Talking Taiwan

Since 2020 Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has been reporting the number of incursions China makes by sea and air into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. These incursions now happen on a daily basis and already the tally for this year alone has surpassed the total number of occurrences that took place last year in 2023.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/psychological-defense-and-practices-to-manage-stress-for-the-people-of-taiwan-a-talk-with-dr-hsiao-wen-lo-ep-296/

Recently, on October 14th, just days after President Lai Ching-te’s Double Ten Day speech, China’s military initiated the "Joint Sword-2024B" drills, a simulated blockade which took place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan. According to Taiwan’s MND, a record number of 153 Chinese military aircraft were detected around Taiwan within a 25-hour period.

We’ve previously discussed China’s gray zone military tactics and civil defense preparedness, on this podcast, but just as important is something called psychological defense.

In July we brought Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast that was held at West Chester University. I sat down with Dr. Hsiao-Wen Lo (駱筱雯) who spoke at the conference about Psychological Defense for the People of Taiwan.

We also got into a discussion about the related topics of trauma and

practices to manage stress and maintain good mental health.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·   How Dr. Lo got interested in psychological defense

·   What is psychological defense

·   The importance of the mind-body connection

·   Types of trauma: psychological trauma, generational trauma, collective trauma

·   What is psychological warfare

·   The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s psychological warfare tactics

·   The impact of long-term stress

·   Post traumatic growth

·   Fight or Flight states

·   Strategies to deal with stress

·   The erasure of Taiwan by China

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/psychological-defense-and-practices-to-manage-stress-for-the-people-of-taiwan-a-talk-with-dr-hsiao-wen-lo-ep-296/

In July we took the show on the road bringing Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast that was held at West Chester University. I sat down and spoke with New Taipei City Councilor Chen Nai-Yu (陳乃瑜市議員). We spoke about how she went from being a journalist to a politician, working on Lai Ching-te’s presidential campaign, and the controversial bills that got passed in Taiwan’s legislature in May and that led to massive protests and the Bluebird Movement.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/counselor-chen-of-new-taipei-city-talks-about-her-political-career-and-the-controversial-bills-passed-by-taiwans-legislature-ep-295/

Special thanks to Bill Wu who sat in on the interview to provide translation assistance to City Councilor Chen, and to Anmy Lee for additional research and translation assistance.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·          How Naiyu went from working as a journalist for 14 years to becoming a politician

·          Issues she’s focused on as a City Councilor

·          Anti-Han Kuo-yu rally in Kaohsiung

·          Naiyu’s work as a journalist

·          How her experience as a journalist prepared her to be a politician

·          The challenges she faced in working on Lai Ching-te’s presidential campaign

·          Cases of state-owned land on which people built personal mansions

·          The different communication styles and approaches to social media use of Lai Ching-te and Ko Wen-je

·          What Naiyu has to say about President Lai Ching-te’s personality and character

·          What could happen with the controversial bills that led to the Bluebird movement protests in Taiwan in May

·          Cases of ill-gotten assets and how the handling of ill-gotten assets could be reversed

·          Naiyu’s observations of the Bluebird movement

·          The most rewarding thing about being a City Councilor

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/counselor-chen-of-new-taipei-city-talks-about-her-political-career-and-the-controversial-bills-passed-by-taiwans-legislature-ep-295/

I recently spoke with Michael Fahey about some developments on human rights related issues in Taiwan, including the anticipated ruling by Taiwan’s constitutional court on the Death Penalty.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/recently-debated-human-rights-issues-in-taiwan-a-conversation-with-michael-fahey-ep-294/

We spoke on September 16th and Taiwan’s constitutional court made its ruling on September 20th. At the time I had spoken to Michael about a campaign and online petition to expand access to dual nationality for long-term foreign permanent residents of Taiwan. To learn more about that check out episode 293.

Michael is an American lawyer and resident of Taipei since 1988. He is foreign counsel at Formosa Transnational (萬國) and also founder of Forward Taiwan.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/recently-debated-human-rights-issues-in-taiwan-a-conversation-with-michael-fahey-ep-294/

Did you know that there is a campaign underway in Taiwan that is calling for foreign permanent residents to be able to apply for dual nationality, effectively allowing them to obtain Taiwanese citizenship after 5 years without giving up their original passport?

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dual-nationality-for-long-term-permanent-residents-of-taiwan-discussion-with-michael-fahey-ep-293/

An online petition for this proposal was launched on August 19th and they are trying to collect 5,000 signatures to support it by October 19th: https://join.gov.tw/idea/detail/951c745d-4484-4923-953f-4cdaefe7f344

I recently spoke with Michael Fahey, about this campaign which was initiated by Crossroads and Forward Taiwan. We talked about many of the most common concerns raised by a proposal like this, given the sensitive position that Taiwan is in due to the threats it faces from the PRC (People’s Republic of China).

Michael is an American lawyer and resident of Taipei since 1988. He is foreign counsel at Formosa Transnational (萬國) and also founder of Forward Taiwan.

If you’d like to sign the online petition to expand access to dual nationality for long-term foreign permanent residents of Taiwan, please note a few things:

1)    In order to be able to sign the petition you must be a citizen of Taiwan or holder of an A(P)RC (Alien Permanent Resident Certificate) and have a Taiwan mobile number.

2)    When filling out the petition form it’s best to use a computer not a smart phone but have your phone nearby and have patience when going through the process. 

3)    Whether or not you are personally able to sign the petition, please consider also sharing this with friends, family or colleagues who would and are able to support it.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How the proposal to expand access to dual nationality for long-term foreign permanent residents of Taiwan came about

·       The case of Michael Boyden, a British citizen and permanent resident of Taiwan

·       How Taiwan’s nationality law was drafted in the 1920s and how it compares with other countries laws on nationality

·       How Taiwan’s nationality law is not symmetrical for native-born Taiwanese and naturalizing foreign citizens

·       How expanding access to dual nationality for long-term foreign permanent residents of Taiwan could make Taiwan more resilient

·       How immigration could be a way to deal with Taiwan becoming a super-aged society

·       Concerns about whether this proposal will make it easier PRC (People’s Republic of China) citizens to immigrate to Taiwan and become citizens

·       PRC (People’s Republic of China) citizens are governed by a different law; the act for the relations between peoples of the mainland and the Taiwan region

·       The proposal is to change the nationality law not the act for the relations between peoples of the mainland and the Taiwan region

·       How to handle concerns about PRC citizens who've naturalized in third countries using their foreign citizenship to come and naturalize in Taiwan

·       How the fear that crime would go up is unfounded because foreign nationals in Taiwan commit crimes at a rate of 50 percent of the native population

·       What exactly is being proposed

·       The procedure for foreign permanent residents in Taiwan to obtain dual Taiwanese citizenship

·       The types of people and special cases that have been granted dual Taiwanese citizenship

·       The standards required for foreign permanent residents in Taiwan to be granted dual Taiwanese citizenship

·       Cases of foreign permanent residents in Taiwan that applied and failed to attain dual Taiwanese citizenship

·       How the process to get the nationality law amended could actually be a very long process that could take 5-20 years

·       Arguments for and against the proposal

·       How people who wish to sign the online petition must be citizens of Taiwan and have a Taiwan mobile number

·       When filling out the petition it’s best to do so on a computer and not on a smart phone, but to keep your mobile phone nearby

·       Have patience in filling out the online petition form because the interface is a bit difficult to use

·       How foreign permanent residents can’t get household registration and how that limits them

·       Reasons people would like to get dual Taiwanese citizenship

·       How to deal with individuals who have dual nationalities

·       How male citizens of Taiwan under the age of 36 are required to serve in the military

·       How Taiwan could take steps to ensure that people serve in the military

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dual-nationality-for-long-term-permanent-residents-of-taiwan-discussion-with-michael-fahey-ep-293/

In September the UN General Assembly takes place at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. This year, the 79th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday, September 10th and will conclude on Monday, September 30th. The theme of the General Debate is "Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.”

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/un-membership-for-taiwan-a-nyc-press-conference-peace-truck-and-a-rally-ep-292/

Since 1992, the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York has promoted UN membership for Taiwan and organized the UN for Taiwan rally and march to coincide with the UN General Assembly. This year the UN for Taiwan rally and march was held on Saturday, September 14th.

Delegates from the Taiwan United Nations Alliance or TAIUNA, an NGO from Taiwan have been coming to New York for the past twenty years to call for Taiwan’s membership in the UN.

On Friday, September 13th representatives from TAIUNA held a press conference in Ralph Bunche Park, which is across from the United Nations Headquarters. The open letter from TAIUNA Chairman Yet-Min Lin addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was read. The full letter will be posted in the Relate Links section of Talking Taiwan website for this episode. The letter urged the UN to hold a formal hearing to clarify the interpretation of UNGA Resolution 2758.

China’s distortion of Resolution 2758 has been used to block Taiwan from being included in the UN.

TAIUNA (The Taiwan United Nations Alliance) was founded on October 24, 2003:

1. To realize UN’s purposes and to foster justice, peace and security for Taiwan and the world.

2. To promote Taiwanese understanding of and education on the UN and its related organizations.

3. To elevate the global perspectives of the Taiwanese people and to participate in such international activities as human rights protection, humanitarian assistance, and environmental protection.

4. To campaign for Taiwan’s membership in the UN and to make Taiwan a Normal State both in name and in fact in the world community.

Talking Taiwan covered TAIUNA’s press conference in Ralph Bunche Park  on Friday, September 13th. On Saturday, September 14th we stopped by the “Peace Pop-up Truck” organized by the Taipei Economic  Cultural Office of New York (TECONY)  with the theme being “UNity through Peace: Chip in with Taiwan.” Afterward we also participated in the UN for Taiwan rally and march.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/un-membership-for-taiwan-a-nyc-press-conference-peace-truck-and-a-rally-ep-292/

Earlier this summer, in June, I spoke with John Groot the author of An Emergency Preparedness Guide for Expats in Taiwan.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/an-emergency-preparedness-guide-for-expats-in-taiwan-our-discussion-with-survivalist-author-john-groot-ep-291/

John has made the book is available for free on his website and you download a copy of it by >> clicking here

The recent Paris Olympics has just passed and may already be fading into memory. This year Team Taiwan won 2 gold medals and 5 bronze at the Olympics.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/my-conversation-with-mike-chinoy-award-winning-journalist-on-his-new-film-decathalon-ep-290/

Do you know when and who won Taiwan’s first Olympic medal?

It happened at the 1960 Rome Olympics, which was the first Summer Olympics that was televised in North America. The man who was known as the “Iron Man of Asia,” C.K. Yang won a silver medal in the decathlon. C.K. was of the Amis indigenous tribe from southeastern Taiwan. His Amis name was Maysang Kalimud, but then Japan colonized Taiwan he had a Japanese name when, and then after the Chinese Nationalists the Kuomintang lost the civil war in China to the Chinese Communist and fled to Taiwan, his father gave him a Chinese name, Yang Chuan-kwang. 

Like many Amis, he used his athletic prowess to gain status and success that might otherwise have eluded him. But not much is known about how heavily he identified as Amis.

The gold medal winner at the Rome Olympics was Rafer Johnson, an African American.

Rafer and C.K. trained together under the same coach at UCLA and then competed against each other in the decathlon at the Rome Olympics. They were not only rivals but also the best of friends.

Their extraordinary and unlikely friendship inspired the making of a documentary film and I sat down recently to speak with Mike Chinoy, the co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer of that film which is called "Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story,”

Mike Chinoy is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the University of Southern California’s US-China Institute and is based in Taipei. Previously, he spent 24 years as a foreign correspondent for CNN, serving as the network's first Beijing bureau chief and as Senior Asia Correspondent.

"Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story" is currently streaming on the Taiwan Plus Docs YouTube channel.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Team Taiwan’s performance during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris

·       How flags and signs in the shape of Taiwan or with the word Taiwan on them were confiscated from fans during the men’s doubles badminton finals at the Paris Olympics

·       How China's state-run broadcaster CCTV cut the feed during parts of the men's badminton doubles match and did not broadcast the medal ceremony

·       Why Taiwan has to compete under the name “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympics

·       The “Iron Man of Asia”

·       The man that won Taiwan’s first Olympic medal

·       C.K. Yang was Amis and had three names, an Amis name (Maysang Kalimud), a Japanese name and a Chinese name (Yang Chuan-kwang, 楊傳廣)

·       How C.K. first met Rafer Johnson at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956

·       How C.K. and Rafer were trained by the same coach at UCLA and became close friends

·       The International Olympic Committee (I.O.C) told the government of Chiang Kai-shek that the team sent to participate at the 1960 Rome Olympics could not be called the Republic of China

·       Chiang Kai-shek almost boycotted the Olympics but didn’t because he realized that C.K. Yang could possibly win a medal and bring glory to Taiwan

·       How Taiwan competed under the name Formosa during the 1960 Rome Olympics

·       C.K. Yang was the first person with a Chinese surname to win an Olympic medal

·       At the opening ceremony of the 1960 Rome Olympics Rafer Johnson was the first African American to carry the American flag at the Olympics

·       At the opening ceremony of the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Taiwan team marched in carrying a placard that said under protest, which was the first overt political protest by a team in Olympics history

·       Where the idea for "Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story" came from

·       How Mike’s co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer, John Krich sought out, befriended and interviewed C.K. Yang in 2006

·       How Mike met and befriended Rafer Johnson and C.K.’s widow Daisy in Los Angeles

·       Taiwanese Canadian film director of "Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story," Frank W. Chen also directed “Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story”

·       How C.K. Yang, Rafer Johnson and athletes have become political symbols

·       How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson were intense athletic rivals and close friends

·       The close personal friendship between C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson

·       How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson had the same coach, Ducky Drake at UCLA

·       How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson joked that they were the “Two-Man United Nations”

·       How C.K. Yang’s story tells the story of Taiwan in an unconventional way

·       Why C.K. was sent to UCLA to train for the Olympics

·       The 1958 Kinmen Matsu Crisis (aka The 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis)

·       How C.K. Yang and Rafer Johnson’s coach, Ducky Drake showed no favoritism

·       When U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, Rafer was next to him, Rafer grabbed the assassin, tackled him and grabbed the gun

·       Rafer’s involvement in the Special Olympics

·       What happened to C.K. at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

·       C.K. later became the coach of the Taiwan track team for the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada

·       Why the team from Taiwan was barred from participating in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal

·       Rafer Johnson lit the flame at the 1984 Olympic games in L.A.

·       How C.K. went into politics briefly in Taiwan, switching from one party to another

·       The Iron Man house that the government of Taiwan built for C.K.

·       How statues of C.K. are in a locked fourth floor room of the National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung

·       There cover of Sports Illustrated magazine in 1963 with the headline “ C.K. Yang, the world's greatest athlete.”

