Taiwan Today

Taiwan and the Pescadores became spoils of war at the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese conflict of 1894-95. Japan's dream of grabbing a sizable island directly south of her own empire had come true. For China there wasn't any choice. The Celestial Empire had stood still while the Japanese acquired big ships and big guns. No amount of Chinese courage could overcome the vastly superior Japanese weapons.

Japan knew exactly what she wanted: a lush agricultural land of hard-working people that would become Japan's rice, fruit and sugar bowl while buying Japan's industrial products. The Japanese also thought they would be able to export large numbers of their own surplus population to Taiwan.

The Chinese people of Taiwan were notably uncooperative. When the Ch'ing dynasty was compelled to cede the island, the Taiwanese declared their independence. As occupying troops arrived, they found they had a fight on their hands. It was a good 10 years before the island was considered pacified and incidents never ceased through the half century of the Japanese era. The aborigines were treated even more harshly than the Taiwanese and the Japanese did not consider that they had been subdued until 1920.

Occupation by the Japanese was a far cry from that by the Dutch, who had been more interested in quick trade profits than in solid political control. Times had changed, of course, and the Chinese population was much larger and far more of a cohesive whole. The Protestant missionaries had been the control agents of the Dutch; they were organizers, tax collectors and the civilizers of the aborigines. The Japanese used their police to control every aspect in the life of the 2 million people of Taiwan in 1895. Police were still necessary to assure obedience 50 years later.

In the early years of the occupation, Japan had 1 policeman for every 580 persons in the rural areas. In urban Japan, the figure was 1 for 1,052. Twice as much was spent on the police as on the civil service. Using brutality as a stock in trade, police gave the orders for the crops to be planted, parceled out irrigation rights, recruited forced labor for roadbuilding, collected taxes, inducted men into Japan's armed forces and carried out censuses.

Japan was interested in the land from the very beginning and this preoccupation never ceased. By the end of the Japanese period, 80 per cent of cultivated land and 95 per cent of forested land were in the hands of the Japanese government. Titles were confused during the preceding Chinese period. Early settlers had become big landowners. Descendants rented land and eventually became absentee landlords. Initial tenants assumed a role of ownership and sublet to newcomers. When the Japanese conducted a land survey, they found that the area of land actually under cultivation was nearly twice as large that of record. Once they knew what land was where and who owned it, the Japanese were in a position to levy maximum taxes and start acquiring ownership by purchase or other means.

Revenues also were sought by monopolizing the production and sale of salt, camphor, opium, tobacco and alcoholic beverages. Eventually these enterprises brought in two-thirds of the Japanese government's direct revenues from Taiwan sources.

The Chinese had given attention to the need for Taiwan railroad building even before they began to lay roadbed on the mainland. A railroad linked Taipei with the port of Keelung and was pushing on south when the Japanese arrived. The line then was extended to Kaohsiung and the existing trackage improved. Narrow gauge lines were developed for the transportation of sugar. A forestry railroad was built to bring logs down from 7,500-foot Alishan. By 1945, Taiwan had 994 miles of government-owned railroad and 1,863 miles of private track (sugar and lumber). Steamship service was started to Japan and other Asian ports. The harbors at Keelung, Kaohsiung and Hualien were improved. Highway construction lagged, however. To prevent competition with railroads, the Japanese government took over transportation on main highways.

The curse of Taiwan agriculture is irregular rainfall. Irrigation is essential to maximum production. Before the Japanese, irrigation systems were primitive, on a small scale and privately owned. Japan began to build government-owned dams and distribution systems. The Chianan plain stretching between the Choshui River in the north and the Tsengwen River in the south has an area of nearly 2,000 square miles and is Taiwan's biggest. Rainfall is plentiful in the summer but scant in the winter, a phenomenon that makes either for flood or dust storms. Salt and sandy soils further complicate the farmer's life. In the decade of the 1920s, the Japanese built the Chianan system of irrigation canals that has made this area the most fertile on the island. Length of the system is 10,868 miles. Nearly half a million acres of land is irrigated and the arable area was increased by some 67,000 acres. Production of rice, sugar cane and other crops was multiplied about eight times.

Some idea of Taiwan's importance to Japan is reflected in the fact that at the height of the occupation period the island was providing 60 per cent of Japan's rice and 90 per cent of its sugar. Considering that the Japanese of that time were heavy rice eaters and have always had a big sweet tooth, this was no mean accomplishment. Between 1920 and 1930, the area given over to rice cultivation increased by more than one-third, the yield rose by the same amount and production doubled. The Japanese introduced the higher yielding Ponlai variety of rice in 1922. By 1935 Ponlai acreage was well above that of the common Taiwan rice.

