Organization and Delivery of Long-Term Care in Taiwan

Summary

Taiwan reached the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of7%aged 65and over for defining an aging population only as recently as 1993. With this proportion projected to double to 14% by 2020, Taiwan faces a rapid increase in need for long-term care. This article presents an account of the current service delivery system, which is divided between health and social affairs administrations, with a substantial role also taken by the Veteran Administration, and growing provision of facilities that operate outside the government-registered system. While a basic level of both institutional and community care services has developed, they are not organized into an integrated service system. Problems arising from the divisions and overlaps in responsibility are identified in relation to competition for resources, differences in regulation and eligibility, funding arrangements and misallocation of resources, and divergent views about the philosophical basis of long-term care. Other aspects of services fall under each jurisdiction, but there is also some overlap. A case study of Taiwan's second largest city, Kaohsiung City, reports the outcomes of these divisions as a thin spread of a range of services rather than a coordinated service network. Several planning exercises have been undertaken in recent years to address these problems, and although at an early stage of implementation, the outcomes of these plans are seen as shaping the future directions of long-term care in Taiwan.     

Taipei,Taiwan: A transformational learning event: Reflecting on the 4th Asian Conference of Academy of Human Resource Development

Abstract

The 4th Asian Conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development held in Taipei, Taiwan, nurtured new learning, networking and international integration. As we reflected upon the experience in Taiwan, the realization was evident that we now view the world from a global perspective. We no longer look at the world through our own country's lenses. Through participation in this transformational learning event, the way we see the world and ourselves has changed as well as enriched our HRD knowledge.     

Social construction of national identity: Taiwanese versus Chinese consciousness

The struggle to break away from the parent state and claim independence often results in political unrest, terrorist activities and even ethnic cleansing. Understanding the nature of the secessionist movement does not only preserve national unity, but can also avoid conflict and violence, and maintain peace. Irredentist and secessionist advocators generally defend themselves in terms of common blood, race or culture. None of them regards the issue from the human agency theory, namely Weber-Thomas-Berger's social construction theory. This paper uses phenomenological analysis to explain the origin of national identity and hence the emergence of a nation. It argues that social construction of national reality originates from everyday life experience taken for granted during socialization. Individuals make sense of the external world. Experiences taken for granted become the actor's stock of knowledge. A common scheme of knowledge shared by the community serves to differentiate in-group (nationals) and out-group (foreigners). Collective consciousness thus defines national identity and hence a nation. Unless people (both in-group and out-group) interact with and learn from each other, different stocks of knowledge taken for granted will create political conflict. This theory is applied to the Taiwan Strait conflict. People in Taiwan are searching for national identity, manifested in the processes of Sinicization and Taiwanization. The struggle between Chinese and Taiwanese consciousness is the underlying cause of conflict within Taiwan and across the Taiwan Strait. The growing tendency of Taiwanization and diminution of Sinicization in Taiwan render the Cross-Strait relation vulnerable. The paper concludes that Cross-Strait exchanges and communication provide opportunities for people to understand each other and re-define their national identity, hence resulting in a peaceful political resolution between Taiwan and mainland China.     

Making Hakka Spaces: Resisting Multicultural Nationalism in Taiwan

Projects of official nationalism have long been understood as state-sponsored attempts at enforcing cultural uniformity within the borders of the national territory. Contemporary nationalisms tend to compartmentalize minority cultural groups in a way that marginalizes those who are not seen as belonging to the core of the “modern” nation. Contemporary official Taiwanese nationalism promotes the “ethnic Taiwanese” (Hokkien) majority as the modern center of an otherwise diverse nation, primarily through the funding and ‘preservation’ of non-Hokkien cultural traditions. Though these programs that celebrate local cultures are more inclusive than earlier nationalisms in Taiwan, the terms of inclusion nonetheless function as a form of neoliberal state control of minorities, such as the Hakka (kejia ren). This article examines how Hakka “culture workers” (wenhua gongzuozhe) resist state attempts at spatial and symbolic marginalization. From producing ethnographies that create a Hakka neighborhood to organizing a parade route that symbolically links that neighborhood to Taipei's government and financial centers, Hakka culture workers resist multicultural nationalism by making Hakka spaces that are resistant to state attempts to marginalize them. I argue that their work is a prime example of how communities and individuals can successfully negotiate the cultural and spatial politics of the neoliberal state.     

