Taiwanese comparing themselves to people in China argue they’re healthier, wealthier, more polite and better off as a democracy than a Communist state. A foreigner who points out something amiss in Taiwan, perhaps traffic danger or environmental degradation, risks the rebuke that things are worse in China. The two sides have a natural rivalry because both are predominantly ethnic Chinese with the much larger, more powerful China claiming sovereignty over Taiwan since the island became self-ruled in the 1940s. China also tries to curb Taiwan’s foreign relations and, occasionally,economic growth.
But China normally changes fast while in Taiwan you meet people who return after 30 years saying they recognize every shop on a given block. Taiwan could stand a few changes as China chews into its lifeblood high-tech contracting, leaving the island economy with little new direction. There are short lessons: Try adding yards, sidewalks and setbacks between flats and roads. Those measures common in China’s cities would ease urban density in Taiwan and increase breathing space (even if China’s air is filthy). Taiwan might also follow China’s lead in stoking pride in traditional culture, for example brewing pots of loose leaf tea in public teahouses instead of writing it off as an “old people’s” drink just for home consumption.
But the toughest lesson — an answer to the growing grumble among Taiwanese about lacking direction – comes down to ambition.....
Change should start from early education, you hear Taiwanese say. Elementary schools focus now on rote learning and following the authority of a teacher who talks through a microphone for hours with no class discussion. I’ve heard the same about schools in China. But when I taught writing at a mainstream university in Beijing 10 years ago, students experimented freely with new storytelling devices and a lot didn’t mind talking in class. I’ve taught a weekly university journalism class in Taipei for almost two years and must beg or threaten local students to participate. The brightest find ways to skip as many lessons as possible and still pass the class.
My students from Beijing would turn up a year or two after graduation in the country’s top media jobs, watching or stabbing backs as needed to build careers. Or they might be getting an MBA with an import-export business brewing in the background. A lot went overseas for advanced degrees or professional jobs, not easy given visa restrictions. Rack it up to ambition.
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