Go to main content
Harvard Business School
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions

Faculty & Research

  • HOME
  • FACULTY
  • RESEARCH
    • Global Research Centers
    • HBS Case Collection
    • HBS Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Publications
    • Research Associate (RA) Positions
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    Close
  • FEATURED TOPICS
    • Business and Environment
    • Business History
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Globalization
    • Health Care
    • Human Behavior and Decision-Making
    • Leadership
    • Social Enterprise
    • Technology and Innovation
    Close
  • ACADEMIC UNITS
    • Accounting and Management
    • Business, Government and the International Economy
    • Entrepreneurial Management
    • Finance
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    • Organizational Behavior
    • Strategy
    • Technology and Operations Management
    Close

Background Note | HBS Case Collection | March 2009 (Revised December 2016)

A Strait of Uncertainty: Taiwan's Development in the Shadow of China

by William C. Kirby, J. Megan Greene, Tracy Manty and Yuanzhuo Wang

  • Print
  • Email

Abstract

Relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on the Chinese Mainland, and the Republic of China (ROC), on Taiwan, had improved significantly since 2008. Taiwan investment in China had played a major role in China’s economic boom in recent decades. Investments, partnerships, study, travel, and marriages across the Strait pointed to a future of ever-greater interaction between two parties that brought Asia to the brink of war three times in the last half-century (1954, 1958, 1996). But what does the future hold? Will Taiwan thrive and yet maintain its autonomy as a part of the broader economy of “Greater China”? Will economic integration lead, inexorably, to Taiwan’s incorporation into the People’s Republic of China? Or will the 2016 electoral backlash in Taiwan against integration with the Mainland embolden the new Taiwan leadership to seek a future for Taiwan separate from China?

Keywords: History; Development Economics; Investment; Economic Growth; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Financial Crisis; China; Taiwan;

Language: English Format: Print 23 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Kirby, William C., J. Megan Greene, Tracy Manty, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "A Strait of Uncertainty: Taiwan's Development in the Shadow of China." Harvard Business School Background Note 909-408, March 2009. (Revised December 2016.)

Related Work

  1. Background Note | HBS Case Collection | March 2009 (Revised December 2016)

    A Strait of Uncertainty: Taiwan's Development in the Shadow of China

    William C. Kirby, J. Megan Greene, Tracy Manty and Yuanzhuo Wang

    Relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), on the Chinese Mainland, and the Republic of China (ROC), on Taiwan, had improved significantly since 2008. Taiwan investment in China had played a major role in China’s economic boom in recent decades. Investments, partnerships, study, travel, and marriages across the Strait pointed to a future of ever-greater interaction between two parties that brought Asia to the brink of war three times in the last half-century (1954, 1958, 1996). But what does the future hold? Will Taiwan thrive and yet maintain its autonomy as a part of the broader economy of “Greater China”? Will economic integration lead, inexorably, to Taiwan’s incorporation into the People’s Republic of China? Or will the 2016 electoral backlash in Taiwan against integration with the Mainland embolden the new Taiwan leadership to seek a future for Taiwan separate from China?

    Keywords: History; Development Economics; Investment; Economic Growth; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Financial Crisis; China; Taiwan;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., J. Megan Greene, Tracy Manty, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "A Strait of Uncertainty: Taiwan's Development in the Shadow of China." Harvard Business School Background Note 909-408, March 2009. (Revised December 2016.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related

About the Author

Photo
William C. Kirby
T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration
General Management

View Profile »
View Publications »

 

More from the Author

  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2018)

    Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)

    William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, William C. Kirby and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case updates Wanxiang Group's activities since 2012, focusing on its electric vehicle strategy and a transition of the group's leadership.

    Keywords: electric vehicles; leadership succession; Strategy; Management Succession; Global Range; Auto Industry; United States; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-091, January 2018. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2018)

    Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)

    William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, William C. Kirby and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case updates Wanxiang Group's activities since 2012, focusing on its electric vehicle strategy and a transition of the group's leadership.

    Keywords: electric vehicles; leadership succession; Strategy; Management Succession; Global Range; Auto Industry; United States; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-091, January 2018. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised April 2018)

    Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise

    Michael Chu, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai, Yuanzhuo Wang, Michael Chu, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case tells the story of how Wang Minghui, Chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Group since 1999, transformed a single-product traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) state-owned enterprise (SOE) into a major diversified consumer health player in China's highly competitive fast-moving consumer goods market. The case also traces the development of the company from a private business to a SOE and then to a SOE under mixed state-private ownership.

    Keywords: state-owned enterprise (SOE); competition; traditional chinese medicine; Yunnan; Yunnan Baiyao; consumer health; enterprise transformation; Transformation; Health; Business History; State Ownership; Private Ownership; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Chu, Michael, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case 318-078, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
ǁ
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
  • HBS Facebook
  • Alumni Facebook
  • Executive Education Facebook
  • Michael Porter Facebook
  • Working Knowledge Facebook
  • HBS Twitter
  • Executive Education Twitter
  • HBS Alumni Twitter
  • Michael Porter Twitter
  • Recruiting Twitter
  • Rock Center Twitter
  • Working Knowledge Twitter
  • Jobs Twitter
  • HBS Youtube
  • Michael Porter Youtube
  • Executive Education Youtube
  • HBS Linkedin
  • Alumni Linkedin
  • Executive Education Linkedin
  • MBA Linkedin
  • Linkedin
  • HBS Instagram
  • Alumni Instagram
  • Executive Education Instagram
  • Michael Porter Instagram
  • HBS iTunes
  • Executive Education iTunes
  • HBS Tumblr
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College