·       The tremendous sportsmanship and loyalty that C.K. and Rafer exemplify

·       C.K.’s performance at 1954 Asian Games in Manilla

·       The use of animation in "Decathlon: The CK Yang and Rafer Johnson Story,"

·       The National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung

·       How the film addresses the Taiwan, China conflict, and the fight for social justice and equality in the United States;  64 years later the world is still wrestling with these issues

·       Mike’s future projects

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/my-conversation-with-mike-chinoy-award-winning-journalist-on-his-new-film-decathalon-ep-290/

This is the second part of our interview with Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達). Earlier this year when we were in Taiwan in January for the presidential election, we sat down to interview Linda about the era and events that precipitated the Kaohsiung incident also known as the Formosa Incident, which is widely considered the watershed moment in history that led to Taiwan’s democratization. The Kaohsiung Incident happened in December of 1979.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the first part of this interview, you can go back to episode 287 and give it a listen. By the way, that episode of Talking Taiwan, episode 287 got us shortlisted in the top 15 podcasts selected in the category of "Moment of Visionary Leadership" for the 2024 International Women's Podcast Awards. This year the IWPA had 700 submissions from over 33 different countries. Results were announced in London on Wednesday, June 19th.

While we were not selected as the winning podcast in this category, we are deeply honored to have our work recognized. Any increased visibility for Talking Taiwan also means greater visibility for Taiwan.   In case you didn’t know, Talking Taiwan is also on YouTube, and we did video record my interview with Linda, so we do plan on releasing it on our YouTube channel, but please be patient with us since we are only a two-person team. We do have some interesting content on YouTube that’s different from our podcast episodes, so if you haven’t already, we encourage you to look for Talking Taiwan on YouTube and to subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/@talkingtaiwan Issues of Formosa Magazine

Photo Credit: Linda Gail Arrigo The Kaohsiung Eight (from left to right): Chang Chun-hung (張俊宏), Huang Hsin-chieh (黃信介), Chen Chu (陳菊), Yao Chia- wen (姚嘉文), Shih Ming-teh (施明德), Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Lin Hung-hsuan (林弘宣 ), and Lin Yi-hsiung (林義雄)- not pictured

Photo Credit: Screenshot from Formosa Incident, Explained YouTube video from Taiwan Explained by TaiwanPlus: https://youtu.be/2eaxPhA9RN8?si=_YF0brrtyjOwlu6D International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Taiwan (ICDHRT)- Lynn Miles’ organization

Photo Credit: Linda Gail Arrigo

Linda Gail Arrigo (艾琳達) wearing the three-colored sash, and the three-colored banners and signs of the dangwai (黨外) i.e. outside party or opposition.

Related Links: 

Early last year I spoke with Boba Guys co-founders Andrew Chau and Bin Chen. At the time Andrew had just gotten back from visiting Taiwan and other parts of Asia, so it was interesting to hear his observations. Andrew and Bin shared so many great nuggets. We talked about how they got started with a pop-up shop while working fulltime and how they continued to so even after they opened their first few stores.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-boba-guys-andrew-chau-and-bin-chen-bubble-tea-entrepreneurs-bridging-cultures-for-11-years/

Other topics covered include how Boba Guys weathered the pandemic, Andrew and Bin’s book called The Boba Book, and how they see boba as a way to bridge cultures. What has Boba Guys been up to since we spoke? Lots of interesting collabs with other brands, and the release of a loyalty program called “Passport” which gamifies the experience through loot boxes instead of linearly earning points to redeem for a drink. 

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      How Andrew and Bin first met when they both worked at Timbuktu

·      How they decided to start a bubble tea business

·      Andrew’s recent trip to Taiwan and the other Taiwanese Americans he met up with while there

·      Andrew’s thoughts on Taiwan’s bubble tea scene

·      How they started with a pop-up shop

·      How they have not taken any VC (venture capital) money

·      The social costs and risks of being an entrepreneur

·      How other Taiwanese American entrepreneurs like Steve Chen and Kevin Lin mentored them

·      How Andrew does advising for the small business council and testified in Washington D.C. on behalf of small businesses

·      How they were working on Boba Guys Japan when the pandemic hit

·      How Boba Guys dealt with the pandemic

·      The biggest challenges they’ve experienced

·      The third wave of boba

·      The meaning of the word boba and how Andrew’s mom reacted to the name Boba Guys

·      How Boba Guys name their drinks

·      Their book, The Boba Book and how they choose their co-author Richard Parks

·      What happened when they went to Taiwan and tried to determine which tea shop invented bubble tea

·      The Boba Guys’ merchandise and aardvark mascot

·      The Boba Home Kit and how they created a boba kit that was on Williams Sonoma

·      How they teach people how to make boba online

·      How they have mentored other entrepreneurs

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-boba-guys-andrew-chau-and-bin-chen-bubble-tea-entrepreneurs-bridging-cultures-for-11-years/

Earlier this year when we were in Taiwan in January for the presidential election, I sat down to interview Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達).

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-linda-gail-arrigo-taiwan-democracy-fighter-talks-about-events-leading-up-to-the-kaohsiung-incident-ep-287/

She talked about the era and events that precipitated the Kaohsiung incident aka Formosa Incident (on December 10, 1979) which is widely considered the watershed moment in history that led to Taiwan’s democratization. This is part one of a two-part interview.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-linda-gail-arrigo-taiwan-democracy-fighter-talks-about-events-leading-up-to-the-kaohsiung-incident-ep-287/

After fights broke out in Taiwan’s legislative yuan on May 17th sending several legislators to the hospital, the public gathered in protest outside of the legislative yuan. There have been over 30,000, 100,000 and 70,000 people gathered at three of the major protests which are being called the Bluebird movement. The name is a play on the name of the road nearby the legislative yean where protests began (青島東路).

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/bluebird-movement-3-experts-discuss-the-controversial-bills-leading-to-protests-at-the-legislative-yuan-ep-286/

I spoke with Taipei Times columnist Michael Turton and his son Sebastian on May 27th about the controversial bills that have caused such widespread dissent. Sebastian shared what he saw at the protests in Taipei on Tuesday, May 22 and Friday, May 24.

I also spoke with Sean Su after a set of the controversial legislative reform bills passed on May 28th.

There have been protests all over Taiwan in 15 different cities, and even globally. The New York Bluebird, a group of politically conscious New York City-based Taiwanese have worked with Keep Taiwan Free to raise funds for a billboard in New York’s Times Square to promote awareness of the Bluebird movement. The billboard will appear on Tuesday, June 4 at 6:00pm.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/bluebird-movement-3-experts-discuss-the-controversial-bills-leading-to-protests-at-the-legislative-yuan-ep-286/

On May 26th we stopped by the annual Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park and I caught up with a few of our past guests, Taiwanese hip hop and rap artist, Dwagie who performed at this year’s Passport to Taiwan, and Lisa Cheng Smith who was also there with her Yun Hai co-founder Lillian Lin her co-founder. Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry 雲海 offers a selection of premium ingredients for Taiwanese and Chinese cooking online and at their shop located in Brooklyn.

I spoke Dwagie about his thoughts on the protests that have been happening around the legislative yuan in Taipei. Stay tuned for our next episode which will cover the protests around the legislative yuan that started around May 17th.

I also spoke to Lillian and Lisa, co-founders of Yun Hai Taiwanese Pantry about what it was like to have President Tsai Ing-wen visit their shop in Brooklyn, and a few of their products including their qq dragon T-shirt and dried mango.

To learn more about Dwagie check out episode 50 of Talking Taiwan and to learn more about Yun Hai check out episode 135.

Related Links:

Vanessa Hope is the director of Invisible Nation, a documentary film that takes a look at the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president and events that happened during her tenure. We talked about what first brought Vanessa to Taiwan which meant that she was there in 1996 during the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s first directly elected president. Then in 2016 after Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen, she came up with the idea for a film about Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/invisible-nation-director-vanessa-hope-discusses-her-documentary-about-tsai-ing-wens-presidency-ep-284/

Vanessa’s first feature length documentary, All Eyes And Ears examined relations between the U.S. and China through the stories of U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, his adopted Chinese daughter Gracie Mei, and blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng.

When I asked Vanessa about her experience making a documentary film in China, she recounted a story that explained why she personally related to the backlash and pressure from China that Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese member of a K-pop band has faced.

We also talked about the challenges in making Invisible Nation over a seven year period, Vanessa’s personal motivations for making the film and where Invisible Nation is going to be screened in the near future.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       What brought Vanessa to Taiwan and got her interested in Taiwan

·       What Vanessa observed when she was in Taiwan for the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, the first directly elected president of Taiwan

·       The first time she dabbled in filmmaking

·       How Vanessa wrote and recorded the podcast, Love Is a Crime, which tells the story of her family’s connection to film

·       The state of the film industry which Vanessa’s husband Ted Hope writes about on Substack

·       How Vanessa came up with the idea for the film, Invisible Nation

·       Vanessa worked at the Council on Foreign Relations

·       Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2016 and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen

·       How Vanessa secured a grant focused on women, peace and security

·       How film producer Sylvia Feng helped Vanessa with submitting a proposal to President Tsai’s office regarding her idea for a documentary film

·       How they filmed an interview with Chen Chu before hearing an answer from President Tsai’s office about the documentary film proposal

·       How Vanessa originally envisioned working a film about Taiwan’s first female president

·       The backlash President Tsai received from China initially

·       The discrimination that Taiwan faces internationally

·       How Taiwan has been excluded from international organizations like the WHO, the United Nations, the Olympics and others

·       How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted concerns about the threat Taiwan faces from China

·       How Xi Jinping has said that he will not renounce the use of force against Taiwan

·       Where the name of the film, Invisible Nation came from

·       The film Vanessa produced, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, about

·       If President Tsai had any say in the film Invisible Nation

·       What personally motivated Vanessa to make the film, Invisible Nation

·       How the interview and scene with Chen Chu in the film came about

·       How Chen Chu wrote her will when she was in prison and dedicated her life to the people of Taiwan

·       What it was like meeting former President Ma Ying-jeou

·       How Vanessa’s mentor at the Council on Foreign Relations, Jerome Cohen had been a professor at Harvard Law School to Ma Ying-jeou and Annette Lu

·       What Vanessa learned from working at the Council on Foreign Relations

·       What fascinated Vanessa about how the singer Chou Tzu-yu was forced to apologize for waving a flag that represented Taiwan

·       Wen Liu’s comments about President Tsai that didn’t make it into the film Invisible Nation

·       How it was decided that historical facts to keep in the film or not

·       How part of the editing process for the film Invisible Nation was to test it on audiences

·       How Vanessa has had to edit down Invisible Nation from 85 minutes to 55 minutes for television

·       Who is the target audience of the film, Invisible Nation

·       Why some of the Taiwanese who worked on Invisible Nation had to use pseudonyms

·       China’s 3 T’s that you are not supposed to talk about, Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen

·       The difference in working on documentary films in China vs. Taiwan

·       What happened to Vanessa when she was in Tibet and tried to board a train with U.S.

 Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who she was filming for her first documentary film, All Eyes and Ears

·       Why Vanessa could relate to what happened to the singer Chou Tzu-yu

·       Scenes that had to be cut from the film, Invisible Nation

·       The challenge in making Invisible Nation

·       Feedback that Vanessa has received at screenings of Invisible Nation

·       What Vanessa hopes that people take away from the film Invisible Nation

·       If Vanessa has gotten any negative feedback or threats from pro-China media or parties

·       Where Invisible Nation is going to be screened

·       Vanessa’s future film projects

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/invisible-nation-director-vanessa-hope-discusses-her-documentary-about-tsai-ing-wens-presidency-ep-284/

Last year I spoke with Robin, Jerry and Peng-Hsuan about the U.S. Taiwan Watch after they organized a hackathon at the Taiwanese American Conference- East Coast that’s held annually around July 4th.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/us-taiwan-watch-think-tank-focused-on-the-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-taiwan-ep-283/

U.S. Taiwan Watch was founded in 2017 to synthesize data on Taiwan-related bills in Congress. Later, they expanded their work to include analysis on U.S. foreign policy and podcasts discussing U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Jerry Hsu is Co-founder and President of US Taiwan Watch

Robin Liao is Co-founder of US Taiwan Watch

Peng-Hsuan Chen is Project Manager of the Hackathon Project, Program and Policy Specialist of US Taiwan Watch

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch got started

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch educates people in Taiwan about the U.S.’s Taiwan-related bills, U.S. Congress, how bills are passed

·       Taiwan’s ban of pork from the U.S. containing ractopamine

·       Taiwanese people’s perceptions of the U.S.

·       Misinformation from Chinese language media in Taiwan

·       Taiwan-related bills for messaging vs. passage

·       How they synthesize data on the U.S’s Taiwan-related bills

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch has changed over time

·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch’s connection to American Citizens for Taiwan

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch started as a civil tech project

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch deals with anti-American sentiments from their audience

·       U.S. Taiwan Watch publishes articles, and produces a podcast

·       How in 1979 the U.S. switched recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China

·       U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to China in June 2023 and his statement that the U.S. does not support the independence of Taiwan

·       U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks on the U.S.’s willingness to help defend Taiwan

·       Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of 2022

·       The controversy over expansion of the A.I.T office in Neihu, Taiwan

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch deals with disinformation

·       How the pro-China media in Taiwan is anti-American

·       U.S. Taiwan Watch’s podcast covers its articles. Taiwan-related bills and U.S. news

·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch’s most popular podcast episodes

·       How WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Taiwan of slandering him

·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023 (Taiwanese American Conference- East Coast)

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch concept came out of a hackathon at the 2017 TAC-EC

·       Projects created at the U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023

·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023 was run

·       What is so meaningful about the work that U.S. Taiwan Watch does

·       How people have volunteered to wok for U.S. Taiwan Watch

·       How Peng-Hsuan got involved with U.S. Taiwan Watch

·       How Jerry got involved with U.S. Taiwan Watch

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/us-taiwan-watch-think-tank-focused-on-the-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-taiwan-ep-283/

 Isa Ho is a photographer based in Taiwan. Last year I spoke with her about her photography and the Westbeth project, which consists of a series of photos and videos of artists who live at Westbeth Artists Housing, which is located in New York City’s West Village.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/isa-ho-talks-about-her-career-as-a-photographer-and-her-westbeth-exhibit-in-nyc-ep-282/

Westbeth is so named because it sits at the corner of West and Bethune Streets, and was conceived in the 1960's as a partial solution to the acute need to provide affordable housing and studios for artists and their families.

