Editor’s note: Clarissa Wei is a Taiwanese American journalist and author living in Taipei. Her cookbook, “Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories from the Island Nation”, was published in 2023. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.
When my parents were growing up in the 1970s, they didn’t consider Taiwan to be an idyllic place to raise a family. The country was under martial law and constant threats from China seemed to grow stronger with each passing year. My father still remembers the anxiety that gripped the island when the United States cut off diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of the People’s Republic of China in 1979. “We weren’t sure whether America would would protect in the event of conflict,” he said. Me.
So in their late 20s, they left everything they knew and moved to the Los Angeles suburbs where I was born. They weren’t the only ones; about 20 percent of Taiwan’s college graduates went abroad for advanced studies in the 1970s and 1980s. Few returned.
My parents considered America a safe haven and wanted me to grow up with all its comforts. While they grew up in cramped, moldy buildings, I spent my childhood in a four-bedroom house with a garden and swimming pool.
While they walked to school on uneven sidewalks in a cloud of pollution, my mother drove me to school each day in a comfortable SUV. My parents grew up under martial law, where people were imprisoned and killed for expressing their opinions. I grew up in the land of the free, where freedom of speech is enshrined in the constitution as a human right.
And yet, decades later, I ended up doing the exact opposite of what my parents did. In 2020, at the dawn of the global pandemic, I moved to Taiwan with my husband. Last year, I gave birth to a baby boy in Taipei.
Threats from China have not diminished. In fact, tensions have reached historic highs such that Taiwan is often dubbed “the most dangerous place on earth” by international analysts. This perception is so widespread that every time my husband and I leave Taiwan, we are greeted with great concern by our friends and family. Are we safe in Taiwan? Do we think China will attack?
While my view may be myopic (given the very real possibility of conflict and military blockade) and comes from a place of privilege (I am a dual citizen of Taiwan and the United States), it There’s currently nowhere else I’d rather be. .
How Taiwan overtook America
Much has changed over the past 30 years, as Taiwan has transformed from a dictatorship to a vibrant democracy.
In Taiwan, the transfer of power occurs peacefully, whereas in the United States, this is no longer a certainty.
In Taiwan, guns are illegal. In the United States, firearms are a leading cause of death among children.
Taiwan has a universal healthcare system; I can go to any clinic or hospital for immediate and affordable treatment. My entire medical file is instantly accessible via a chip on my health card. In the United States, medical insurance is opaque and not guaranteed.
The contrasts are especially stark now that I’m a new mom. Taiwan’s subway system has designated areas for pregnant women and children, and breastfeeding rooms are available at every major station.
The city has free play centers for children, equipped with a wide range of toys. All new parents in Taipei are eligible for monthly cash benefits, and certified daycare and in-home nanny services are subsidized by the city government. In the United States, only low-income families are eligible for financial assistance.
Of course, comparing the United States and Taiwan in this way without recognizing the nuanced sociopolitical contexts can be misleading. Although the U.S. healthcare system is notoriously difficult to manage, it is far more advanced and cutting-edge than Taiwan’s.
Although Taiwan is a great place for babies, it can be stressful for school-age children; the education system emphasizes rote memorization and stifles creative freedom. My husband and I aren’t convinced we want to stay in Taiwan forever, but America, with its shocking lack of family-friendly policies, is low on the list of countries we’d consider moving to.
Thinking beyond Trump
Many Taiwanese still hold the United States in high esteem, but more as a military ally and defender of the island. During the 2020 US presidential election, many Taiwanese supported Donald Trump, particularly because of his aggressive anti-China rhetoric.
However, during this year’s election cycle, opinions are much more moderate. President Joe Biden has defied skeptics by maintaining a tough stance on China over the past four years and pro-Trump sentiments have declined significantly, particularly in light of the former president’s recent comments accusing Taiwan to deprive America of the semiconductor sector.
“As long as the United States continues to show both symbolic and substantive support and collaboration with Taiwan, I don’t think the Taiwanese actually care who the next American president will be,” Wei-Ting Yen, professor adjunct at Franklin & Marshall College. in the United States, specializing in Asian countries, told me during a video call.
The most significant change, then, has been the way Taiwanese people perceive the United States. Although it remains a popular immigration destination for those who can afford it, America has lost its luster as a sanctuary. My friends in the United States are convinced that I live in a very unstable and dangerous place. But the Taiwanese hold similar beliefs about the United States.
Recently, at a Chinese medicine store in Taipei, the owner asked me if I felt safe walking the streets of Los Angeles. He felt like every major American city had become extremely dangerous over the past two years, rife with crime and shootings. “Aren’t there guns everywhere? » he asked sincerely. “It looks so complicated.”
“I’m definitely more comfortable here,” I replied, not wanting to go into detail.
He nodded deeply. “Taiwan is safer,” he said.
A reverse retirement
It’s not so much that the United States has become more dangerous (that’s the perception, but the statistics show otherwise); It’s more that I’ve gotten used to letting my guard down. In Taipei, I can walk through dark alleys well after midnight with my bag wide open without fear of being robbed. I can leave my phone, wallet, and laptop on a coffee table, go to the bathroom, and be sure my stuff will all be there when I return. Some of my friends don’t even lock their front doors. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing any of these things in America.
According to last year’s Global Peace Index, Taiwan is the 33rd most peaceful state or territory in the world. The United States, on the other hand, is in 131st place.
Last year, when my husband and I were in the San Francisco Bay Area for a wedding, our friends asked us not to leave anything of value in the car. Coming from Taiwan, we didn’t listen to advice much, until one day, while looking for parking, we noticed all the broken car windows on the streets.
Lately, my parents and many of their friends living in the United States have been planning their retirement in Taiwan. With their dual nationality and the possibility of leaving the island in the worst case scenario, they are no longer affected by the anguish of their youth.
Now in his sixties, my father is convinced that the Chinese threat will not materialize. Even though I don’t agree with him, I understand his point of view. Tensions between the two sides of the strait have been tense for seven decades now and, with each passing year, the conflict seems more abstract despite increased rhetoric and incursions into airspace, because, ultimately, we become numb to it.
The Chinese Communist Party considers Taiwan part of its territory, even though it has never controlled it. They did not rule out the possibility of annexing Taiwan by force.
The possibility of war looms like a dark, lingering cloud. If you think about it long enough, it makes you nervous and sweaty. But since this is a plausibility and not an immediate reality, it is easy to ignore. On the contrary, political violence and upheaval in the United States seems much more likely, especially since it would not be unprecedented. On a daily basis, at least, Taiwan seems like the most reasonable place to live.
I asked my father — a lifelong Republican — who he thought posed a greater threat this year: Chinese President Xi Jinping or former President Donald Trump.
He responded without hesitation. “Trump,” he said. “Because he’s more unpredictable.”
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