ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the essence of Sun Yat-sen's doctrine, to assess the social-economic consequences of the Taiwan experiment, to compare the Taiwan model with several major developmental models, and to derive some lessons from the Taiwan experience for other developing countries. Recognizing the fact that agriculture constituted the foundation of Taiwan's economy, the Nationalist planners paid great attention to promoting agricultural productivity. The savings of the wealthy, always invested in land acquisition, led to the constant rise in land value. To correct this situation, the government adopted a three-step reform. The first step was the introduction of a rent reduction program, an idea advanced by Sun at the turn of the century. The second step involved the sale of public lands that had been acquired from Japanese nationals in Taiwan after the end of World War II. The last step consisted of the "land-to-the-tiller" program, promulgated in 1953.
