Economies of "Asian Tigers" Very Promising

I have been in China and Taiwan now for over 9 months scouting out various trade opportunities. One of particular interest centers upon the little-known treasure that is Taiwan.

Cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan have improved considerably over the past two years. This is quite remarkable given the highly contentious nature of their political relations in the not too distant past. After being defeated as China's leader by the Cultural Revolution lead by Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-shek and his nationalist army retreated to Taiwan (formerly Formosa), taking approximately 2 million Chinese with him as well as China's traditional cultural heritage, and vowing to retake the Mainland.

Although there remained some strong nationalist political undercurrents between both sides after Chiang Kai-shek's death in 1975 (e.g. Taiwan officially calls itself Republic of China [ROC] and considers itself independent from the People's Republic of China [PRC - Mainland China], which considers Taiwan part of China), the rapid growth of their respective economies has paved the way for cooler heads to prevail. Economically, they need each other. This is evidenced by China's hotly contested dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands (and their attendant fishing, oil and gas resources), which are actually part of Taiwan.

Just since I've been here, travel restrictions between the two nations have been lifted and cross-strait tourism has boomed. Also, as of November 2012, Taiwan is amongst the nations to which Americans can travel without a visa.

In view of these recent events, Taiwan's existing Westernized yet traditional Chinese culture and its strategic location (just off the coast of southeast China) places it in the unique position of being THE idea bridge between East and West, with not only easy access to the power centers of Mainland China but the other Asian Tiger countries as well (see Wikipedia article below) - more so than over-priced, over-populated and seedy Hong Kong. Moreover, it's lush countryside, pristine beaches, unique geological formations, ubiquitous hot springs, lakes, rivers and waterfalls, world-class 5-star resorts, and cities on the cutting edge of modernity (Taipei is the first wireless city in the world , boasts the tallest "green" building in the world - the LEED Platinum Taipei 101 Bldg. - and is linked to the other Taiwanese cities by high-speed rail), sets Taiwan to be the international business destination of the future.

Nonetheless, the world-wide economic slow-down has temporarily halved property values in Taiwan.

Given the above factors and the post-bubble real estate pricing, Taiwan provides for a great base of operations for locating managers fluent in English, investors (in U.S. companies or commercial real estate) who want a Green Card, foreign investors in Taiwanese and Chinese opportunities and foreign companies wanting to set up a trade company in Taiwan or China or buy directly from manufacturers here.