Chinese migrant wives in Taiwan: claiming entitlements,resisting inequality,and rejecting citizenship

A considerable number of Chinese women have migrated to Taiwan through marriage over the last two decades. Although the demographics of these marriage migrants have transformed over the years, a misunderstanding still exists as migrant wives are seen as commodities and gaining citizen status is seen as their ultimate goal. Using in-depth interviews, this research takes a bottom-up approach by allowing Chinese migrant women in Taiwan to define and interpret their own citizenship. It explains how they negotiate the politics of citizenship as they confront harsher immigration restrictions than immigrants of other origins because of their Chinese identity. This paper suggests that immigrants’ intersectional identities shape their conceptualization of Taiwanese citizenship, although their agency is limited. My findings illustrate that some Chinese migrant wives embrace citizenship entitlements while others’ experiences with citizenship differ depending on their positionality in both the private and the public. My findings also show that some migrant wives actively reject Taiwanese citizenship, challenging the myth that all Chinese immigrants desire Taiwanese citizenship. This study contributes to citizenship and migration studies using a feminist, intersectional approach and raises implications for the degree to which migrant wives have agency in constructing their citizenship.     

后危机时代闽台农产品物流合作与互动效应研究

闽台农产品物流是两岸农产品供应链环节中最重要的环节,也是最具利润增长潜力的高端环节。在次贷危机背景下,进一步加强闽台农产品物流合作与互动对于不断提升闽台农产品竞争力,加大两岸农产品贸易往来具有重大的理论和现实意义。当然,强化闽台物流合作的关键仍在于建立闽台农产品物流中心,实现闽台农业合作“大三通”、物流经营理念和管理理念的全面提升以及建立有针对性的物流人才引进和培育体系。     

日本统治时期台湾农业现代化发展的特点及启示

《马关条约》签订后,台湾沦为日本的殖民地,经济命脉也被日本所控制。日据时期的台湾农业,确实得到了发展：米糖为主的农作物产量增长迅速、农业生产由单一体系向多角化发展。日据时期的台湾农业发展虽然有殖民色彩,但相对集约型的农业模式对人多地少的大陆农业也有一定的借鉴意义。     

中国现代文学史书写范式的若干问题

中国现代文学史的著述日益繁多,但真正自成体系、有价值和特色的只占少数。中国现代文学史书写,要把港台文学和沦陷区文学、以及少数民族文学和女性文学有机融入文学史,而不是硬性地作为板块嵌入。在价值观与历史观上,应该真正贯彻历史主义原则,尽可能呈现历史的原生态,并以开放现代的、具有普泛价值的人性观念和世界文学的普遍原则作为价值标准。在历史与逻辑的关系中,要处理好困扰在文学史写作中的经典与非经典、主流与支流、现象与本质、规律与非规律、进化与非进化的关系。     

The Political and Economic Impact on the Development of Social Group Work in Taiwan

This article uses a political-economic lens to clarify the development of social group work in Taiwan. During the past 50 years, Taiwan has experienced a great economic and political transition. This article focuses on three different periods of time. Under the political repression of the 1950s and 1960s group activities were a means of social control. In the 1970s economic development evoked social changes that led to relaxed controls over civil organizations and political freedom. Community development and “Americanized” social work education marked the first step for social work with groups. During that period group work in Taiwan placed more emphasis on individual problems. In the 1980s political change brought the expansion of group work in Taiwan. An open political scene and flourishing social movements gave impetus to extension of various forms of group work in all kinds of situations. In particular social action and self-help groups played a critical role in the growth of the interests of people.     

海峡两岸裁判文书言辞的风格差异

可读性强和情感色彩鲜明是台湾裁判文书言语体式优于大陆裁判文书的两大因素。可读性强具体征显为生动、具体、真实性;情感色彩鲜明具体征显为法官的主观能动性及意态性。台湾裁判文书的可读性是台湾法院审判过程中的当事人主义特质;大陆裁判文书的模式化、超然性等,则表现出大陆法院审判过程中的职权主义特质。