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Letters | Rising China versus slowing Taiwan: why democracy is not that perfect
- The many Taiwanese who have relocated to the mainland for work are proof that the Beijing model works
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I refer to the letter from Joseph Ting about the pitfalls of democracy (“What China’s success says about the risks of democracy”, April 29).
Taiwan offers an example. It has seemingly followed the democratic path of the United States, and once thrived as one of the four Asian dragons. But now, with a lot of university graduates making less than US$1,000 per month and quite a few of its people underfed, those at the helm cannot shrug off responsibilities for this turn of events.
No matter what political ideology or programme you want to put out, you cannot stave off the most important point, which is the economy and the livelihood and well-being of your people.
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That the People’s Republic of China is nowhere near a democracy is an undeniable fact, nor does it claim to be one. But with the opening up of its economy to the international stage, despite the widening wealth gap among its people, in general everyone is better off. China is now a prosperous nation, arguably a world superpower, and has lifted 800 million of its people out of poverty. The BBC has reported that, as of January, Taiwanese companies invested about US$60 billion in mainland China and up to a million of its people moved there for work, with many running factories.
Democracy in and of itself is a good thing. But it’s far from a recipe for the economic well-being of all the people.
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Randy Lee, Ma On Shan
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