None of this brought prosperity to the Taiwan farmer, who quickly found that while Ponlai had a higher yield it also cost much more to grow because of the need for additional fertilizer. The farmer had little choice, however. Not only was his arm twisted by the police but it was Ponlai that the Japanese wanted and Ponlai that he could sell. As the export of rice to Japan climbed, per capita consumption of the grain in Taiwan slumped by two-thirds. During the Japanese period, Japan's consumption of rice was 31 per cent greater than that of Taiwan, and the Japanese also ate quantities of wheat, barley and other grains that Taiwan did not grow. The best Taiwan rice went to Japan. Islanders ate what was left and cheaper varieties imported from Southeast Asia.

Before 1895, Japan spent 10 per cent of import foreign exchange on sugar. Taiwan changed all that and the Japanese obviously had sugar importantly in mind when they demanded the island as big part of the price charged China for losing the war. New and more productive strains of cane were introduced from the Hawaiian Islands as early as 1896. Acreage devoted to cane increased almost five times between 1905 and 1935 and production by five times. The yield per acre rose nearly 2½ times. By 1939, Japan held seventh place among world sugar producers with most of the production coming from Taiwan. Japan increased cane acreage in both World Wars I and II. The 1940 area was just under 420,000 acres. The production high point of 358 million bushels was reached in 1938.

Japanese domination doomed China's longstanding sugar-growing cooperatives. These were organized on a small scale and the Japanese regarded this as inefficient. In 1905 only 9 per cent of sugar came from modern mills; by 1937 the figure was 98 per cent. Of the nine Japanese sugar corporations, six were responsible for 95 per cent of the production.

Taiwan's farmers were not especially happy about the emphasis on sugar cane. Many of them preferred to grow rice, which could be stored and eaten by the family. When the Japanese decided that acreage was better planted to cane, the farmer had no choice. Ninety-five per cent of Taiwan's sugar was exported. Japan's consumption was 43 per cent higher than Taiwan's.

Japan was also interested in Taiwan fruit, especially bananas and pineapples. Output of bananas grew steadily from 1910 to 1940. Before the Japanese, pineapples were grown only for local consumption. Canneries were established in the 1920s and production peaked in the late 30s. This fruit could be grown on land that was not suitable for rice or sugar cane.

In the beginning, the Japanese had no intention of encouraging Taiwan industry. But agriculture and industry often go hand in hand - as in the case of food processing. Japan was compelled to permit some industrialization and by 1939 the value of industrial and agricultural production was in approximate balance. In the early 1900s the ratio had been 4 to 1 in favor of agriculture.

Only 24 factories were in existence when the Japanese came. The number exceeded 1,200 by 1925 and rose to nearly 4,000 by 1935. Most plants were very small. As of 1935, factories with fewer than 30 workers made up 95 per cent of the total. Food processing ranked first, but as other industries arose, its proportion of the total dropped from 74 to 59 per cent between 1921 and 1942. Chemical and metal industries had their beginnings in the 1920s and grew rapidly to meet Japanese war needs after outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese war of 1937-45.

The number of factory workers multiplied three times between 1920 and 1941. Metals and textiles led the way. Workers were Chinese in a proportion of 15 to 1. Ordinary factory work was considered beneath the average Japanese, who became the foremen and technicians.

Japan realized the hydroelectric potential of Taiwan's fast-running rivers but did little about it until after World War I. In 1918 the power output of Taiwan generators was only a pittance of 10,000 kilowatts. Finally the Japanese took advantage of the potential of Sun Moon Lake and the Choshui River to build a hydroelectric project with capacity of 180,000 kw. Domestic and industrial power was supplied to the west coast. Electricity made possible the establishment or growth of aluminum, chemical and steel plants.

Japan's neo-mercantile system envisaged Taiwan's complete economic dependence on the island empire to the northeast. Customs duties on Japanese goods were abolished and those on other trade increased. But the islanders were not prosperous enough to buy a great deal. From 1897 to 1944, export value increased more than 20 times versus 10 times for imports. All foreign trade employment was monopolized by the Japanese. Trade was favorable, if that term can be used, in all but 12 of the years between 1897 and 1944, and the unfavorable years occurred before 1914.

Trade with Japan made up 90 per cent of the Taiwan total. In addition to taking Taiwan's best rice and importing cheaper and inferior grain for islanders to eat, the Japanese also shipped the best lumber out of Taiwan and replaced it with cheap pine from Japan. Eighty per cent of the exports to Japan was made up of eight commodities: sugar, rice, tea, bananas, canned pineapple, camphor, alcohol and coal.

