How did the Japanese empower the KMT? When the Japanese left Taiwan after WW2 the incumbent Chinese government (KMT) took over. How did they actively help the KMT in any way?
> "that was being concentrated and wasted by the Japanese entrenched upper-class."
You mean KMT-entrenched upper-class... I'm still not sure what socioeconomic imbalances in post-war Taiwan have much at all to do with the Japanese. A large portion of the extremely-wealthy Taiwanese are "mainlanders" - people who retreated to the island with the KMT during the final days of the Civil War.
"How many man-years do you think were wasted in low value trinkets instead of going straight through education and more lucrative industries?"
Um, in my parents' case, without sweatshop industries they would never have gone to school. Keep in mind also, we did invest in extremely lucrative industries, including the at-the-time burgeoning electronics manufacturing industry. The expertise in semiconductors developed via production industries helped drive a large portion of the semiconductor explosion later, and was instrumental in transforming Taiwan from a industrial to a knowledge economy. I disagree fundamentally with the claim that mere millions in US aid would have given us a self-sufficient knowledge economy, without any industrial development.
No offense, but I think you've really got a hate-on for the Japanese, because a huge portion of what you seem to have against the Japanese make much more sense when pinned (IMHO rightly) against the KMT. Government corruption and nepotism was limited during Japanese rule, but reached a fever pitch once the KMT arrived on the island in force. The minted upper classes are mostly old-guard KMT families and politically affiliated as such. It seems like you're taking a large portion of Taiwan's socioeconomic ills, rewinding the clock, and trying to insist that the KMT's gross mismanagement thereof is but a symptom of Japanese evil.
How did the Japanese empower the KMT? When the Japanese left Taiwan after WW2 the incumbent Chinese government (KMT) took over. How did they actively help the KMT in any way?
I already explained this. They appropriated land, crops, and positions of power from people like my relatives. When the bulk of the KMT took over shortly after Japan left, they didn't return the land to previous owners. The wealth was never redistributed back.
When you have $1, it is much easier to be taken advantage of than when you have $1000.
Keep in mind also, we did invest in extremely lucrative industries, including the at-the-time burgeoning electronics manufacturing industry. The expertise in semiconductors developed via production industries
Many of those industries were "bootstrapped" by families who had money and never worked in a sweatshop.
No offense, but I think you've really got a hate-on for the Japanese, because a huge portion of what you seem to have against the Japanese make much more sense when pinned (IMHO rightly) against the KMT.
How you manage to completely overlook the Japanese role in this is completely baffling. I give up trying to explain to you the connection which really isn't very difficult to understand.
> "that was being concentrated and wasted by the Japanese entrenched upper-class."
You mean KMT-entrenched upper-class... I'm still not sure what socioeconomic imbalances in post-war Taiwan have much at all to do with the Japanese. A large portion of the extremely-wealthy Taiwanese are "mainlanders" - people who retreated to the island with the KMT during the final days of the Civil War.
"How many man-years do you think were wasted in low value trinkets instead of going straight through education and more lucrative industries?"
Um, in my parents' case, without sweatshop industries they would never have gone to school. Keep in mind also, we did invest in extremely lucrative industries, including the at-the-time burgeoning electronics manufacturing industry. The expertise in semiconductors developed via production industries helped drive a large portion of the semiconductor explosion later, and was instrumental in transforming Taiwan from a industrial to a knowledge economy. I disagree fundamentally with the claim that mere millions in US aid would have given us a self-sufficient knowledge economy, without any industrial development.
No offense, but I think you've really got a hate-on for the Japanese, because a huge portion of what you seem to have against the Japanese make much more sense when pinned (IMHO rightly) against the KMT. Government corruption and nepotism was limited during Japanese rule, but reached a fever pitch once the KMT arrived on the island in force. The minted upper classes are mostly old-guard KMT families and politically affiliated as such. It seems like you're taking a large portion of Taiwan's socioeconomic ills, rewinding the clock, and trying to insist that the KMT's gross mismanagement thereof is but a symptom of Japanese evil.