The abandoned 13-building complex that was constructed between the 1860s and the 1930s, was formerly used by Bell Telephone Labs, and was turned into affordable permanent housing and workspace for hundreds of artists, as well as space for arts and cultural organizations. Westbeth was the first subsidized housing for artists in the United States. In 2009 it was added to the National Registrar of Historic Places. And in 2011 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously designated Westbeth Artists Housing a New York City landmark.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Isa’s exhibit at the Westbeth gallery that features her photos and videos of artists who reside at Westbeth

·       How Isa is working on a documentary about the residents of Westbeth

·       How Isa arrived for a residency at Westbeth in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy

·       The residency project that brought Isa to Westbeth was initially about multicultural New York but as she got to know many of the people who lived at Westbeth, it became the Westbeth project

·       Isa’s connection to Taiwan

·       How Isa is fascinated by people

·       Isa has interviewed over 50 people and what was on display at the Westbeth gallery is only a third of her work

·       The personal stories of several of the artist who live at Westbeth

·       How the photos and videos were displayed at the Westbeth gallery

·       How the Westbeth project has been exhibited in Israel, Italy, Germany and Taiwan

·       How people have reacted to the Westbeth project

·       How one of the pieces of the Westbeth project won an award in Italy

·       How Isa got interested in photography

·       How Isa creates a collage of photos that serve to tell a person’s story

·       How Isa does her photography full-time

·       Isa’s advice to those interested in pursuing photography

·       Isa’s video comparing the movements of Kunqu opera dancer and K-POP dancer

·       Why Isa is planning to go to Ukraine

·       How Isa felt useless as an artist during the pandemic but realized that when facing tragedy or if feeling like there is nothing that we can do, art can connect us with humanity

·       How there aren’t many housing communities like Westbeth in the world

·       The wait list of people who want to live at Westbeth

·       How one of the Westbeth residents George Cominskie has advocated for artists

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/isa-ho-talks-about-her-career-as-a-photographer-and-her-westbeth-exhibit-in-nyc-ep-282/

On April 3, 2024 at 7:58am (in Taiwan) an earthquake that’s been reported as measuring 7.2 and 7.4 hit Hualien which is located on Taiwan’s east coast. The last major earthquake of similar magnitude was 25 years ago on September 21st, 1999 in Nantou, which is located in central Taiwan. The earthquake also referred to as the 921 earthquake killed over 2,400 people, and left over 100,000 people homeless.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/th-schee-survivor-of-taiwans-most-powerful-earthquakes-gives-a-lesson-on-preparing-for-natural-disasters-ep-281/

In this episode I’m bringing back one of our previous guests onto this podcast, T.H. Schee, who I interviewed about civil defense in Taiwan. In that interview T.H. mentioned that it was his firsthand experience with the 921 earthquake that made him concerned about disaster preparedness and civil defense. I asked T.H. to share his recollection of the 921 earthquake and thoughts on how Taiwan’s disaster response has improved since then. By most reports the death toll from the Hualien earthquake was around 13 at the time of this interview.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Where T.H. was during the Hualien earthquake on April 3, 2024 and during the earthquake on September 21, 1999 in Nantou

·       The situation in Puli, after the earthquake on September 21, 1999 in Nantou

·       How around 5,000 buildings collapsed and another 5,000 buildings were damaged in Nantou

·       How people in the mountainous area of Nantou were stuck there for a month

·       How a volunteer guard patrol group was formed to protect people who were camped outside

·       How the damage in Puli was so extensive that navigation assistance needed to be provided to volunteer assistance groups

·       How a state of emergency was declared on the fourth day of the earthquake

·       Most of the deaths from the Hualien earthquake have been due to landslides and rockfalls rather than building collapses whereas most of the deaths in 1999 were due to building collapses

·       How there were around 10,000 aftershocks within a month after the 921 earthquake

·       Why people needed to camp outside after the 1999 earthquake in Nantou

·       How police station and schools collapsed (in Nantou) and students had to relocate to another building as a temporary school

·       How T.H. witnessed the death of three of his neighbors in Nantou

·       How it took three years for buildings to be rebuild in Nantou

·       Lessons from the 921 earthquake included a change in building codes, changes in laws regarding disaster response

·       How businesses including TSMC in the Hsinchu Science park had to be shut down for five days in 1999

·       How the stock market had to be shut down in 1999

·       How Tai Power had to make improvements to the power grid to make it more resilient in case of natural disasters

·       How Taiwan has offered humanitarian assistance to others e.g. the earthquake in Turkey in 2023

·       How medics who went to Nantou were poorly prepared because they did plan on bringing enough food for themselves

·       How ATMs didn’t work in Nantou after the earthquake

·       The first response to the Hualien earthquake

·       How the train between Yilan and Hualien was repaired within a day

·       How notifications after the Hualien earthquake were not sent to people in New Taipei

·       How well prepared people in Taiwan are for earthquakes

·       How the Tzu Chi foundation has been providing support to those affected by the earthquake in Hualien

·       Do’s and don’ts after an earthquake

·       How it is important to get buildings checked after an earthquake

·       How aftershocks can cause landslides and it not advisable to go into the mountains

·       The earthquake that happened in New York on April 5th and comparing the notification system in New York with the notification system for earthquakes in Taiwan

·       How to be prepared for an earthquake (have a flashlight, whistle and bottled water)

·       Do’s and Don’ts during an earthquake and aftershocks

·       How Taiwan’s government used to be a strong party state system in 1999, but after the 921 earthquake they learned the value of working with civil society and there were legal reforms

·        A few months after the 1999 there was a change in government when people voted for Chen Shui-bian in 2000

·       How TSMC resumed 80% of its capacity within a day after the Hualien earthquake

·       T.H.’s gym 4SC Crossfit and the training and workshops the support and offer related to disaster preparedness and civil defense

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/th-schee-survivor-of-taiwans-most-powerful-earthquakes-gives-a-lesson-on-preparing-for-natural-disasters-ep-281/

Earlier this year when we were in Taiwan, we traveled down to Kaohsiung where we met with Wan-jen Lin the architect who worked on Weiwuying (衛武營國家藝術文化中心), Kaohsiung’s performing arts center and the Echo Across the Harbor, which up to now is the largest public art project in Taiwan.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/wan-jen-lin-architect-for-echo-across-the-harbor-largest-public-art-project-in-taiwan-ep-280/

She shared how the design of the Echo Across the Harbor was inspired by the history of Kaohsiung harbor. We will have Wan-jen back on for a more in-depth interview at a future date.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/wan-jen-lin-architect-for-echo-across-the-harbor-largest-public-art-project-in-taiwan-ep-280/

Last September we had the pleasure of interviewing actor, writer and director Michelle Krusiec. Her IMDB page displays an impressive list of acting roles dating back to 1992.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-krusiec-acclaimed-actor-writer-and-director-talks-about-dealing-with-institutional-racism-and-her-sources-of-inspiration-ep-279/

We talked about the different phases of her career starting with her one-woman show, Made in Taiwan, which earned her much critical acclaim. She wrote, directed and acted in it in her 20s. Then there was her first main character role in a feature film, Saving Face, a film that put her on my radar and so many others’ in 2004. In 2020 she portrayed the legendary Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood. Stepping into that role helped her to rethink the institutionalized racism that she’s experienced as an actor. Michelle also talked about her directorial projects, and expressed her thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike, and so much more.

March is Women’s History Month and so we thought this would be the perfect time to release the first episode of the Trailblazing Taiwanese Women’s series sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association, which was founded in 1988. To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How she got on the path of acting

·       The stereotypical Asian roles she took on early in her career

·       The struggles she’s faced in her acting career

·       How playing the role of Anna May Wong helped her to rethink the institutional racism that she’s faced as an actor

·       Her first leading role in a feature film (Saving Face)

·       How she grew up she didn’t see many people who looked like her on television and longed to change that

·       How Michelle prepared for her role in Saving Face by going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin

·       How Michelle prepared for her role as Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood

·       Michelle’s directing projects

·       Michelle’s one woman show Made in Taiwan and how it opened doors for her and got her a deal with ABC TV

·       How anti-Asian hate became more prevalent during the pandemic but was around long before

·       Her upbringing and how it impacted her early career

·       Michelle’s Washington Post op ed piece

·       How a fortune teller impacted Michelle’s adoption

·       The connection between Made in Taiwan and Michelle’s short film, Bite

·       Michelle’s short film Nian

·       Michelle’s thoughts on motherhood and parenthood

·       The writing/directing projects that Michelle is working on

·       Michelle’s thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike

·       Michelle’s support for SB 805, a bill that supported funding for nonprofit theaters

·       How Michelle was affected by the BLM (Black Lives Matter) demonstrations that arose during the pandemic

·       Michelle’s advice to others who want to pursue acting or directing

·       Michelle’s connection to Taiwan

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-krusiec-acclaimed-actor-writer-and-director-talks-about-dealing-with-institutional-racism-and-her-sources-of-inspiration-ep-279/

Ten years ago, on the night of March 18, 2014 students and activists broke into Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan in an effort to block the passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, a trade agreement between Taiwan and China. The day before, on March 17, the Kuomintang (KMT) had attempted to force through passage of the trade agreement in the Legislative Yuan, without giving it a clause-by-clause review. The occupation of the Legislative Yuan lasted over 20 days, until April 10 th and Fire EX.’s song Island’s Sunrise became the anthem of the movement, which came to known as the Sunflower Movement.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/fireex-10th-anniversary-sunflower-movement-sam-yang-tells-how-island-sunrise-became-its-anthem-ep-278/

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, I sat down and spoke with Sam Yang, the lead singer of the band Fire EX. about how the opportunity to write the song Island’s Sunrise came about. As it turns out there’s a New York connection to the story and an exhibit and event to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sunflower Movement be taking place in New York on March 15 and running until April 15. Sam and I also spoke about where he gets his musical inspiration and how the band nearly broke up in 2015, the same year that Island’s Sunrise was named Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards.

Fire EX. now has its own music production company and since 2017 they have been organizing something called Fireball Fest. The band is now on a North American tour and most notably will be performing at this year’s South by Southwest in Austin Texas. We’ll share their tour dates below. This interview was a real treat for me because I happened to be in Taiwan in 2014 when the Sunflower Movement happened. I remember all of the events that unfolded and being so moved when I heard the song Island’s Sunrise. Special thanks to Katie Wei for her translation and May Wu for her help in making this interview possible.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

 How Sam got interested in music  How Fire EX. got started and where its name comes from  Fire EX.’s musical influences  Sam’s path to becoming a full-time musician  Sam’s advice for young aspiring musicians  How the opportunity for Fire EX. to write a song for the Sunflower Movement happened  The New York connection to the story of how Fire EX. was asked to write a song for the Sunflower Movement

 How there will be a month-long exhibit in New York to commemorate the 10- year anniversary of the Sunflower Movement from March 15-April 15 at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City  March 18, 2014 the night students and activists broke into and occupied the Legislative Yuan  The March 23, 2014 attempt to occupy the Executive Yuan  The rallies that happened worldwide on March 30, 2014 in support of the students and activists’ actions to block the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement  How students who occupied the Legislative Yuan often listened to Fire EX.’s song Good Night Formosa before falling asleep  Why students of the Taipei National University of the Arts approached Sam to writ a song for the Sunflower Movement  Sam’s approach to writing the song Island’s Sunrise  How Sam decides to write songs in Holo Taiwanese or Mandarin Chinese  Sam’s thoughts on the differences and challenges of the twenty-somethings who were involved in the Sunflower Movement vs. the twenty-somethings who just voted in Taiwan’s recent election (January 13, 2024)  How Sam’s sense of social activism was influenced by his roommate Wu Zhining (吳志寧) whose father Wu Sheng (吳晟) is a famous Taiwanese poet  How Fire EX. almost broke up in 2015  The Fireball Festival  How Fire EX. will be touring in North American in March and performing at South by Southwest in Austin, TX  One of the most touching things that Sam has heard from one of the band’s fans  What we can expect from Fire EX. in the future, a concert in Taipei on June 15 and Fireball Festival at the end of November

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/fireex-10th-anniversary-sunflower-movement-sam-yang-tells-how-island-sunrise-became-its-anthem-ep-278/

Remembering 228.

On this day, we remember February 28, 1947, a sad tragic date in Taiwan’s history that marks the murder of tens of thousands. Some estimates put the number as high as 28 30 thousand. Two years earlier, in 1945, the Chinese Nationalists or Kuomintang had fled from China to Taiwan. After Japan’s occupation of Taiwan had ended and since the arrival of the KMT, discontent had been brewing for some time.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/remembering-228-tragic-stories-and-the-march-massacres-ep-277/

So on the night of February 27, 1947 when Tobacco Monopoly Bureau agents tried to confiscate contraband cigarettes from a 40-year-old woman and brutally knocked her out, an angry crowd gathered in protest. Then one of the agents fired a shot into the crowd killing a bystander. What followed was a bloody crackdown by authorities, widespread violence and what some have called the March Massacres since most of the killings actually happened in March.

In this episode, is an account that James Shau, chairperson of the Taiwanese American Association of New York shared at last year’s 228 commemoration at the New York Taiwan Center.

Mr. Shau’s account is a reminder of how widespread the violence was at that time. And while we now know that intellectuals and community leaders were among those who were specifically targeted, there were many unknown, unnamed who also senselessly lost their lives.

228 led to 38 years of martial law and an even longer period of White Terror in Taiwan. Let us also remember those who suffered during those subsequent periods of time.

In more recent news related to 228, Taiwan’s Transitional Justice Commission has identified 42 historical sites where injustice related to 228 have happened.

On Monday, February 26 just a few days ago, the Executive Yuan compound was designated as a historical site of injustice. 77 years ago, it was the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office when the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang KMT military police fired indiscriminately on protestors on February 28, 1947.

Other historical sites of injustice that have been unveiled include the Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park which used to be the Taiwan Garrison Command’s detention center and military court, the Ankang Reception House, and the Tang Te-chang Memorial Park in Tainan.

Special thanks to Meiling Lin for her translation assistance for this episode.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/remembering-228-tragic-stories-and-the-march-massacres-ep-277/

On January 25th we held the second in-person event during the Talking Taiwan Election Tour at the PicCollage office in Taipei thanks to John Fan, who was a guest on episode 179 of Taking Taiwan. Many of our past guests, friends and supporters were in attendance at the event, and what made the event extra special for us of course was the chance to meet some of our past guests in-person for the very first time.

In this episode you’ll hear me speaking with our previous podcast guests and a few people from the audience also came up and spoke with me at our impromptu on-stage podcasting booth. Previous guests featured in this episode include: Eric Chang (episodes 121, 127 and 231), Jane W. Wang (episode 150), Karen Chung, (episodes 217 and 219), Elias Ek (episode 59), Brian Foden (episodes 184 and 185), Richard Wang (episode 77), Jerome Keating (episodes 97, 98 and 186).

This episode bookends the Talking Taiwan Election Tour episodes, but we do have some other interviews that we recorded while in Taiwan. Those will be released at a later date.

We are extremely grateful to our supporters and donors who made the Talking Taiwan Election Tour possible.

