Word: islander
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...told him: "Think about how you want to start a company." The conversation led Chang, backed by state funding, to found Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), now the world's largest chip foundry and one of Taiwan's most prominent firms. That was just one part of the island's big push. Other electronics manufacturers - makers of notebook PCs, memory chips, LCD panels and other essential components - also set up shop, establishing Taiwan as a force in the global IT industry...
...Taiwan's success in electronics is a prime example of economic policies that lifted the island from poorhouse to powerhouse in a generation. But these days, the model that Taiwan has followed since the 1960s - concentrating heavily on building industries that could export to the wealthy West - has been exposed as dangerously flawed. Amid the global recession, electronics exports plunged 28% in the first half of 2009 compared to a year earlier, contributing to a 10.2% contraction of Taiwan's first-quarter GDP, the worst quarterly performance in the island's history. The government forecasts the economy will shrink...
...There is some fear in Taiwan that Ma's opening to China will accelerate a hollowing out of the island's economy by encouraging companies to move there, costing jobs. Ma's policy team, though, argues closer ties will boost the economy overall because it makes it easier for executives to keep the most advanced parts of their businesses - the high-salary R&D and management divisions - at home. San says the government's vision is to turn Taiwan into an operations center for Chinese industry by supplying technical and manufacturing expertise. There are some early indications Ma's strategy...
...Similar efforts are being made across the island. In Kaohsiung, the government in 2008 opened a software park to spur tech start-ups alongside the city's traditional export factories. Nationally, Ma's administration has targeted six "flagship" industries for investment and development: biotech, health care, high-end agriculture, tourism, green energy, and creative and cultural businesses such as traditional arts and pop music. The government intends to support these sectors by providing financing, improving the capabilities of state research institutes and other measures. "We are keenly aware these industries in five to 10 years will be the major industries...
...three decades of slugfests over public health. Waxman's legislative trophy case--bolstered by numerous bipartisan victories--is impressive. Among the highlights are battles to secure funding for HIV/AIDS research at a time when at least one colleague still favored quarantining the nation's gay men on a remote island; passing toxic-pollutants regulation in the wake of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India; and slapping nutritional labels on packaged food despite protests from lobbyists. Though brimming with wonky details, the book is a fast-paced civics primer for anyone who wants a reminder of what good governance...