I could not possibly disagree more regarding Taiwan’s status. I acknowledge that the whole first/second/third world definitions are a bit outdated and murky post-Cold-War, but Taiwan is certainly a developed nation and has been for several decades as one of the “Asian Tigers.” It’s the only Chinese-speaking democracy, it has terrific infrastructure, great health care and education, luxury car dealerships everywhere, supermarkets everywhere, malls in every neighborhood with all the same high-end clothing brands you see in wealthy cities in the west, etc. In some ways, like Singapore and Japan, it is one of those countries that has taken US-style capitalism to a higher level than the US itself. You can’t tell me that all the people who apparently have enough money to shop at these places wouldn’t like to have a higher-denomination bill to carry around for all the places that don’t accept plastic.
Yes, of course I am aware that there are many people in Taiwan making low wages. There are also many people in the US making $7.25 (230 NT) per hour (less if they are undocumented), but that hasn’t caused the hundred dollar bill (3,175 NT) to be unpopular. Taiwan should have 2,000 and 3,000 NT bills in circulation. They are the only country I am aware of where the highest-denomination circulated bill is only 10 times the amount of the lowest. It’s awkward, even for me, and I’m certainly not wealthy.