Taiwan, les richesses d'une nation

Abstract

Taiwan, the Wealth of a Nation, Gilles Guïheux. The spring 2000 presidential election brought the candidate of the progressive Democratic Party, which h ad been in the opposition to the KMT for a long time, to power. Taiwan figures as the model of a successful democratic transition, little by little managing to stabilize a pluralist political System to the point of enabling a peaceful changeover at the head of state. This democratic development has been helped along by growth in high tech sectors and a strengthening of economic links with mainland China. The originality of the Taiwanese model is based on a fabric of small and medium-sized family companies that operate in a network and are able to adapt rapidly to international market demands. In reaction to a national identity that the KMT regime had linked to mainland China to the detriment of local culture, Taiwan bas begun, over the past few years, to reevaluate its insular past. The public debate on Taiwan's history is also part of a détermination to redefine national identity after 40 years of culture imposed by the minority of mainland Chinese who followed Chiang Kai-shek when he withdrew in 1949-1950.