The other thing I take issue with is the foreign exchange holdings being held up as a huge marker of success. Yes it is good to have foreign exchange holdings. But who holds the money? A lot of that is due to the open nature of the Taiwan stock market, something like 20% of the assets are held by overseas investors.
When foreign investors purchase stocks or bonds in Taiwan they need to park their money here and that is one of the reasons for the large amount of foreign exchange. This fluctuates according to how foreign investors move their money around.
academicjournals.org/AJBM/PD … 20Fang.pdf
fidelity.com.au/insights-cen … -march-12/
This is the reason , as far as I can tell, that stocks tend to rise and fall in unison in Taiwan. They also concentrate in certain sectors like electronics. So the stock market and the foreign exchange holdings are heavily influenced by the investors money coming and going from the island.
A better marker of success is high income and a high quality of life.