Wu Ta-you
Wu's contribution to both sides of the Taiwan Strait was threefold. First of all, he trained Lee Tsung-dao
It is worth pointing out, however, that Wu was only able to realize his full potential because of the relative freedom of Taiwan's society. Had he remained in China it is quite likely that he would not have survived the Cultural Revolution. Wu's death in Taiwan therefore should act as a signal reminder to China of the many problems with its society that drive its brightest and best into exile.
Every October, when winners of the Nobel Prizes are announced, China turns paranoid, criticizing the international community for boycotting Chinese hopefuls. Hopefully Wu's death might help China to concentrate for a moment on why its communist society has failed to produce a great scientist of Wu's ilk.
But on the other hand, Wu's death also gives rise to concern about Taiwan's future in the development of science and technology.
Inevitably Taiwan will, in the future, have to rely on technology for its future development. This is also the reason why some politicians have vowed to turn Taiwan into a "technology island" or "green silicon island." Basic scientific research and the development of applied technologies are the prerequisites of a technologically accomplished Taiwan. These would not be possible without a complementary education system and adequate government budgets.
Today, Taiwan still has not fully realized education reforms to create a healthy, pluralistic environment for students to fully develop their potential. It is also worrying that R&D continues to have such a low priority in Taiwan's government budgets. Admittedly it has risen over the last half of the 1990s -- in 1995, R&D accounted for only 1.81 percent of GNP; last year's figure was at 1.9 percent. But it is still far from the stated goal of 2.5 percent.
Taiwan trails far behind its major competitors, Japan and South Korea, whose R&D investments have long surpassed 2 percent.
Science and technology are an important fountain for a nation's economic development. But for Taiwan, they are much more than that. In fact, they are Taiwan's competitive advantage in the international community. Taiwan's development will be shackled if we cannot raise R&D expenditure significantly. While we remember Wu's contribution to the development of science and technology in Taiwan, we must -- with a pragmatic and proactive attitude -- also face up to the problems still facing Taiwan in these fields and seek solutions. We must strengthen our technological power so as not to not only dishonor the memory of Wu but fulfil our obligation to future generations. Most important of all, development is the key to Taiwan's survival, enabling us to pull ourselves further away from China and avoid the fate of being swallowed.
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