By the way, if you'd like to listen to the episode featuring our first in-person on January 19th at 4SC Crossfit thanks to T.H. Schee, check out episode 273 and if you want the full visual experience, visit Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel where you can watch video footage from both of our in-person events.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Jenny Luo talked about the Taiwan Plus show she’s producing called, Anything Goes with JL

·       Eric Chang shares his thoughts on the January 13th election in Taiwan, and talked about his work at Taiwan News and enjoying Taiwan’s natural beauty

·       Jane W. Wang talked about her interest in permaculture and degrowth

·       Karen Chung talked about an app she’s been working on to improve the listening skills of those learning English called Ear Bug

·       Elias Ek talked about how his early career in radio shaped him as an entrepreneur, Dragon’s Chamber and his latest business venture Keego

·       Brian Foden talked about his podcast, If the Phrase Fits

·       Richard Wang shared how he’s helping to bring baseball games to the Taipei Dome, that the Yomiuri Giants (Japanese baseball team) will be celebrating their 90th anniversary with games at the Taipei Dome, and starting this year, the local baseball league will have six teams

·       John Fan made introduced and explained what PicCollage does

·       Jerome Keating shared his thought on the future direction of Taiwan and where Taiwan is headed

·       Nancy Baldwin talked about her book, One Thousand Layers of Water and Clouds: The Tale of a Taiwanese Daughter

·       Elias Ek shared a few pet peeves that he has about terms and phrases commonly used in Taiwan

·       Felicia acknowledged Gus Adapon the original producer of Talking Taiwan who was in the audience

·       Dylan Black a Canadian who has lived and taught English in Taiwan for many years talked about how he is now doing so in China, and how life China compares to life in Taiwan so far

Related Links:

While in Taipei, we were able to meet up with Keelung City Councilor Jiho Chang who’s been a guest in episodes 149, 156 & 174.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jiho-chang-his-thoughts-about-new-speaker-legislative-yuan-and-taians-vice-president-elect-ep-275

We spoke about the recent announcement that Daniel Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang had become the speaker of the Legislative Yuan and Bi-khim Hsiao’s role as vice president of Taiwan.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jiho-chang-his-thoughts-about-new-speaker-legislative-yuan-and-taians-vice-president-elect-ep-275/

As part of Talking Taiwan’s Election Tour, we spoke with Courtney Donovan Smith a week after Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections. Lai Ching-te of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected president with 40.05% of the vote. Hou Yu-ih the Kuomintang’s (KMT) presidential candidate got 33.49% of the vote and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) got 26.46%. It was the first time in Taiwan’s history that any political party has been elected for three consecutive four-year terms in office.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/our-post-presidential-election-analysis-2024-with-courtney-donovan-smith-ep-274/

The DPP won an unprecedented third presidential term but lost its majority in the legislature. We talked about how ballot counting in Taiwan is highly transparent and also about how the Taiwan People’s Party could have a crucial role in the legislature, and if the TPP will suffer the same fate as Taiwan’s other third parties

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Reflections on the 2024 election compared to past elections

·       How the election of Lai Ching-te has earned the DPP an unprecedented third term in office

·       How Terry Guo had expressed interest in running for president

·       The opposition unity ticket deal that fell through

·       Taiwan’s first direct presidential election in 1996

·       How ballots are counted in Taiwan

·       How voting is done in Taiwan

·       Donovan’s thoughts on if the Taiwan People’s Party will survive as a third party

·       Taiwan’s third political parties and what has happened to them

·       The 2000 election in which Lien Chan was the KMT presidential candidate and James Soong ran as an independent presidential candidate

·       The origin of the terms “Pan Green” and “Pan Blue

·       The possibility that Hou You-yi could be recalled as mayor of New Taipei City

·       Comparing the recall of Hou You-yi with the recall of Han Kuo-yu

·       What the election results tell us about how people feel about the Democratic Progressive Party

·       How Ko Wen-je has managed to attract many young voters

·       How voting results may have differed if the presidential election were not a three-way race

·       What could happen with the Legislative Yuan speaker and deputy speaker positions

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/our-post-presidential-election-analysis-2024-with-courtney-donovan-smith-ep-274/

During the Talking Taiwan Election Tour we planned to host two in-person events for our guests, supporters and friends. The first event was held on January 19th at 4SC CrossFit’s Xindian branch in New Taipei, thanks to T.H. Schee who’s been a guest on Talking Taiwan several times.

Related Links: 

https://talkingtaiwan.com/live-conversations-with-our-past-guests-at-4sc-crossfit-in-new-taipei-city-taiwan-ep-273/

In fact episode 234 with T.H. is one of the Top 5 episodes of 2023. On January 19th we had a chance to meet some of our past guests in-person for the first time in person. We started off talking to JD Chang from episode 80 about Crushing the Myth.

Next up was John Eastwood who talked about legal reforms needed in Taiwan in episode 203. We talked about the election results in Taiwan’s legislature that had the KMT with 52 seats, the DPP with 51 seats and the TPP with 8 seats and 2 seats going to Independents

We next spoke with Jerome Keating who talked about understanding the history of Taiwan in episode 97. Jerome explained why he wrote in his recent Taipei Times article that he doesn’t expect the TPP, the Taiwan People’s Party to survive to the next presidential election in 2028.

And finally at the end of the night Kaju and I talked to TH Schee who’s been on Talking Taiwan several times, and who’s one of the investors of 4SC Crossfit where we held our January 19th event.

Related Links: 

https://talkingtaiwan.com/live-conversations-with-our-past-guests-at-4sc-crossfit-in-new-taipei-city-taiwan-ep-273/

Talking Taiwan is on an Election Tour and we traveled down to Kaohsiung where I cast my vote in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election. Voting booths opened at 8am on January 13th and we spoke with Sean Su, midday on election day. He was also in Kaohsiung to cast his vote. Sean shared some of his observations and we talked about the alarming text message alert many in Taiwan received on January 9th. I remember reading the text about a missile flyover on my phone just as Kaju and I arrived in Kaohsiung on the high-speed rail. Sean is Co-Producer of Taiwan Report. Known for jump starting Keep Taiwan Free. He is also a frequent guest on ICRT.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/sean-su-observations-on-election-day-2024-from-kaohsiung-taiwan-ep-272/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Sean’s observations on election day in Kaohsiung

·       How if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ching-te wins it would be the first time in history that an incumbent party after eight years in office is re-elected

·       Courtney Donovan Smith’s recent article about Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, which mentions that Ko Wen-je’s YouTube subscribers have surpassed one million

·       The DPP’s rally that was held at Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei on January 11

·       Ma Ying-jeou’s comments that Taiwan has no choice but to trust Chinese leader Xi Jinping

·       The text message alert from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on January 9th that stated in English that there was a missile flyover Taiwan airspace

·       Bilingual 2030

·       The case of the two Michaels from Canada that were kidnapped by China

·       How China conducted a series of missile tests in the waters surrounding Taiwan, including the Taiwan Strait in 1995 in response to President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to Cornell University and in 1996 before Taiwan’s first direct presidential election

·       What China would need to do in order to successfully invade Taiwan

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/sean-su-observations-on-election-day-2024-from-kaohsiung-taiwan-ep-272/

Talking Taiwan is taking the show on the road back to Taiwan on the Talking Taiwan Election Tour and we traveled down to Taichung on January 7th to meet up in person with political commentator Courtney Donovan Smith, to do some pre-election coverage. We talked about the backgrounds of the three presidential candidates Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) nominee, Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the Kuomintang (KMT) nomineeand their running mates, the opposition unity ticket between the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party that fell apart.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/background-of-taiwan-presidential-candidates-2024-political-analyst-courtney-donovan-smiths-rundown-for-upcoming-election-ep-271/

At one time it looked like Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election could have been a four-way race but Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn who withdrew from the presidential race. To learn more about the candidates and their policies be sure to check out episode 270 with Courtney about the presidential debate. After the election results are in, we will bring Courtney back to share his post-election results analysis with us.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The background of TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je

·       How Taiwan has a lot of politicians with medical backgrounds

·       The background of DPP presidential candidate Lai-Ching-te

·       The DPP campaign video” On the way” featuring Tsai Ing-wen, Lai Ching-te and Bi-khim Hsiao

·       The background of KMT presidential candidate Hou You-yi

·       Hou You-yi’s background as a police officer

·       The background of Jaw Shau-kong the KMT vice presidential candidate

·       The background of Bi-Khim Hsiao the DPP vice presidential candidate

·       The background of Cynthia Wu the TPP vice presidential candidate

·       Some of the controversies and allegations involving the presidential candidates

·       What happened to Terry Gou founder of Foxconn who withdrew from Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/background-of-taiwan-presidential-candidates-2024-political-analyst-courtney-donovan-smiths-rundown-for-upcoming-election-ep-271/

On December 30th  there was a debate held between Taiwan’s three presidential candidates Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the Kuomintang (KMT) nominee and Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) nominee. The three candidates started with eight minutes each to present their candidacy, that was followed by a media question answer session, and then in the second half each candidate had a chance to question each other. I sat down and spoke with political commentator Courtney Donovan Smith who shared his thoughts and observations about the debate.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-presidential-debate-2024-political-analyst-courtney-donovan-smiths-insights-on-the-upcoming-election-ep-270/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How candidates were doing at the polls at the time of this interview was recorded (December 30, 2023)

·       How undecided voters could influence the outcome of the presidential election

·       How Courtney calculates the Taiwan News Poll of Polls

·       How the presidential candidates performed in the first policy forum in comparison to the presidential debate

·       The 60-70% of what was covered during the debate was related to China

·       The second issue covered during the debate was properties owned by the three candidates

·       Little time was spent on domestic issues like Taiwan’s low birth rate, and energy

·       Each candidate’s position on China and how they would handle relations with China

·       Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je and Lai Ching-te’s take on the 1992 Consensus

·       How from China’s point of view, the 1992 Consenus includes acceptance of the One China principle

·       How Hou You-yi wants to bring back the cross strait services pact

·       Courtney’s opinion of the cross strait services pact

·       How Ko Wen-je wants to pass the cross strait oversight bill

·       During the debate Ko Wen-je claimed that the Sunflower Movement was a protest against black box political dealings and not a protest of the services trade pact, when it in fact was a protest about both black box political dealings and the services trade pact

·       Each of the presidential candidate’s position on national defense spending

·       Each of the presidential candidate’s position on extending or shortening military service

·       The candidate’s policies on housing, death penalty and energy and nuclear power plants in Taiwan

·       How Taiwan’s energy reserves are a matter of national security

·       If younger voters care more about domestic issues or the China issue

·       Courtney’s thoughts on watching Taiwan Plus’ broadcast of the debate with simultaneous English translation

·       How Hou You-yi spoke some Taiwanese during the policy forum, debate

·       The Kuomintang’s strategy behind picking Jaw--- as the vice presidential candidate

·       How the KMT put Han Kuo-yu in the number one slot on their party list, which indicated that he is probably their candidate for the legislative speaker

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-presidential-debate-2024-political-analyst-courtney-donovan-smiths-insights-on-the-upcoming-election-ep-270/

Here we are again… at the end of another year and we’re getting ready to reveal the top 5 Talking Taiwan episodes of 2023!

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-top-5-episodes-of-2023-end-of-year-review/

We want to take a moment to especially thank all those who have supported and donated to the Talking Taiwan Election Tour. So far we have raised 40% of our overall fundraising goal of $25,000. Because of your support we will be heading to Taiwan in January to cover the presidential election and also producing additional episodes in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.

We’re also grateful to all of our amazing guests and want to thank each and every one for being a part of the Talking Taiwan podcast.

Stay tuned for the first new episode of the New Year featuring political commentator Courtney Donovan Smith sharing his analysis of Taiwan’s presidential debate.

Soon Talking Taiwan will be taking the show on the road to Taiwan for the Talking Taiwan Election Tour. We’ll be covering Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election with pre-election coverage and a post-election discussion. Plus, we’ll be traveling to Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung and producing additional episodes related to these 3 major cities.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of 2023 and a Happy New Year!

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-top-5-episodes-of-2023-end-of-year-review/

With the presidential election in Taiwan fast approaching (on January 13, 2024). We thought it would be a good time to discuss disinformation related to Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election with Summer Chen, the Editor-in-Chief of Taiwan FactCheck Center and Wei-Ping Li, a research fellow at Taiwan FactCheck Center.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-factcheck-center-discussing-the-disinformation-related-to-taiwans-2024-presidential-election-ep-268

We also talked about disinformation that circulated in 2020 around the time of Taiwan’s presidential election and the United States’ presidential election, TFC’s work to combat the spread of disinformation and how the general public can prevent themselves from falling prey to fake news by creating something called a trust circle.

Taiwan FactCheck Foundation (TFC) is a non-profit/non- government organization jointly established by the Association for Quality Journalism and Taiwan Media Watch Foundation in April 2018. In December 2020, TFC legally registered as an independent foundation, Taiwan FactCheck Foundation.

As COVID-19 first broke out in China, TFC was the first fact-checking organization to alert the potential disinformation threat to the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in January 2020, which led to the launch of the biggest ever fact-checking project, CoronaVirusFacts Alliance. The alliance unites more than 100 fact-checkers across the globe and has published more than 10,000 fact-checks surrounding the pandemic.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The difference between the terms disinformation and misinformation

·       Disinformation that was spread about Taiwan’s government donating US $200 million to Israel

·       How Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has joined Facebook’s third party fact checking program and what that means

·       The difference between a journalist and fact checking organization (or between the media and a fact checking organization)

·       How TFC collaborates with tech Facebook, Google and messaging apps like LINE (which is popular in Taiwan)

·       TFC is certified by the IFCN (International Fact Checking Network)

·       What TFC when disinformation or posts go viral

·       How people can file a claim or report to debunk or fact check something they see on social media or a messaging app

·       How people in Taiwan have become aware of suspicious information after having experienced disinformation that happened during the elections in 2018, 2020 and 2023

·       The Cofacts chatbot that people can use to report disinformation in Taiwan

·       Fact checking sites that people in Taiwan can use such at MyGoPen

·       Disinformation related to 2020 elections in Taiwan that TFC debunked

·       TFC was published a disinformation playbook

·       How disinformation that could impact Taiwan’s presidential election in January has been spread several months in advance

·       The misinformation and disinformation observed during Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election

·       How disinformation related to Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election on Facebook and LINE disappeared around December 25th when Wuhan went under lockdown

·       Disinformation about the 2020 U.S. presidential election that floated into Taiwan’s LINE and Facebook groups

·       How there will be several elections in several different countries around the world in 2024, and the challenge this poses for fact checkers

·       How it is difficult to confirm the origin of disinformation

·       How misleading information makes it into Taiwan’s social media networks, message boards and get picked up by journalists and reported as news

·       How Taiwan FactCheck Center has hosted workshops for journalists to educate them about how to do fact checking

·       Concerns about AI for fact checkers

·       The responsibility of media owners and companies to maintain the quality of journalism

·       The role of AI in creating disinformation

·       How to debunk AI generated disinformation

·       How people can evaluate the trustworthiness of information by having several different sources of information and a circle trusted sources and individuals that they can check in with

·       Reliable fact checking sites

·       The accuracy and reliability of Wikipedia

Help us Get the Show on the Road by Supporting the Talking Taiwan Election Tour!

