Charles Yu celebrates sophomore year of Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes with fellow judges, participants

We are excited to share, with permission, a recording of the 2022 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize “Meet the Judges” event with authors Charles Yu and Shawna Yang Ryan and Little, Brown Brooks for Young Readers Editor-in-Chief Alvina Ling. TaiwaneseAmerican.org founder Ho Chie Tsai and 2021/2022 finalist Jireh Deng shared remarks. , Grand Prize Winners Ian Tseng and Yakuza Baby and Finalist Kira Tang also read from their winning entries.

[Editors’ note: Dr. Yu is encouraged by the work of TaiwaneseAmerican.org (including the writing prizes), and hopes that we will continue to foster cross-generational dialogues and strengthen cross-generational bonds across our community.

To that end, he wanted to share information about Taiwan’s demographics, economics and key industries. He hopes that this information might provide context and understanding about Taiwan, and serve as a reminder of the significance and practical realities of the place that connects us all.]

Taiwan At a Glance

By Dr. Jin C. Yu

INCOME

According to US 2020 census data, the annual income for Taiwanese American families is over $92K per year, the second highest among Asian immigrants (Note: Taiwanese American families have the highest education compared with other Asian groups)
In Taiwan, The Gross Domestic Product per capita is over 32,000 USD in 2021, ranked 32nd worldwide, the number is expected to grow in the next few years, at a rate faster than the neighboring countries, South Korea and Japan

CHIP PRODUCTS

The global shortage of chips has forced some automakers to halt production and brought attention to Taiwan’s outsized role in semiconductor manufacturing
In 2021, Taiwan supplied 2/3 of global semiconductor demands from technology firms, auto and aircraft makers, military and space equipment
The dominance in the foundry market includes the leading proprietary manufacturing technology requiring years to catch up for other countries.

TAIWAN POPULATION

Although Taiwan, with a population of 23 million, is still one of the most populated countries in the world, its birth rate has been declining over the years, to only 0.66% in 2021. Many schools have been forced to close as a result of this.

By 2025, Taiwan is expected to move from an “aged” nation to a “super-aged” nation, meaning that more than 20% of the population will be over 65 years old.