Sun Yun-suan And The Restoration And Development Of Taiwan’s Power Industry After The Second World War(1946-1964)

The reasons behind the rapid economic development in Taiwan after the Second World War are various,but the industrialization of Taiwan in the second half of the 20th century should be an important reason for the rapid economic development.At the end of the Second World War,Taiwan’s power industry suffered serious damage from war and natural disasters.At the beginning of Taiwan’s recovery,in view of the electric power industry’s importance to restore the economic and stabilize people’s livelihood,the government of the Republic of China put the restoration and reconstruction of power industry in the important place.In the process of taking over,restoring and constructing Taiwan’s power industry after the Second World War,Sun Yun-Suan,who served as the director of the mechanical and electrical office,chief engineer,vice president and president of Taiwan power company between 1946 and 1964,made a great contribution to the restoration and development of the Taiwan’s power industry,which laid a good foundation for Taiwan’s economic development and social stability.Sun Yun-Suan had been working in Taiwan power company for nearly twenty years.During this period,at the beginning of Taiwan’s recovery,he led his colleagues and some students to restore the electricity supply quickly,breaking the prophecy that“in three months,Taiwan will be dark”,which left behind by the Japanese technician.What he had done was conducive to the recovery and stability of Taiwan’s economy in the early post-war period,as well as the stability of the people’s livelihood.By the early 1950 s,Taiwan’s electricity industry had recovered to the highest level before the war after several years of successful restoration work.Later,during the period from 1953 to 1964,the Taiwan authorities formulated and implemented three four-year economic construction plans in order to further stabilize and develop Taiwan’s economy and coordinate with the rational use of economic assistance from the United States.Since power is the "mother of industry" and the "locomotive" of economic development,the Taiwan authorities have continuously stressed the importance of sufficient power for production during this period,and asked the power industry to maintain the state of expanding production.To coincide with the implementation of the four-year economic development plans,Sun Yun-Suan led his colleagues to formulate and implement three power development plans actively.Between 1953 and 1964,With financial assistance and technical assistance from the United States,Sun Yun-Suan led his colleagues to open up new power sources,constructing and expanding a number of hydroelectric generating stations and thermal power stations,which changed the traditional power supply structure in Taiwan and broke the bottleneck of the development of power industry in Taiwan after the war.In addition,they extended and improved the transmission and distribution system,which increased the power supply and the reliability of the power supply.When Sun Yun-Suan was the head of Taiwan power company,he was not only committed to the restoration and construction of power projects,but also actively set up the corporate culture of Taiwan power company and carried out advanced target management campaign,making the operating performance of Taiwan power company flourish.It was beneficial to improve the efficiency of Taiwan power company’s employees in restoring and constructing Taiwan’s power industry after the war.Sun Yun-Suan made some achievements in the development history of Taiwan’s electric power industry after the Second World War.The main reasons are as follows.Firstly,Sun Yun-Suan’s solid professional and technical ability.Secondly,Sun Yun-Suan’s experience in establishing power plants in the Mainland during the war of resistance against Japan provided experience and reference for the restoration and construction of Taiwan electric power after the war.Thirdly,Sun Yun-Suan was sent to the United States for practice and training,which broadened his knowledge and technology sources for the restoration and development of Taiwan’s power industry.Fourthly,the trust and support of the supreme authority of the Kuomintang to Sun Yun-Suan is conducive to his own advantages in power construction.Fifthly,the Kuomintang authorities attached great importance to the power industry in Taiwan after the war,which provided policy support for Sun Yun-Suan to resume and develop the power industry.Sixthly,the United States provided financial guarantee and technical assistance for the development of Taiwan’s power industry in the 1950 s and1960s.Finally,Sun Yun-Suan had a high sense of mission for the times,which became the biggest internal power that can contribute to the construction of Taiwan’s power industry.With the efforts of Sun Yun-Suan and his colleagues,Taiwan’s power supply basically met the needs of Taiwan’s economic construction and people’s daily life from the post-war period to the early 1960 s,laying a sound runway for the take-off of Taiwan’s economy.