Support Talking Taiwan: https://talkingtaiwan.com/support/

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/building-talking-taiwans-legacy/donate

PayPal: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Zelle: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

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Checks can be made payable to Talking Taiwan and sent to:

Talking Taiwan

PO Box 1049

New York, NY 10113

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-factcheck-center-discussing-the-disinformation-related-to-taiwans-2024-presidential-election-ep-268/

These days Taiwan is known to be the most free and democratic country in Asia, but it wasn’t always that way. It’s hard to imagine that Taiwan has had a very dark period of history during which there was massive censorship. At one time Taiwan had the longest period of martial law in the world at 38 years. During the martial law period from 1949 to 1987, and the White Terror era that extended beyond the lifting of Taiwan’s martial law, there was no freedom of speech, expression or thought, and advocating for the independence of Taiwan was a crime punishable by death. This episode examines how Taiwan’s transformation from an authoritarian state to a democracy, has impacted Taiwan’s media environment.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-wei-ping-li-how-taiwans-media-environment-changed-from-martial-law-era-to-present/

I spoke with Wei-Ping Li about the laws and mechanisms of the censorship from Taiwan’s martial law era and the impact it had on Taiwan’s media environment, and how Taiwan’s media environment had changed since then.

Wei-Ping is speaking in a personal capacity (as a media scholar who studied Taiwanese media) and the views expressed in this interview were all her own personal opinions.

About Wei-Ping Li

Wei-Ping Li is a research fellow at Taiwan FactCheck Center. She collaborates with fact-checkers to monitor disinformation trends in Taiwan and produces analysis reports for both English and Chinese audiences. Her English analyses are published in Taiwan FactCheck Center's biweekly newsletter "TFC Disinfo Detector."

Li received her Ph.D. degree at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include propaganda, social media content moderation, free speech challenges faced by democratic countries, and privacy issues in the digital era. She has published scholarly articles in academic journals, books, and law reviews.

Before pursuing an academic career, she offered consulting services on digital human rights in Asia. She also worked as a journalist for media outlets in Taiwan for several years. She earned her LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and has been admitted to the practice of law in New York State.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Wei-Ping’s previous career in journalism that started in 2001

·       How Wei-Ping was one of the speakers in a discussion about America Skepticism Theory organized by GTI (Global Taiwan Institute)

·       How Taiwan is currently the most free and democratic country in Asia

·       Taiwan has had the second longest period of martial law in world history, and a dark period of extreme censorship and authoritarianism during and after martial law was lifted in 1987

·       The restrictions, and laws of Taiwan’s martial law era included two tracks one was martial law and the other was called The Period of Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion

·       The mechanisms that enforced the restrictions, and laws of Taiwan’s martial law era, such as publishing laws, Article 100 of the Criminal Code and the Betrayers Punishment Act

·       Bans on the media, newspapers, songs, films, books

·       Why Mark Twain’s book, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the wuxia novels of Jin Yong were previously banned in Taiwan

·       Some of the bureaus and departments that enforced censorship laws include: Taiwan Garrison Command, Information Bureau, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior, Council for Overseas Communities

·       How the Kuomintang extended their censorship to newspapers issued overseas

·       How private correspondence was monitored and surveilled

·       How the Kuomintang was trying to build a comprehensive mechanism of censorship in the 1950s

·       After martial law was lifted in Taiwan the government imposed a National Security Law

·       How it took the efforts of many advocates and advocates to break up the barriers and restrictions to gain more freedom

·       The Period of Mobilization Law was lifted in 1991by President Lee Teng-hui and the bans on newspapers were lifted in 1988

·       How in 1989 (a year after bans on newspapers were lifted) Cheng Nan-jung, the publisher of the Freedom Era Weekly or New Era Weekly barricaded himself in his office and set himself on fire in protest against the restriction of media freedom

·       The nature of the bans on newspapers that were lifted

·       How Criminal Code Article 100 did not allow people to advocate for Taiwan independence, or criticize high ranking officials or presidents

·       The article written by Cheng Nan-jung in 1987 that criticized the authorities’ methods of restricting freedom of speech

·       Topics that the Freedom Era Weekly addressed included the health of President Chiang Ching-kuo, power struggles inside the intelligence bureaus

·       The police that tried to arrest Chen Nan-jung on April 7, 1989 was headed by Hou You-yi, who is the KMT’s presidential candidate for Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election

·       How the Taiwan Independence Association led the repeal of the Betrayers Punishment Act, and amendment of Criminal Code Article 100

·       In 1998 Taiwan’s constitutional court made a decision that advocating for Taiwan independence is no longer a crime

·       How Taiwan’s history has affected its media environment

·       The trauma of censorship on the Taiwanese

·       Taiwan’s current media environment

·       Taiwan’s ranking on the World Press Freedom Index

·       Challenges in Taiwan’s current media environment

·       The self-censorship of businesses with close ties to China

·       How disinformation could flow into Taiwan through PTT (Taiwan’s bulletin board system)

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-wei-ping-li-how-taiwans-media-environment-changed-from-martial-law-era-to-present/

Our deepest apologies.

Listen to find out why.

And looking ahead to 2024, we are making some changes.

January 13, 2024 is not just the date of Taiwan’s presidential election; seats for the Legislative Yuan will also be elected on that day.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-foun-chung-fan-the-quest-to-get-out-the-vote-for-lai-chuing-te-for-the-taiwan-presidential-election-2024/

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Dr. Fan, the Coordinator of the Overseas William Lai (Lai Ching-te) for President Committee.

We talked about why he’s supporting Lai Ching-te and two grassroots efforts that are being organized get out the vote for Lai Ching-te and his vice presidential running mate Bi-khim Hsiao. The DPP has had a history of coming up with creative, innovative, grassroots campaign tactics for its presidential candidates. Dr. Fan also shared his perspective on the other two presidential candidates and why the election for the Legislative Yuan is just as important as the presidential election.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·

·       Dr. Fan’s background and how he got interested and involved in Taiwan’s political situation

·       How the Kaohsiung incident happened not long after Dr. Fan had gone to the United States

·       How he met Trong Chai and  Peng Ming-min and came to understand more about Taiwan’s situation

·       How Dr. Fan started meeting with U.S. senators and congressmen and tried to put pressure on Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo to give the people of Taiwan the right to assemble and to remove the black list

·       The presidential election in Taiwan is especially important since China’s President, Xi Jinping, is no longer subject to any term limits

·       That Taiwan should not fall into the hands of a party friendly with China

·       How the Kuomintang (during the presidency of Ma Ying-jeou) advocated for Chinese students to be allowed to come to work in Taiwan, to shorten military service from one year to four months

·       How if a comparison of Ma Ying-jeou’s presidency with Tsai Ing-wen’s, will show that the  tock market, economy and national GDP improved under Tsai Ing-wen

·       How China is using the 1992 Consensus as the basis for its One China Policy

·       How Xi Jinping has said that Taiwan will be unified with China

·       Whether called Republic of China, or Taiwan, Xi Jinping considers it Taiwan independence

·       Dr. Fan’s opinions of William Lai (Lai Ching-te) and Bi-khim Hsiao

·       Why Dr. Fan is supporting William Lai (Lai Ching-te) and Bi-khim Hsiao

·       How Lai Ching-te served as the mayor of Tainan and got re-elected with 70 percent vote

·       The qualifications of William Lai (Lai Ching-te) and Bi-khim Hsiao

·       Dr. Fan’s thoughts on TTP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je and KMT presidential candidate Hou You-yi:

·       How the KMT could support the legislator Ma Wen-chun who leaked national security information related to Taiwan’s development of submarines

·       Two events being organized to encourage people to get out and vote for Lai Ching-te and Bi-khim Hsiao

·       On December 13an event is being organized for people in the U.S.  to make phone calls back to Taiwan urging people to vote on January 13

·       How the January 13 election is not only for Taiwan’s President but also for the Legislative Yuan

·       The importance of the election for the Legislative Yuan

·       How in 2006 the KMT blocked passage of budget for the sale of submarines from the U.S. to Taiwan

·       How people can participate in the phone call effort privately on their own by calling people within their own personal circles

·       How the DPP has used creative, grassroots campaign to promote their candidates

·       The merchandise created for the DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian and Tsai Ing-wen to fundraise

·       The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally that helped Chen Shui-bian get elected in 2004

·       Team Taiwan theme songs and merchandise

·       The slogans used for the Lai-Hsiao ticket

·       Overseas voters and supporters of Lai and Hsiao are encouraged to participate in the January 8th event at National Taiwan University which will involve a press conference to showcase overseas support for Lai and Hsiao

·       The overseas voters include people from the east and west coast of the US, Taiwanese associations, and groups from Thailand, Japan, East Asia, West Europe, East Europe, and South America, and a Hakka group

·       The January 8th event aims to encourage people to get out and vote

·       How people can do their part to get out the vote even after December 13 by calling and asking others to vote on January 13

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-foun-chung-fan-the-quest-to-get-out-the-vote-for-lai-chuing-te-for-the-taiwan-presidential-election-2024/

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Hsin-Tai Wu (吳欣岱), a member of the Taiwan Statebuilding party. We talked about how and why she went from being a cardiovascular surgeon to joining the Taiwan Statebuilding party and becoming a politician, the background and goals of the Taiwan Statebuilding party, and how the party was instrumental in the recall of Han Kuo-yu as the mayor of Kaohsiung, after he ran as the Kuomintang presidential candidate in Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/hsin-tai-wu-from-cardiovascular-surgeon-to-joining-the-taiwan-state-building-party-ep-264/

Hsin-Tai Wu is running for Taiwan’s legislature on January 13th, the same day as Taiwan’s presidential election, so we talked about the issues she cares about and her thoughts on the presidential hopefuls.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Hsin-Tai’s background and upbringing

·       How Hsin-Tai went from being a cardiovascular surgeon to a politician

·       The impeachment of Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu

·       How Hsin-Tai became a member of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party

·       The anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong in 2019

·       Han Kuo-yu was the Kuomintang presidential candidate in Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election

·       The background of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and how it was founded

·       Taiwan’s attempt to enter the WHO in 2003

·       When Hsin-Tai Wu joined the Taiwan Statebuilding Party

·       What happened in Kaohsiung after Han Kuo-yu became the mayor

·       Why Han Kuo-yu was recalled as the mayor of Kaohsiung

·       How Han Kuo-yu as the mayor of Kaohsiung said he wouldn’t run for president but then after serving three months as mayor he was nominated and later became the KMT candidate for Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election

·       Han Kuo-yu’s proposals

·       The outcome of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election

·       The procedure to recall a mayor

·       The outcome of the recall vote

·       What it’s been like for Hsin-Tai Wu switching from being a cardiovascular surgeon to a politician and member of the Taiwan Statebuilding party

·       The goals and principles of the Taiwan Statebuilding party

·       Problems with the Kuomintang

·       The Brazilian egg issue that led the Minster of Agriculture in Taiwan to resign

·       The problem with Taiwan’s state system, the Republic of China

·       How China is using UN Resolution to say that Taiwan is a part of China

·       The confusion caused by Taiwan’s official name the Republic of China

·       Bills drafted by the Taiwan Statebuilding party

·       Issues that Hsin-tai cares about

·       China’s interference in Taiwan’s presidential election

·       how a possible opposition alliance in between the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election would have used polls to determine who would be the presidential candidate- the Kuomintang’s (KMT) candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) or the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲)

·       Hsin-Tai’s thoughts on the 2024 presidential hopefuls Terry Guo, Ko Wen-je, Hou Yu-ih, Lai Ching-te

·       Challenges faced by the Taiwan Statebuilding party

Help us Get the Show on the Road by Supporting the Talking Taiwan Election Tour!

Support Talking Taiwan: https://talkingtaiwan.com/support/

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/building-talking-taiwans-legacy/donate

PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/zn3zm9ux

Zelle: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/talkingtaiwan

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/hsin-tai-wu-from-cardiovascular-surgeon-to-joining-the-taiwan-state-building-party-ep-264/

We’ve got some big news for you! Talking Taiwan is taking the show on the road, back to Taiwan. Kaju and I are planning to be back there during the upcoming presidential election on January 13th. We will be doing election coverage and in-person interviews with some of our most popular guests, and new guests who are based in Taiwan. In order to do all that we want to do, we are going to have to do some fundraising and crowdfunding. Hear what we have planned and to learn how you can support the Talking Taiwan Election Tour!

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-election-tour-2024-taking-the-show-on-the-road-ep-263/

Help us get the show on the road as we take the Talking Taiwan podcast back to Taiwan just in time for the presidential election on January 13th. There’s never been a better time for us to do this! The presidential election comes around once every 4 years. We want to take this opportunity to showcase Taiwan’s young vibrant democracy and to do some in-person episodes with guests who are based in Taiwan.

We’re calling it our “Talking Taiwan Election Tour” campaign. We plan to do several election coverage episodes with Courtney Donovan Smith, who is a seasoned political commentator, Taiwan News columnist, ICRT correspondent, and has frequently appeared on Taiwan Plus News, and on the Taiwan Plus Taiwan Talks show. We’re planning to meet with Courtney in Taichung to do a live in-person episode there. 

During this trip we are not only going to be in Taipei and Taichung but we plan to also travel down to Kaohsiung. We’ll be doing coverage and meeting with special guests from northern, central and southern Taiwan. I’m looking forward to meeting some of our past guests in-person for the very first time. Speaking of meeting people in person… 

While we are in Taiwan there will be two special in-person gatherings organized for Talking Taiwan, one at the Pic Collage Office, thanks to John Fan, and another gathering will be held at 4SC CrossFit’s Xindian Branch, thanks to T.H. Schee. 

PLEASE NOTE: GoFundMe donors will not be eligible to attend these in-person gatherings, due to GoFundMe’s rules and regulations which state that 1) fundraisers that offer perks or rewards to donors aren’t allowed and 2) no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions may be offered in exchange for any donations made to your GoFundMe.

If you’d like a special invitation to one of these in-person gatherings with us in Taipei, make sure you make your donation via Paypal: https://tinyurl.com/zn3zm9ux, Zelle, Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/talkingtaiwan, or personal check and provide us with your email address.

Our goal is to raise $25,000 to cover all expenses for the “Talking Taiwan Election Tour” like air fare, accommodations, travel within the island, transporting all of our equipment and other incidentals. We are setting a deadline of December 31st to raise money for this trip. 

We’re off to a great start because we are starting off with a Matching Donation Pledge of $5,000 offered by Patrick Huang. This means the first $5,000 we raise will be automatically doubled to $10,000 and we’ll be nearly halfway to reaching our fundraising goal. 

