1961), mimeographed.Google Scholar
36 Electric power generation increased from 1·6 billion KWH in 1953 to 4·1 billion KWH in 1961.
37 Third Four-Year Plan, p. 29.Google Scholar
38 Data Book, p. 46.Google Scholar
39 AID Statistics and Reports Division, U.S. Foreign Assistance July I, 1945-June 30, 1961 (Washington: 1961).Google Scholar
40 Data Book, p. 122Google Scholar. Programme figures are amounts authorised, not actual expenditures, which would be slightly less. Chinese aid figures differ slightly from those of AID.
41 The various categories of aid and authorised amounts from fiscal year 1951 to fiscal year 1961 are as follows: defence support, U.S.$797·5 million; technical co-operation, U.S.$20·8 million; direct forces support, U.S.$152·3 million; Public Law 480 surplus agriculture commodities, U.S.$64·9 million; Development Loan Fund, U.S.$119·7 million. Not included are relief goods supplied under a separate section of P.L. 480. These aid categories differ primarily in the manner that aid commodities generate local currency and in the uses of aid commodities as to consumption and investment.
42 Data Book, p. 129Google Scholar. Basic commodity imports under defence support aid were known as non-project aid, that is, they were commodities not directed towards a defined capital project.
43 Data Book, p. 126Google Scholar, and AID Mission to China, Project Funding Status (Taipei: 1962), mimeographed.Google ScholarPubMed
44 Taiwan Financial Statistics Monthly, p. 6.Google Scholar
45 In actuality, 10–20 per cent. of the currency generated from the sales of U.S. surplus agricultural commodities are used for U.S. Government purposes, and this portion would constitute a genuine sale.
46 A description of the Nineteen Points may be found in the Third Four-Year Plan, pp. 30–31.Google Scholar
47 The largest foreign investment is a joint venture by Mobil Chemical Co. and Allied Chemical Co. with a government enterprise to build a urea fertiliser plant. The share of the U.S. Companies is U.S.$16 million. Also noteworthy is the penetration of Formosa by Japanese firms. Most Japanese investment has taken the form of technical assistance and licensing agreements.
48 This information is from assorted Taipei press reports.
49 For a discussion of some of these problems, see Tenenbaum, Edward A., Taiwan's Turning Point (Washington: 1960).Google Scholar
