The "Taiwan Miracle," which so impresses the world because of its phenomenal transformation from a backward nation to world-class economy and democracy has a dark side known as "Heijin," which means "black gold politics" for the natives. To understand the unique Heijin phenomenon in Taiwan, Ko-lin Chin has gone to great lengths in reconstructing the development of organized crime in Taiwan and how gangsters become involved in business and in politics, to the extent that the three elements have become one in the political life in the nation. Black gold politics is the combination of all three, with prominent personalities shifting from one role to another depending on the circumstances. The author quotes one of the best known gangsters, Chen Chi-li of the famous gang Bamboo United, as saying: "There is a symbiotic relationship between government officials and businessmen in Taiwan, especially when the two parties work together to benefit themselves in the construction industry. Anybody who has ever been a city or county mayor has benefited."

Bamboo United has been described as the world's largest gang of criminals. It originated in the town of Yung Ho, a suburb of Taipei in 1956, and grew larger over the years to involve big cities in Taiwan, as well as spreading to other countries in Asia. Chen Chi-li, who was born in mainland China and immigrated to Taiwan as a child, developed Bamboo United into a large scale organization. There are other gangs as well, notably "Four Seas", "Celestial Alliance" and smaller ones that are loosely controlled. Members of those gangs are known by various names. One that is most used to describe a criminal is "Heidao," or a bad person. The author gives descriptions of those gangs and their main leaders. Their criminal activities include extortion, gambling, prostitution, debt collection and violence. The government in Taipei has harshly cracked down on organized crime and imprisoned their leaders over the years. Because they are under constant surveillance by the government, organized crime leaders switch to legal business by establishing open business firms or by running for elected government offices in order to hide their illegal activities.

Researchers and scholars who have published writings on the subject of black gold politics in Taiwan state that by 1996, roughly106 of the more than 360 major companies in Taiwan were believed to be infiltrated by corrupt politicians, or approximately one-third of the country's major firms. They estimate that the overall capital of the firms that belong to corrupted politicians could be as high as 610 billion NT. They say those firms could have a market value of thousands of billion of NT.

Investigations have revealed that the penetration of organized crime into the legal business has been made possible by legitimate businessmen and politicians because they need assistance or favors from criminals to expand businesses or to get elected. The author cites several examples of involvement of organized crime in running restaurants, bars and in the construction industry. The construction of the international airport Chiang Kai-shek is the most serious case of bid rigging because the so-called competition favored the firms are said to be dominated by criminals. Leaders of Bamboo United and other gangs reject the charge that they were involved in winning the contracts for the airport construction.

The impact of black gold politics on Taiwan has been a national issue and ordinary citizens always expect the government to solve it, whether it is the KMT or the DPP. However, the DPP has accused the KMT of helping "Heijin" to develop because it needed money and criminal organizations to win elections and to remain in power. The relationship among criminals, the business people who enter politics and the corrupt politicians is thoroughly studied. The existence of black gold politics has been considered the most serious threat to democracy in Taiwan. Ko-lin Chin quotes several KMT officials as saying that the most serious concern for their party is to combat black gold politics by eliminating corrupt politicians from electoral campaigns. The author notes that the fight is not an easy one because it will break ties between business and politics, between politics and crime, and between business and crime. He says that crime, business and politics have become one in Taiwan.