During this campaign we will be completely transparent in publicly listing the names of donors and the amounts donated, however if you’d like to be kept anonymous, you can indicate this when you donate on GoFundMe or inform us at the time of your donation via email at talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com. The tally for “Talking Taiwan’s Election Tour” will be shown on the Talking Taiwan website and on our GoFundMe page the count will begin after $19,129. So we will need to reach a total of $44,129 on GoFundMe.

There are some other ways that you can support us. You can donate/offer housing during our stay, or donate airline tickets, or hook us up with discounted airfares.  

We’ll be sure to share more exciting news and announcements as the campaign progresses. So stay tuned for more updates from us. 

We are so grateful for our growing listenership and want to thank you to all of our listeners, past, present and future. It’s thanks to you and all of our supporters and donors that make what we do possible. 

So help us get this show on the road. And raise the money by December 31st!

Support Talking Taiwan: https://talkingtaiwan.com/support/

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/building-talking-taiwans-legacy/donate

PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/zn3zm9ux

Zelle: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/talkingtaiwan

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-election-tour-2024-taking-the-show-on-the-road-ep-263/

This interview with photographer, filmmaker Gao Yuan was originally part of episode 260 about coincidences connected with the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house, Building 7B on New York’s Governors Island, which has affectionately come to be called the Taiwan house. The Taiwanese American Arts Council was selected to be an Organization in Residence on Governors Island this year from May to October and was also the only Asian organization on Governors Island this past year. In this episode I’ll be talking with Gao Yuan about her short film Between Us which deals with the conflict between the indigenous and Hakka in southern Taiwan, and also how Gao Yuan uncovered a surprising connection to Taiwan that actually came knocking on the door of TAAC’s house Building 7B.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/gao-yuan-her-occidental-journey-to-becoming-a-photographer-and-filmmaker-ep-262/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Gao Yuan’s background

·       How Gao Yuan got into photography

·       Gao Yuan’s short film, Between Us

·       The significance of the river in Gao Yuan’s short film, Between Us

·       Gao Yuan’s approach to photography and filmmaking

·       How Gao Yuan started photographing people with tattoos

·       How many of the tattooed people Gao Yuan photographed in Taiwan were part of the mafia or considered gangsters

·       Gao Yuan’s short film, Ocean, tattoo, and bar

·       How Gao Yuan met Commander Douglas Stevenson who previously lived at the Taiwan house (Building 7B) with his family and his connection to Taiwan

·       The short documentary film the Gao Yuan made about the Douglas Stevenson Family

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/gao-yuan-her-occidental-journey-to-becoming-a-photographer-and-filmmaker-ep-262/

Abigail Hing Wen was recently in New York for the launch of her latest YA book Loveboat Forever, the third book in her Loveboat trilogy. We caught up with her at her book launch and she stopped by our podcast studio for a quick visit.

If you’re a long-time listener of Talking Taiwan you may remember when we interviewed Abigail (who’d just become a New York Times bestselling author) about her first YA novel of this series, Loveboat Taipei in episode 67.

We’ll be having Abigail back on Talking Taiwan at a later date for a more in-depth interview.

 Related Links:

This is an episode about coincidences connected with the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house, building 7B on New York’s Governors Island, which has affectionately come to be called the Taiwan house. The Taiwanese American Arts Council was selected to be an organization in residence on Governors Island this year from May to October and was also the only Asian organization on Governors Island this past year. In this episode I’ll be speaking with Andrea Coronil and Gao Yuan two of the many artists in residence at the Taiwan house.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/andrea-coronil-and-gao-yuan-on-riding-waves-tattoos-and-uncanny-connections-to-taiwan-house-7b-ep-260/

First, we’ll hear from artist Andrea Coronil about the concept behind her exhibit “To Ride the Waves of Turtle Island” and how she didn’t realize its connection to Taiwan.

Next, we’ll hear from photographer, filmmaker Gao Yuan about her short film Between Us which deals with the conflict between the indigenous and Hakka in southern Taiwan, and also how Gao Yuan uncovered a surprising connection to Taiwan that actually came knocking on the door of TAAC house, building 7B.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         How Andrea came up with the concept of her solo show at the Taiwan House, To Ride the Waves of Turtle Island

·         The Turtle Island aka La Tortuga of Venezuela

·         Turtle Island the name for North America used by some indigenous peoples and the creation story that the Lenape and Ojibwe have that involves a turtle

·         Taiwan’s Turtle Island

·         Pears and oysters, and their connection to the Caribbean and Governors Island

·         Andrea’s connection to Venezuela

·         What “riding the waves” means to Andrea

·         Andrea’s artwork titled “We Wore Pearls First”

·         Andrea’s painting titled “We Took Refuge in the Mountains” and Berta Cáceres

·         How Gao Yuan got into photography

·         The significance of the river in Gao Yuan’s short film Between Us

·         Gao Yuan’s approach to photography and filmmaking

·         How Gao Yuan started photographing people with tattoos

·         How many of the tattooed people Gao Yuan photographed in Taiwan were part of the mafia or considered gangsters

·          How Gao Yuan met Commander Douglas Stevenson who previously lived at the Taiwan house (Building 7B) with his family and his connection to Taiwan

·         The short documentary film the Gao Yuan made about the Douglas Stevenson Family

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/andrea-coronil-and-gao-yuan-on-riding-waves-tattoos-and-uncanny-connections-to-taiwan-house-7b-ep-260/

As Kaju announced that I’d be interviewing Jilliyeah in the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park, he mentioned the memorable acceptance speech that Jilliyeah made at last year’s Grammy awards on behalf of the Taiwanese designers who won the Best Recording Package Grammy award for the album Pakelan.  Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jilliyeah-taiwanese-pop-singer-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-259/

A lot has happened for her since then. Now she’s in the U.S. working on her career as a singer and musician.

I’m looking forward to having her back on Talking Taiwan for a more in-depth interview.

She’s been hard at work releasing her new singles. To learn more about her follow her on Instagram at Jilliyeah. You can also find her music on most streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music or SoundCloud.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Her performance at the Passport to Taiwan

·       Her music career in Taiwan

·       How she used to sing primarily in Hakka in Taiwan and the difference between singing in Hakka vs. English

·       Jilliyeah’s connection to Taiwan

·       What she misses the most about Taiwan

·       What Jilliyeah has been working on lately

·       How Jilliyeah studied opera when she was in university

·       What vocal exercises she does

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/jilliyeah-taiwanese-pop-singer-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-259/

The Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) and the Yale CHATogether Group have collaborated on the NYC Art Bridge program. Several of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island, Building 7B, which has affectionately come to be called the Taiwan house, have participated in the NYC Art Bridge program and created artwork for it. In this episode I will be speaking to Luchia Meihua Lee, the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council, Dr. Eunice Yuen, Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center, and LuLu Meng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program. We previously had Dr. Eunice Yuen on Talking Taiwan in episode 93 to talk about CHATogether (Compassionate Home Action, Together). Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/nyc-art-bridge-how-taac-and-chatogether-are-winning-at-achieving-emotional-wellness-through-art-ep-258/

There will be a closing ceremony for the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island this Saturday, October 28 at 2:00pm. As a special treat Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner,Tenor Saxophonist. If you are in the New York area we hope to see you there at Building 7B located in Governors Island’s Nolan Park.

Luchia Meihua Lee, Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council

Eunice Yuen, MD, PhD. Founder and Director of CHATogether, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and Yale Child Study Center

LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who participated in the NYC Art Bridge program

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         The concept behind NYC Art Bridge and its connection to CHATogether

·         How NYC Art Bridge connects mental health with the arts

·         How graphic media, illustration and other visual art can be used as tools to discuss mental health

·         Through NYC Art Bridge there have been talks with the community, AAPI artists, a community art exhibition

·         The two community NYC Art Bridge events that have been held on April 29 at the Queens Community College and on September 16 at the Taiwan house (on Governors Island)

·         The CHATogether component of the NYC Art Bridge events and how it facilitated discussion among the audience

·         The three parts of NYC Art Bridge: 1) an art exhibit  2) workshop, artist talks, role play, conversation with mental health professionals 3) artist interviews

·         The purpose of the artist interviews

·         How NYC Art Bridge serves to bridge artistic work with child and family mental health

·         How art can be a powerful form of expression or communication without words

·         How CHATogether use theater as a medium to destigmatize mental health and make people feel more comfortable to talk about mental health

·         How CHATogether has components of drama therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy

·         How CHATogether and NYC Art Bridge will be presented at AACAP (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) on October 25 and what will be presented there

·         Pages from the graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family are displayed at the Taiwan house

·         The graphic novel, Healing the Whole Family, that was based on a New York Times article written by CHATogether member Grace Chiang

·         The illustration artwork of Elaine Shin (a psychiatry resident from, Northwestern University) is displayed at the Taiwan house

·         LuLu Meng, one of the artists in residence at the Taiwan house who also participated in NYC Art Bridge

·         How LuLu went from being a chemical engineer to an artist

·         LuLu’s background and childhood in Taiwan

·         LuLu’s family portrait artwork piece

·         LuLu’s NYC Art Bridge interview and what it revealed

·         The artwork LuLu created for NYC Art Bridge

·         LuLu’s reflections and thoughts about the CHATogether workshop on April 29 at the Queens Community College

·         LuLu’s artwork that has been displayed at the Taiwan house and what inspired LuLu to create them

·         What being an artist means to LuLu

·         The closing ceremony of the Taiwan house (Building 7B in Governors Island’s Nolan Park) will feature a performance by Talking Taiwan’s very own Executive Producer Kaju, who will be performing as the artist Rad Jet at the closing ceremony with a special guest, Rico Jones, six-time Downbeat Magazine Award Winner, Tenor Saxophonist

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/nyc-art-bridge-how-taac-and-chatogether-are-winning-at-achieving-emotional-wellness-through-art-ep-258/

As a follow up to last week’s episode featuring my interview with General Yu, I invited Taipei Times columnist Michael Turton back on to Talking Taiwan to talk about the 1992 Consensus, a term that General Yu mentioned, and in the lead up to Taiwan’s presidential elections in January, the Kuomintang presidential candidate Hou Yi-ih brought it up. In the Related Links section below, we’ll share Michael’s Taipei Times article about the Kuomintang presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih’s support of the 1992 Consensus.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/michael-turton-tapei-times-columnist-talks-about-the-1992-consensus-ep-257/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between the Kuomintang (KMT) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) from which the term 1992 Consensus came

·        According to the KMT the two sides agreed that Taiwan was a part of China, but agreed to disagree on what China Taiwan was a part of

·       China insists that the One China principle means the People’s Republic of China

·       How Ma Ying-jeou, as Minister of Justice said that the People’s Republic of China wouldn’t accept any of the Kuomintang’s rational proposals, but later a president he said there was an agreement

·       How the KMT and PRC met throughout the 1990s until 1999 when President Lee Teng-hui described the relationship between Taiwan and China as state-to-state

·       The phrase 1992 Consensus doesn’t appear in the PRC until around 1997

·       The phrase 1992 Consensus became popular in 2000 around the time of Taiwan’s presidential election, which was a three-way race between Chen Shui-bian, Lien Chan and James Soong

·       How the KMT have tried to use the 1992 Consensus to put a cage around the Democratic Progressive Party’s foreign policy

·       The 1992 Consensus was an agreement reached between the unelected parties of two authoritarian states

·       After martial law was lifted in Taiwan it was replaced by something the KMT passed called the National Security Law, and pro-democracy dissidents were still jailed in Taiwan

·       In the 1990s there was a shift in the people of Taiwan’s sense of identity as Taiwanese and a growing confidence in democracy

·       How western writers in the 1950s and 60s thought that the KMT would be marginalized as Taiwan democratized

·       How the KMT used the 1992 Consensus to cage Chen Shui-bian’s foreign policy

·       How the KMT took the Republic of China out of the United Nations when recognition was switched from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China as the representative of China

·       How the PRC has set rules about the usage of the term “1992 Consensus” in its media

·       A MAC (Mainland Affairs Council) poll from October 2022 had a 80% rejecting the 1992 Consensus

·       A Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation poll last year showed that 67% of people reject the 1992 Consensus

·       How the term 1992 Consensus disappeared during President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration

·       Why the KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih brought up the 1992 Consensus

·       How it’s important to have balance so that one political party doesn’t too big or corrupt in Taiwan

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/michael-turton-tapei-times-columnist-talks-about-the-1992-consensus-ep-257/

I first heard about Yú Běichén (于北辰) otherwise known as “General Yu” at the Taiwanese American Conference in July where he was one of the most popular speakers. General Yu is a retired army general, and now a Taoyuan city councilor, He ran as an independent in the November 2022 elections. I was able to interview General Yu when he was in New York with translation assistance from Winston Liao. This interview would not have been possible without the help of Jacy Chen, Sue Kuo, and Winston Liao. And a very special thanks to Meiling Lin, my mother for her help not only with translation of the interview, but for her assistance with research and preparation for this episode. Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       General Yu’s upbringing and how he started his career in the military

·       How Taiwan has changed militarily during his 30-something years in the military

·       His thoughts on how to maintain peace for Taiwan

·       If people are willing and able to defend Taiwan if attacked by China

·       How China has invited Taiwanese soldiers, including General Yu to visit and has offered them favors and opportunities

·       The 2013 case of Hung Chung-chiu, who was a 24-year-old military conscript who died three days before the end of his compulsory military service and how General Yu was asked to step in after this incident and make some reforms

·       General Yu’s thoughts on the Sunflower Movement

·       General Yu’s comments and thought on presidential candidates who have suggested another cross-strait service and trade agreement

·       General Yu’s thought on the Kumointang and how it needs to change

·       The importance of Taiwan having a healthy, normal democracy

·       The veterans group that General Yu used be a director of

·       How General Yu’s identity shifted from seeing himself as Chinese to Taiwanese

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/

We met Tom Fifield when he was in New York City at Passport to Taiwan in May. The Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office had a booth there and he stopped by the Talking Taiwan podcast studio, but the recording conditions were less than ideal since we had a very loud generator nearby. We re-recorded the interview remotely a few months later. Tom talked about how he later became a gold card holder, what he enjoys about living in Taiwan and later became a citizen of Taiwan Tom Fifield works for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office at Taiwan's National Development Council. His main role is to lead a whole-of-government task-force to improve Taiwan's migration and foreign investment environment.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/tom-fifield-of-taiwan-gold-card-what-the-gold-card-is-and-why-you-would-want-one-ep-255/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How Tom is from Australia and what brought him to Taiwan initially

·       How Tom decided to move to Taiwan and to get Taiwan citizenship

·       The myth that foreigners who apply for Taiwan citizenship have to renounce their other citizenship

·       What Tom finds so livable about Taiwan

·       How Tom became a gold card holder and involved with the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office

·       Where the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office is located

·       The 10 industries eligible to apply for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card

·       Why someone should consider applying for the Taiwan Employment Gold card

·       The most difficult thing about applying for a Taiwan Employment Gold Card

·       What the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office does and offers

·       The Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office’s email address: help@taiwangoldcard.tw

·       How the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office opened in 2020 during COVID

·       How Taiwan was one of the few places in the world to have a net migration increase in 2020 during the COVID pandemic

·       What Taiwan Employment Gold Card holders have gone on to do and work on

·       How Tom also helps others to become naturalized citizens of Taiwan

·       Other options for those who don’t qualify for the Taiwan Employment Gold Card

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/tom-fifield-of-taiwan-gold-card-what-the-gold-card-is-and-why-you-would-want-one-ep-255/

This is our long overdue "About Us" episode Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-about-us-how-it-all-started-how-far-weve-come-and-where-we-are-going-ep-254/

In this long overdue About Us episode, Talking Taiwan’s producer and host Felicia Lin shares, in her own words, how she’s seen Taiwan transform, how Talking Taiwan got started, why she got involved with it, and who this podcast is for.