What did Taiwan import from Japan? Necessities, obviously - manufactures such as textiles, soap, matches, clothing, shoes, paper, printing machines, bicycles, electrical equipment, railroad rolling stock and fertilizer. Also included were flour, fishery products, dairy goods, canned foods, soybeans and lumber. Trade with mainland China declined sharply in both the import and export columns as a result of Japanese-imposed barriers.

When the occupation began, Japan planned a program of emigration that would make Japanese an important numerical element of the population. Things never worked out that way. Japanese were given subsidies to resettle in Taiwan. Chinese immigration was forbidden. Even in the closing years of the 19th century, the number of Japanese coming to Taiwan never exceeded 21,000 annually. Most of the arrivals came not as immigrants but to take government jobs. When these were filled, the number of Japanese newcomers fell off sharply and never exceeded 4,000 after 1900. The Japanese government kept trying. In 1907 a bid was made for farmers with the allocation of 94,000 acres of land divided into 38 rural settlements. Only 8 districts were settled and these eventually failed. Fishermen were sought in 1909. Few responded. Those who did went into other work when they reached Taiwan.

In 1910 the Japanese government offered 10-year credit on farms, houses, roads, schools, hospitals and irrigation works in the Taitung area on the east coast. Fewer than 4,000 persons responded. They were settled in three areas. Twenty-five years later the population of all three villages had decreased. The Taito Sugar Company sought colonists to grow cane. That was in 1915. Of those who came, only 78 families were still on the land in 1936. Between 1905 and 1940, the Japanese share of the population increased only from 2 to 5 per cent. The Japanese were not only disinclined to come to Taiwan but those who did had smaller families than the islanders.

Japanese spurned farming and labor. They were interested in government jobs, the professions and business. Only 5 per cent of Japanese was engaged in agriculture versus 71 per cent of the Chinese. Forty-one per cent of the Japanese population lived in Taipei and most of the rest in other cities. Consequently, the rural areas were not much affected by the Japanese except through police interference with their traditional Chinese way of life. Buildings and eating habits and other aspects of culture remained Chinese.

Some Japanese cultural influences were brought to bear in the large cities, especially Taipei. City walls were torn down; only the gates were left. Japanese-style wooden houses replaced the Chinese brick and clay and stone dwellings. Tile roofs anchored the structures against the force of typhoons. Floors were raised to escape inundation. Many of these Japanese houses are still found in Taipei, although they are slowly giving way to Western-style dwellings or to apartments.

Most of the public buildings of present-day Taiwan were built by the Japanese. They are of brick and concrete construction. Architecture shows late 19th century Germanic influences that were prevalent in the Japan of the first half of the 20th century. The returning Chinese did not replace these buildings because of the austerity that was required after Communist usurpation of mainland power in 1949. Only recently have some new public structures been built to keep up with the needs of an island that now has a population of 14 million, an important role in world affairs and foreign trade of US$1,500 million.

The Japanese stay in Taiwan was 15 years longer than that of the Dutch. Japanese were present in much larger numbers and they made a determined attempt to fix their culture patterns on the people. Yet less than 25 years after Japanese departure, their influence seems no stronger than that supposedly left by the Dutch. Older Taiwanese still can speak Japanese but the younger generation up to about 30 usually cannot. Japanese houses are vanishing. Japanese food is available at restaurants for a change or a treat but is not much eaten in the homes of island-born. Music retains some Japanese flavor - but in melody rather than language. Japanese literature has a certain popularity but increasingly in translation.

Possibly much of the quick transition back to Chinese ways that the Japanese tried to suppress - particularly in urban areas - has resulted from the tremendous changes that retrocession brought to the island. Taiwanese were second-class citizens no longer. Local government was quickly established where none had existed before. The land was returned to the people and a land reform program broke the back of absentee and large-scale landlordism. Today nearly 90 per cent of farm families own all or part of the land they till.

Higher education is open to all under the Republic of China. So are government positions and the professions. Most of the property and business wealth are in the hands of Taiwan-born Chinese citizens. Any mainland versus Taiwan discrimination that may have existed is vanishing in school classrooms that mix children of all provinces indiscriminately and give them one common spoken tongue, the dialect of Peiping (known to the West as Mandarin). Taiwan has become a melting pot in which all men are equal before the law and have equal opportunity in politics, economics and social status. It's a much better island for the people than it was under Japanese rule. The citizenry is quite aware of that fact. The suggestion - sometimes heard in the West - that the Taiwanese are nostalgically waiting to be taken back by Japan is nonsense. They have nothing to go back to except an inferior way of life. They have learned since 1945 that they are now back where they belong. This includes the few who were pro-Japanese or pro-independence at the time of the return to China. They have come home.