Part of a collection of over 600 already published Routledge Handbooks that attempt to be as comprehensive and scholarly reliable as possible on a particular topic, the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Taiwan is an important contribution to Taiwan studies. Edited by Gunter Schubert, head of the European Research Centre on Contemporary Taiwan at the University of Tübingen, this title not only aims to offer an overview of the major facets of the island state, but also to summarize major findings in the fields covered and highlight the long-term trends at play.
To achieve this tour de force, and what I would qualify as a mini-encyclopaedia, Schubert has mobilized around 40 of the best Taiwan experts, from Europe, North America and of course Taiwan itself. The book's 34 chapters are organized in six parts: political history (five chapters), government and politics (seven), political economy (three), society and culture (nine), cross-Strait relations (four) and international relations and security (six).
Edited by a political scientist, Contemporary Taiwan has a strong political flavour, which is not a criticism as Taiwan's original trajectory cannot be analysed without taking into account the fact that many of the issues addressed are politically charged, deeply contested and even divisive, as well as influenced by the growing weight of the China factor. Yet, this is a very comprehensive and innovative volume.
In its historical part, it not only covers the usual periods – Taiwan in the late Ming and Qing China, under Japanese rule, under the Kuomintang (KMT) authoritarian regime and since its democratic transition – but also includes a very useful overview of Taiwan's independence movement.
Likewise, the second part touches very nicely upon well-known facets of the political system (political parties and their ideology, elections, local factions and national identity) and adds to these developments a chapter on the still on-going issue of transitional justice and another one on politics and the media, a too-often neglected topic.
Part three may be perceived as too short, first revising Taiwan's developmental state, then exploring the role of the Taishang, Taiwan's mainland entrepreneurs, and finally concentrating on the island's economic globalization. However, some important issues that also have an economic dimension are addressed in the following parts, such as Taiwan's labour movement, social welfare system and cross-Strait economic integration.
Dedicated to society and culture, the fourth part is probably the richest and the most diverse of the whole volume. Among the themes presenting the latest research literature, I would mention the indigenous movements, religion and politics, the anti-nuclear power movement and Taiwan cinema in the context of cultural democratization.
Cross-Strait relations (part five) are carefully analysed. The China factor is rightly assessed. But its most original contribution relates to the impact of cross-Strait marriages and immigration policies.
In the sixth part, the usual issues of foreign policy and international space limitations are well presented. Security relations with the US, political and economic links with the European Union and the island's security policy get particular and wise attention. In addition, the chapters on Taiwan and the South China Sea or Taiwan's public diplomacy bring new and welcomed dimensions to this well-researched theme.
What is missing? Not much, but still, geographic, demographic and, to a lesser extent, economic and military issues could have been better covered. Taiwan's insularity is hardly mentioned although it is a fundamental feature of its survival and identity. The evolution of its population as well as its diverse ethnic communities over the centuries and its recent aging and low fertility rate are hardly or only briefly mentioned (pp. 350–53). Much more could have been said about Taiwan's economic structures, strengths, weaknesses and future outlook, as well as about the stagnating living standard of most of its society for nearly two decades.
How a society that enriched itself so quickly between the 1970s and the 1990s can cope politically but also socially with this new environment, and against the backdrop of China's rise and the United States' decline, are probably questions for the next edition. Although Taiwan's defence strategy is analysed, the role and the future of its armed forces could have been explored, as the island-state's survival largely depends upon their existence and credibility.
That is the downside or, to be more accurate, the limitation of this type of handbook: chapters need to be short, updated and synthetic and at the same time the reader expects all branches of social science research to be mentioned.
In any event, before the next edition of this handbook is published, every student of Taiwan will benefit from the sum of knowledge and research offered by the present volume.
