Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/19
By: William Stanton

A view of Taipei City from the top of Xiangshan, or Elephant Moutain (Image credit of flickr user David Hsieh)

It is not surprising that many, perhaps most, people around the world do not know about Taiwan. After all, China — with the support of more and more countries — has isolated Taiwan diplomatically for more than forty years, and recently China has been campaigning to eliminate even the name of Taiwan as a global destination. Following the demise of Mao Zedong, China increasingly prospered and attracted business people, tourists, and students from around the world, who too often have bypassed Taiwan. Once, for example, almost everyone wishing to learn Mandarin came to Taiwan, but most now go to China.

What is more surprising, however, is that many Taiwanese themselves do not sufficiently appreciate their own country. Taiwanese often ask me with a puzzled look, why I live in Taiwan. Over time, I have come to believe this reflects both a native modesty, but also perhaps a misperception of Taiwan’s place in the world, a lack of knowledge of the extraordinary accomplishments of their own country, and to some extent therefore a lack of confidence in Taiwan. Such attitudes need to change.    [FULL  STORY]