Steven Crook, Author at Taiwan Business TOPICS

Taiwan has made significant strides in e-waste recycling, achieving an impressive recycling rate of approximately 85.9% for discarded electronics, potentially the highest in the world. As the country braces for a surge in battery waste due to the rise of electric vehicles, experts emphasize the need to enhance local recycling capabilities and reduce reliance on imported processing, highlighting both environmental and strategic benefits of recycling lithium from end-of-life batteries.

Lifestyle, Travel & Culture

Going Slow on Provincial Highway 3

Steven Crook/2024-07-242024-07-30

Breezing through the lush landscapes and historic towns from Taipei to Pingtung is an unforgettable road trip and a chance to see Taiwan unlike ever before. For roadtrippers seeking adventures beyond Taiwan’s major attractions, Provincial Highway 3 offers a bagful of fresh sights. This 436.3 km-long route links central Taipei with southeastern Pingtung City via…

Lifestyle, Travel & Culture

Touring Taiwan’s Campuses

Steven Crook/2024-07-222024-07-19

The island’s universities are often overlooked landmarks, home to captivating and historic displays that mix educational prestige and cultural depth. High-quality education tops the priority list for Taiwanese people. But despite the value placed on learning, the actual campuses where learning takes place attract comparatively little attention – non-students usually set foot on school grounds…

Cover Story

Conserving Corals: Taiwan’s Climate Change Combatants

Steven Crook/2024-04-252024-04-24

As rising sea temperatures and human activities threaten biodiverse aquatic ecosystems, safeguarding Taiwan’s coral reefs becomes paramount to ensuring environmental resilience. Surrounded by water as far as the eye can see, Taiwan has oceanic views as breathtaking below the surface as they are above – or at least they used to be. Once known as…

Special Report

If Push Comes to Shove, Would Taiwan Starve?

Steven Crook/2023-10-312023-10-16

Recent tension in the Taiwan Strait and speculation that China might try to impose a blockade on Taiwan have renewed concern about the island’s levels of food security and self-sufficiency. From the early 18th century through the mid-20th century, Taiwan was a net exporter of food, especially rice and sugar. But today the island is…

Lifestyle, Travel & Culture

Bursting With Biodiversity: Taiwan’s Wetlands

Steven Crook/2023-07-282023-07-18

Home to a vast assortment of Taiwan’s flora and fauna, numerous wetland conservation areas around the island are waiting to be discovered. STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVEN CROOK Wetlands cover no more than 1.6% of Taiwan’s land area, and many are located in unappealing coastal districts. Yet they make a massive contribution to the island’s…

Lifestyle, Travel & Culture

The Divine Trees of Cilan

Steven Crook/2023-07-192023-07-14

Nestled in the mountains of Yilan’s Datong County, Cilan Divine Tree Garden is one of Taiwan’s 18 potential World Heritage Sites. STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVEN CROOK We were still some distance from Cilan Divine Tree Garden (棲蘭神木園區) when I realized that the area’s strict entry requirements protect more than the ecology of this remote…

Cover Story

After 25 Years, Cost of Water Rises

Steven Crook/2023-04-202023-04-28

Government and business are taking action to conserve water and raise artificially low prices in response to the threat of an increase in droughts. After more than a quarter of a century without any price increase, water is finally becoming more expensive for some enterprises in Taiwan. Since February 1 this year, as part of…

Industry Focus

Taiwan’s Farm Exporters Look to Unlock New Markets

Steven Crook/2023-04-192023-04-25

Taiwanese exporters have made some headway in opening up new markets in an effort to lessen their reliance on Chinese consumers, but lack of support and onerous regulations abroad are holding them back. With agriculture accounting for less than 2% of Taiwan’s GDP, and its supermarket shelves crammed with imported produce, it can be hard…

Industry Focus

Biting Into Taiwan

Steven Crook/2023-03-222023-03-14

A passion project featuring chefs and restaurants around the world, Taiwan Bites proves that Taiwanese food is more than bubble tea and beef noodles. Kenny Png has a crystal-clear recollection of the first time he tasted real Taiwanese home cooking – and not just because the occasion was as furtive as a drug deal. The year…

Taiwan Business TOPICS

Taiwan's leading bilingual business publication.

About Steven Crook

Rising to the Battery Challenge

Going Slow on Provincial Highway 3

Touring Taiwan’s Campuses

Conserving Corals: Taiwan’s Climate Change Combatants

If Push Comes to Shove, Would Taiwan Starve?

Bursting With Biodiversity: Taiwan’s Wetlands

The Divine Trees of Cilan

After 25 Years, Cost of Water Rises

Taiwan’s Farm Exporters Look to Unlock New Markets

Biting Into Taiwan