Regional insight - Taiwan
Vol. 407, No. 6802 (21 September 2000).
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Cover illustration On the right, the first set of four Chinese characters means 'Taiwan science and technology' and the second set of six characters can be translated as 'which way to go?' (Image courtesy of ITRI, IBM and TSMC)

By tapping a reservoir of ethnic Chinese scientific talent in the United States, the little island of Taiwan has achieved a global presence in the electronics industry that far exceeds its geographical size. Chinese scientists returned from the West have also created pockets of excellence in basic research in Taiwan that are beginning to make their mark on the world stage. But Taiwan's very success is placing stress on the island's nascent research infrastructure. The booming electronics industry is sucking some of the best researchers out of the still fragile public sector research system as the flow of returnee scientists from the United States diminishes with the expansion of the US economy.

A substantial and growing pool of private and government investment funds is available to support development of new science-based industries in areas such as genomics, biochips and pharmaceuticals. But Taiwan still lacks the fundamental infrastructure to build industries in these fields. So Taiwan is once again turning to its network of Chinese scientists in the United States in search of experienced manpower and promising technologies to bring to the island and co-develop with US partners. Fledgling investment links with the Chinese mainland also hint of a possible dynamic interaction between Chinese scientists in Taiwan, the United States and mainland China that could help bring Taiwan onto the map in biotechnology if the winds of political fortune allow.

David Swinbanks Asia-Pacific Editor
David Cyranoski Asian-Pacific Correspondent

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