I may be dating myself, but I remember Taiwan still being under martial law. It wasn't until years after martial law was lifted (in 1987) that I made my first visit to Taiwan with my family. That's because there was something called the blacklist that kept certain overseas Taiwanese from being able to return to Taiwan.

And it wasn't until 1996 that Taiwan had its first direct presidential elections. This was also the time of the Third Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis, when China lobbed missiles across the Taiwan Strait as an intimidation tactic before Taiwan's first direct presidential election.

Four years later, in 2000, I remember the excitement over a three-way presidential race between Chen Shui-bian, Lien Chan, and James Soong. A few of my friends and I wanted to assess the different candidates, but it was hard to get English language sources on their backgrounds. It's hard to imagine that now because these days, Taiwan is known to be the most democratic country in Asia. But if you think about it, its democracy is not even three decades old. And the threat from China has only increased with daily incursions as it sends its military planes into Taiwan's ADIZ. That's a big part of why I do this podcast.

It's for the people who care about Taiwan.

Getting back to how this podcast got started. It was 2012 when Gus reached out to me about a podcast idea that he was working on, called Talking Taiwan. He was looking for a female voice talent, as he put it, to host the show and asked if I knew anyone. I didn't even know exactly what a podcast was at the time, nor did I know anyone I could recommend for the job.

But as I thought about it, I found myself coming up with all sorts of episode ideas, so I pitched myself as the host.  It was on a very auspicious day, October 31st of 2012, which also happens to be my birthday, and here in New York City we were in the midst of dealing with Hurricane Sandy, no less.

It was on that day that Gus and I exchanged messages on LinkedIn and agreed to start working on Talking Taiwan together. By the way, for those of you who don't know, Gus Adapon is the founder of Forumosa. com, which is why, in case you've ever wondered, the show's outro mentions that Talking Taiwan is brought to you by Forumosa.com.

So I became Talking Taiwan's host and learned the ropes and booked all the guests.

In the early years of Talking Taiwan, it was just a fun side project, and we didn't have a regular production schedule. Then in late 2018, Gus decided to step down and handed the podcast over to me. I stepped into the role of producer of the show, and I knew that if I wanted to restart Talking Taiwan, I needed to find someone to help me with the sound engineering and technical aspects of producing the podcast. So the show went into hiatus until Kaju decided to come on board right before the pandemic.

And then when the pandemic hit in March of 2020, he and I decided to commit to producing weekly episodes of Talking Taiwan, and we haven't looked back since. We covered many topics related to the pandemic, including Taiwan's, early response to the pandemic, and how Taiwan was the only place at one time where professional baseball games were being played in the world.

In 2021 Talking, Taiwan won a Golden Crane Award for best special Interest podcast. We remain committed more than ever to producing content that matters to people who care about Taiwan. You'll hear not only from interesting people from all walks of life who are connected to Taiwan in some way, but about historically relevant topics, current events, issues and news related to Taiwan, social movements, and topics we believe our listeners care about. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-about-us-how-it-all-started-how-far-weve-come-and-where-we-are-going-ep-254/

Taliyah Huang is the creator of Bobaway, an online translator that converts English text into a Taiwanese audio clip. She is a sophomore studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University. After months away at college Taliyah felt her Taiwanese was out of practice so she created Bobaway to get better at Taiwanese and converse fluently with her grandparents. In June she posted a YouTube video about how she created it. A lot has happened since then. She’s been interviewed by TaiwaneseAmerican.org and listed on the Taiwanese American Archives. Many generous donors have allowed her to continue running Bobaway and she’s purchased a domain for it so now you can use Bobaway at Bobaway.org.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taliyah-huang-young-inventor-of-bobaway-online-translator-that-converts-english-to-taiwanese-ep-253/

She’s continuing to work on improvements and additional features for BobaWay, but at much slower pace now that she’s busy with school. If you want to support her development of Bobaway visit her website ww.taliyahhuang.com.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       What motivated Taliyah to create Bobaway

·       How Taliyah got interested in technology

·       Taliyah’s first invention was a contraption to clean her flute

·       How Taliyah presented her first invention to US Vice President Mike Pence

·       Taliyah’s background and upbringing

·       Taliyah’s relationship with her grandparents

·       Taliyah’s favorite phrases in Taiwanese

·       How Taliyah learned to program and code

·       What Taliyah enjoys most about being an engineer

·       How Taliyah installed 100 different libraries and made 17 attempts to create Bobaway

·       How long it took Taliyah to create Bobaway

·       Why Taliyah decided to make and post a YouTube video showing how she created Bobaway

·       How Taliyah wants to inspire other young women to be interested in technology and engineering

·       Why Taliyah thinks it’s important for women to other women in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math)

·       What kept Taliyah going and how she was not able to give up on creating Bobaway

·       How long it took Taliyah to make the YouTube video about Bobaway

·       Where the name Bobaway comes from

·       What her parents and grandparents think about Bobaway

·       The attention and response that Bobaway has gotten

·       How Taliyah has been interviewed by Bao Dao Radio and Radio Taiwan and World Journal

·       How Taliyah grew up in California and is now on the East Coast attending Johns Hopkins University

·       Why Taliyah decided to attend Johns Hopkins and what it’s been like attending Johns Hopkins

·       Inventions that Taliyah is currently working on

·       Suggestions that Taliyah has gotten from people using Bobaway

·       Taliyah’s role models

·       How you can learn more about Taliyah and support her development of Bobaway

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/taliyah-huang-young-inventor-of-bobaway-online-translator-that-converts-english-to-taiwanese-ep-253/

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is the film director Arvin Chen. He just directed Love in Taipei, the film adaptation of Abigail Hing Wen’s bestselling YA novel Loveboat, Taipei. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/love-in-taipei-our-interview-with-award-winning-film-director-arvin-chen-ep-252/

If you’re a long-time listener of Talking Taiwan you may remember when I interviewed Abigail about her bestselling YA novel. That success was preceded by 12 years of writing and over 20 drafts of the novel. It was also in that episode that she announced that Loveboat, Taipei was going to be made into a film.

I remember watching her journey afterward on social media as the film was being shot in Taiwan during COVID. Arvin directed the film version of the book Love in Taipei and I had a chance to speak to him recently about the film.

Some of you may be familiar with some of Arvin’s other films, Au Revoir Taipei, Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and Mama Boy.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         The iconic scenes of Taipei that are captured in the film, Love in Taipei

·         What it was like shooting at the Grand Hotel because Arvin got married there

·         Some of Arvin’s favorite scenes from Love in Taipei

·         The challenges of shooting huge crowd scenes

·         Arvin’s favorite types of scenes to shoot

·         What it was like shooting in Taiwan during COVID

·         How the casting was an open call and what that process was like

·         How Arvin usually writes and directs his films, but Love in Taipei was adapted from the YA novel Loveboat Taipei and Arvin was not involved with the screen adaptation

·         Arvin’s directing approach to Love in Taipei

·         How to capture the essence of the Loveboat experience

·         The Loveboat program and what it is

·         Parallels between Arvin’s experience of going back to Taiwan in his 20s and that of the characters of the film Love in Taipei

·         What has changed and stayed the same about Taipei since Arvin went there to live and work in 2001

·         How Taiwanese food has been softly exported around the world

·         The music that was selected for Love in Taipei

·         The Mandarin Chinese language version of the Whitney Houston song, How Will I Know

·         The role of or choreography in Love in Taipei

·         How Ashley Liao had to learn modern dance moves in a matter of weeks for her role as Ever Wong

·         If anything unexpected happened during the filming of Love in Taipei

·         What Arvin likes about the romantic comedy genre

·         What it was like to co-write the script for Arvin’s latest film Mama Boy

·         Changes in the Taiwanese film industry over the last 20 years

·         How Taiwan has a thriving film industry because of commercial filmmaking and local film crews with technical know how to work on an American movie

·         How Arvin’s films could be someone’s introduction to Taiwan or a Taiwanese movie

·         Films that introduced Taiwan to Arvin and that Arvin would recommend people watch

·         A more recent Taiwanese film that Arvin would recommend

·         How working with film director Edward Yang influenced Arvin

·         How Arvin’s directing style differs from Edward Yang’s

·         What it is about Taipei that inspires Arvin

·         What Arvin has been working on and what we can expect from him in the future

·         What Arvin hopes that audiences come away with after watching Love in Taipei

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/love-in-taipei-our-interview-with-award-winning-film-director-arvin-chen-ep-252/

Dr. Jung Tsai is a retired surgeon. He had been in practice for nearly 50 years. He specialized in Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical association.

He was the commissioner and current consultant of OCAC 僑委會

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-jung-tsai-on-his-courageous-medical-mission-to-ukraine-for-taiwan-ep-251/

I met Dr. Jung Tsai nearly 15 years ago and in July I happened to run into him when I was at the New York Taiwan Center for an event. That’s when I learned that he was organizing a medical mission to Ukraine and asked if he’d talk with me about it for Talking Taiwan. Dr. Tsai is a retired surgeon, who’s been in practice for nearly 50 years. His specialty is Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical Association. He was also the commissioner and is currently a consultant of OCAC (僑委會).

Dr. Tsai has 15 years of experience going on medical missions with the North America Taiwanese Medical Association, but nothing could have prepared him for this undertaking which has been full of ups and downs. Despite it all, Dr. Tsai has single-handedly made it happen.

He and his team will be heading to Warsaw on August 29th and spending 10 days in Rivne, Ukraine. We be holding you and your team in our thoughts during this live saving, live changing mission and looking forward to your safe return.

Dr. Tsai’s courage is a reminder to focus on what really matters in life and not to give up even when things seem insurmountable.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Why Dr. Tsai decided to organize a medical mission to Ukraine

·       Dr. Tsai’s observation that people in Taiwan do not want to go to war with China

·       How Dr. Tsai went about organizing the medical mission to Ukraine

·       How Dr. Tsai had planned to bring a group of 25 but then people suddenly started dropping out

·       The concerns of people who dropped out of the medical mission and those who have committed

·       How the Minister of Health in Ukraine wrote a letter in support of Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to help get visas needed for the people coming from Taiwan

·       The challenges Dr. Tsai has faced in single-handedly organizing this mission

·       The group of 15 people who will be going on the medical mission to Ukraine; 13 medical professionals and 2 reporters from Formosa Television

·       The efforts of some people in Taiwan to help Ukraine

·        How the U.S. State department advised Dr. Tsai against going to Ukraine

·       The group will be in Rivne, Ukraine for 10 days from September 1-10

·       Afterward 5 of the group will go to Lithuania for a meeting

·       How the Baltic Way in 1989 inspired the 2004 Hand-in-Hand Rally in Taiwan

·       The first person to commit to joining Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to Ukraine

·       The logistics of procuring medical supplies, hiring a translator

·       How Dr. Tsai was interviewed by a New York Times reporter about the medical mission to Ukraine

·       How plans for the medical mission to Ukraine are constantly changing

·       Dr. Tsai’s thoughts on people’s fatigue about the war in Ukraine and people’s concerns over the U.S.’s support of Ukraine

·       How Dr. Tsai has saved the life of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party

·       How a young Ukrainian activist whose father has been captured by Russia contacted Dr. Tsai to thank him and ask to meet with him

·       How Dr. Tsai and his team will announce their medical mission to Ukraine at Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan on August 28

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-jung-tsai-on-his-courageous-medical-mission-to-ukraine-for-taiwan-ep-251/

On August 6th we stopped by the TaiwanFest at the Culture Lab in New York City’s Long Island City and what a treat it was!

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-at-culture-lab-a-night-market-comes-to-long-island-city-ep-250/

You may remember that back in April we stopped by the first TaiwanFest of the year which got rained out and talk about night and day! This time we were happy to see that there were long lines and many of the food vendors got sold out early. There were also vendors selling all sorts of things from trinkets to T-shirts. To learn more about the different vendors at TaiwanFest just visit their website at Taiwanfest.nyc. We’ve been to several of the TaiwanFest’s throughout New York City this summer but what made the one on the 6th really special was the live music, and since it ran from 3-9pm it really took on a night market like atmosphere by the end of the night.

I spoke to a few of the community organizations that were there, like the Hakka Association of New York and FASCA (Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors).

Borcheng, TaiwanFest’s organizer also talked about how TaiwanFest is bringing more of Taiwan to New York City.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       the Hakka Association of New York

·       the Hakka Association of New York’s Leicha experience at TaiwanFest

·       FASCA (Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors)

·       How TaiwanFest is bringing more of Taiwan to New York City

·       The musicians that performed at TaiwanFest on August 6th

·       The next TaiwanFest on August 26 will be a Bubble Tea Festival

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-at-culture-lab-a-night-market-comes-to-long-island-city-ep-250/

The Taiwanese American Arts Council (TAAC) has been selected to be an Organization in Residence on Governors Island from May to October of this year. The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house is at Building 7B in Nolan Park on New York’s Governors Island. There will be several artists in residence there. About 20 or 30 artists will use the studios there. Every month there’s something new to see and experience at the house. The art on exhibit is everchanging. Plus there are performances and other events. Altogether 40 artists will be involved. The Taiwanese American Arts Council is the only Asian organization on Governors Island this year.

Related Links:

 https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanese-american-arts-council-from-island-to-island-on-governors-island-ep-249/

In this episode you’ll learn about the theme of the house From Island to Island and what’s going to be happening at there in September.

Maxine Leu is a Taiwanese interdisciplinary artist who's living in New York.

Her work includes environmental and cultural issues.

Luchia Meihua Lee is the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council.

Ming-Jer Kuo (born in Taipei, Taiwan) is a New York-based artist. He had worked as an environmental engineer for eleven years and came to New York for art. He creates interdisciplinary visual art works based on his lens-based media experience, urban living interests and engineer’s analytic perspective.

Sarah Walko is an artist, director, curator and writer. She is currently the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Visual Art Center of New Jersey.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on New York’s Governors Island

·         Artist Maxine Leu and the inspiration behind her dandelion sculptures

·         Luchia Meihua Lee, the Executive Director of the Taiwanese American Arts Council explains the concept and meaning behind the theme of the TAAC’s house “From Island to Island”

·         Events and exhibits happening at the TAAC house in September

·         Ming-Jer Kuo’s background, what inspires his art, and what he’ll have on exhibit in the group show in September at house at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island building 7B

·         What inspires Sarah Walko’s art and some of her pieces that were on exhibit at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house on Governors Island building 7B

Related Links:

 https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanese-american-arts-council-from-island-to-island-on-governors-island-ep-249/

I met Stan Kwiatkowski, better known as YouTuber Stan from Poland 斯坦-波蘭ê台灣囡仔, at this year’s Taiwanese American Conference where he was one of the speakers. His YouTube channel now has over 200,000 subscribers. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the first thing you’ll notice after going to his YouTube channel is how fluently he speaks Mandarin Chinese in practically all of the videos. The content that Stan and his wife produce for their YouTube channel consists of political commentary, interviews and news with a focus on topics related to Taiwan’s political situation and security. Stan also has some English videos on the Love Taiwan YouTube channel. We’ll share links to both of these YouTube channels on TalkingTaiwan.com for this episode.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/stan-from-poland-youtuber-covers-political-commentary-interviews-and-news-of-taiwan-ep-248/

I interviewed Stan in person when he was in New York in July. We started off talking about some of the key dates in Taiwan’s history such as the 228 massacre of February 28, 1947, and ended up discussing his thoughts on Taiwan’s upcoming presidential elections in January of 2024. If you’d like to watch my interview with Stan, we will also be posting a video of it to Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel. Here’s our interview.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       How Stan got interested in Taiwan

·       How Stan started his YouTube channel which took five years to get up to 200,00 YouTube subscribers

·       Stan’s first YouTube video on his channel was about Poland’s independence day (November 11)

·       How there are parallels between the democratization of Poland and Taiwan

·       What brought Stan to Taiwan

·       What Stan’s time in Taiwan was like

·       Poland’s pursuit of independence in the early 20th century

·       The misperception that Poland was previously a communist country by the will of its people but the constitution was amended by Stalin

·       How Stan’s sees parallels between Poland’s democratization and Taiwan’s

·       How Stan and his wife’s perspectives shape the content they create for their YouTube channel

·       How a visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp opened up a conversation about Taiwan’s Green Island

·       Stan’s view of Taiwan before he came to Taiwan and how it’s changed

·       Stan’s upbringing and aptitude for languages

·       Poland’s anti-communist law

·       Stan has made about 10 videos about Poland’s transitional justice and democratization

·       The challenges to Taiwan’s transitional justice

·       The challenges Taiwan faces in reforming its constitution, official name of the country and anthem

·       How Stan’s YouTube channel reached its first milestone of 100,000 subscribers

·       How Stan has covered the topics of the how the World Health Organization won’t let Taiwan join as a member, how Taiwan developed its own vaccine, the National Security Law in Hong Kong, mafia affiliated YouTubers in Taiwan

·       Stan has livestreamed during the U.S. presidential elections and about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

·       The research that Stan does for his YouTube videos

·       How Stan hopes that his viewers learn not to believe in propaganda and that they will go deeper and do research, and consult difference sources of information/news

·       Stan tries to create 2 videos and do one livestream a week

·       How difficult it is to predict which YouTube videos will get more views

·       The most popular videos on Stan’s YouTube channel

·       What Stan has learned about himself from the experience of building his YouTube channel

·       How Stan also works as a freelance interpreter

·       Stan’s reflections on some of the people he’s interviewed:  General Yu, Miao Poya, Freddie Lim, Kira Rudyk

·       How more people are learning about and from Taiwan

·       Stan’s most pressing concerns about Taiwan

·       The different types of Chinese propaganda that is harmful to Taiwan

·       How Chinese propaganda and disinformation could impact the outcome of Taiwan’s elections

·       How Stan hopes more people will create content about Taiwan and debunking Chinese propaganda

·       Sources to learn about Taiwan that Stan recommends for people who don’t read Chinese

·       Stan’s thoughts on the fear of Taiwan being attacked by China

·       What Taiwan must do to protect itself from China’s attack

·       Stan’s thought on Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election in 2024

·       Why it’s important for people to vote in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election in 2024

·       Ko Wen-je and the Taiwan People’s Party

·       The Rally for Justice that happened in Taipei on July 16

·       The U.S. support of Taiwan

·       What happened when Stan asked random people in the streets of New York City whether or not the U.S. should support Taiwan

·       U.S. support of Taiwan vs. Vietnam

·       What is most rewarding and challenging about the work Stan does for his YouTube channel

·       Stan’s opinion of how the U.S. would react if China attacked Taiwan

·       How much longer Stan sees himself creating political commentary and news-related videos

·        Stan’s thoughts on Taiwan’s upcoming presidential elections (in January 2024)

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/stan-from-poland-youtuber-covers-political-commentary-interviews-and-news-of-taiwan-ep-248/

During the pandemic, Kaarina Chu Mackenzie turned to art to find a sense of home. What resulted were a series of paintings inspired by the Raohe Night Market in Taipei. That became an immersive art exhibit called The Night Market which ran at the Bobble Haus, a gallery, shop and event space in New York City’s Lower East Side. While the exhibit has closed, some of Kaarina’s artwork can still be seen until the end of this month at the “On The Way” art gallery and tea shop experience curated by Jocelyn Hu and Thomas Duh at 48 Hester St, in New York City.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/kaarina-chu-mackenzie-on-her-immersive-art-exhibit-the-night-market-ep-247/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         How the pandemic led Kaarina to focus more on creating paintings which later became part of an immersive art exhibit called The Night Market

·         How Kaarina designed the immersive art exhibit at the Bobble Haus

·         How she brought the night market experience to life at the opening reception of her art exhibit by and engaging all the senses through sound, light, and food

·         How the art that Kaarina created was also a reaction to the Asian hate that happened during the pandemic

·         How creating The Night Market exhibit was Kaarina’s way of creating a community for herself

·         How and why Kaarina paints on large life-sized canvases

·         How she hopes people feel when looking at her art

·         Kaarina’s connection to Taiwan and upbringing in China

·         Kaarina’s future plans for her night market series

·         How  Kaarina plans to explore her Taiwanese heritage and wants to use her art to create discourse and to connect with others

·         How Kaarina deals with people who challenge her about her identity

·         Kaarina’s advice for people who want to take the path of being an artist

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/kaarina-chu-mackenzie-on-her-immersive-art-exhibit-the-night-market-ep-247/

Chin Chih Yang stopped by the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan and we talked about his performance art and his 10-year project “Watch Us, Together We Can Do It” which he will be working on during his residency at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house, on New York’s Governors Island. The Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house, Building 7B is located in Noland Park on Governors Island.  In June, we went to Governors Island and spoke with Chin Chih after his first live outdoor performance of “Watch Us, Together We Can Do It”

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/chin-chih-yang-talks-about-his-unique-performance-art-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-246/

Chin Chih Yang is a Taiwanese multidisciplinary artist who has been inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame.

A full in-depth interview with Chin Chih will be released at a future date.

 Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The concepts and themes behind Chin Chih’s art

·       The performance aspect of Chin Chih’s art

·       Chin Chih’s interactive performance at the Queens Museum of Art opening in 2013, Invisible Love and Beauty

·       Chin Chih’s residency at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s house, located on Governors Island

·       Chin Chih’s long term project, “Watch Us, Together We Can Do It and the concept behind it

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/chin-chih-yang-talks-about-his-unique-performance-art-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-246/

Sam Lin is the New York-based veteran bubble tea shop owner who you heard from in episode 238 about bubble tea featuring Kristin McCoy-Ward. If you’re a bubble tea lover, that episode is definitely worth a listen, Kristen covered everything you’d ever want to know about bubble tea and more.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/bubble-tea-sam-from-quickly-to-coco-running-bubble-tea-shops-for-20-years-in-nyc-ep-245/

Sam talked to me about how he grew up in Taiwan eating tapioca in desserts, before there was even this thing called bubble tea. Consequently, he has some interesting thoughts on who invented bubble tea.

  He brought the Quickly bubble tea shop from Taiwan to New York in 2003, and looking back on his first year of running a bubble tea shop, he recalls the trials and tribulations and that he barely survived it. With perseverance and an improved understanding of how to run a bubble tea shop, Sam moved on from Quickly to opening and running Coco bubble tea shops. Sam now owns and operates 22 Coco bubble tea shops in New York, New Jersey and Boston.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      Sam’s connection to Taiwan

·      How Sam grew up eating tapioca before there was bubble tea

·      How Sam brought the Quickly bubble tea brand from Taiwan to New York in 2003

·      How Sam struggled during the first year of running his first Quickly bubble tea shop and later ran eight Quickly shops

·      Which tea shop in Taiwan invented bubble tea

·      The outcome of the 10-year lawsuit over who invented bubble tea Chun Shui Tang (tea shop in Taichung, Taiwan) or Hanlin (tea shop in Tainan, Taiwan)

·      How Sam got involved in opening and running Coco bubble tea shops and now runs 22 shops in New York, New Jersey and Boston

·      What affects the texture of tapioca balls (and makes them too hard or too soft)

·      How the bubble tea scene in New York has changed since Sam opened his firs bubble tea shop in 2003

·      How bubble tea is a relatively easy business to run compared to other restaurant or food-related businesses

·      How tapioca balls only last for 4 hours after being cooked

·      How Sam believes that there is more opportunity for bubble tea shops to open up in the U.S., and that there should be a bubble tea shop in every college town

·      How it’s important not to undercut the price of bubble tea to maintain the health of the bubble tea industry

·      Bubble Teak Kristen’s YouTube channel

·      The need for a bubble tea business association

·      Important considerations for people who want to open up a bubble tea shop

·      How much capital is needed to start a bubble tea shop business

·      What is required to set up a bubble tea shop

·      What makes a bubble tea shop successful

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/bubble-tea-sam-from-quickly-to-coco-running-bubble-tea-shops-for-20-years-in-nyc-ep-245/

Pasuya Yao (姚文智) is a politician turned film producer. His film production company thuànn TAIWAN, produced the documentary Su Beng, The Revolutionist and more recently the feature film Untold Herstory that ranked third at Taiwan’s box office in 2022. We spoke about Untold Herstory, which is based on a book authored by Tsao Chin-jung (曹欽榮) and published in 2012, the book’s title has been translated as "Bonfire Island: Untold Herstory." It is a collection of interviews of women political prisoners held on Green Island in the 1950s.

If you haven’t seen Untold Herstory yet, it will be coming to Taiwan Plus on February 28 2024. Special thanks to Loretta Chen for her translation assistance for this episode.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/pasuya-yao-on-his-film-untold-herstory-about-1950s-women-political-prisoners-on-green-island-ep-244/

  Mr. Yao is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator and previously ran for Taipei City Mayor in 2018. We talked about why he decided to switch from a career in politics to film producing, and about the subjects his upcoming television and film projects: artist Chen Cheng-po （陳澄波）, the Taiyuan uprising of 1970, and Chen Nylon (鄭南榕).

  This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

   NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Pasuya Yao’s career as a politician before becoming a film producer

·       How Mr. Yao got interested and involved in politics as a college student

·       Mr. Yao recalls the Kuomintang’s authoritarian rule during Taiwan’s martial law era

·       When Mr. Yao served as director of the News Bureau in 2004 he gained a more comprehensive understanding of Taiwan’s media culture and film industry

·       Mr. Yao served as director of the GIO (government information office) in 2005 he

·       How Mr. Yao ran for Taipei City mayor in 2018 but lost and decided to switch to producing films

·       How Mr. Yao was exposed to opposition (dangwai) magazines when he was a teenager

·       The meaning behind the name of Mr. Yao’s film production company, thuànn  TAIWAN Film Company

·       The difference between the first film Mr. Yao’s produced, Su Beng, The Revolutionist (a documentary) and Untold Herstory (a feature film)

·       How fundraising is the most challenging part of film production

·       The subjects of Mr, Yao’s future television and film projects: Chen Cheng-po, a Taiwanese artist that was executed in 1947, Taiyuan 1970, Cheng Nylon

·       Mr. Yao’s relatives that were affected by the 228 Massacre and White Terror era

·       “Puanpuatsu” which means that Chiang Kai-shek personally signed and issued orders to change people’s verdicts to death sentences

·       Documents revealing Chiang Kai-shek’s orders to execute were gradually exposed and made public over two decades since the DPP was the opposition party

·       How Mr. Yao feels it’s important that younger generations of Taiwanese understand Taiwan’s history and that Taiwan’s democracy was hard-earned and due to the sacrifices of many

·       How a thousand or more people’s fate were changed directly by Chiang Kai-shek who personally signed and issued orders to execute people

·       How the film Untold Herstory is based on the oral history research done by Tsao Chin-jung

·       The film Untold Herstory depicts 29 cases ofindividuals whose outcomes were changed directly by Chiang Kai-shek’s orders

·       The challenges in casting actors for Untold Herstory

·       Where Untold Herstory has been screened

·       What kind of response the film has received

·       How Untold Herstory was release around the time of Taiwan’s local elections in November 2022

·       Untold Herstory ranked third at Taiwan’s box office in 2022

·       Where Untold Herstory will be screened in the future

·       Untold Herstory will be available on Taiwan Plus beginning February 28, 2024, the anniversary of the 228 Massacre

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/pasuya-yao-on-his-film-untold-herstory-about-1950s-women-political-prisoners-on-green-island-ep-244/

 Summer is upon us and in the past it’s been a very busy time for the Taiwanese American community with several summer conferences and camps being organized across the country. There’s TAF, the Taiwanese American Foundation, TACEC, the Taiwanese American Conference East Coast, TAC-WC, the West Coast version of the Taiwanese American Conference, and TANG just to name a few.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/christine-su-of-tang-enriching-youth-through-a-loving-taiwanese-community-ep-243/

These conferences and camps have become an annual tradition, the basis for lifelong friendships, a place for reunions of sorts, and a way to build and connect with our community.

After all we’ve been through these past couple of years, it’s good to be back and able to meet again in person.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of TANG (the Taiwanese American Next Generation). This year TANG will be held at West Chester University in Pennsylvania from July 1-4.

You may have heard this organization mentioned in past episodes of Talking Taiwan with my guests Rolla Chng, Peter Lin and Ed Lin (who incidentally are not related to me or to each other). Also, several of my past guests like Michelle Kuo and Tim Chng have been involved with TANG or invited to speak there.

TANG’s mission statement is: For the youth to be enriched by a loving Taiwanese community, so they can obtain a stronger sense of self and passionately pursue their convictions.

Since TANG is just around the corner, I thought it would be good to invite Christine Su to stop by Talking Taiwan’s podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan to talk about TANG and how it’s connected to TACEC. The Taiwanese American Conference East Coast, is an annual conference organized the TAA, the Taiwanese Association of America, one of the oldest Taiwanese organizations with chapters all across the United States. Each year TACEC is organized by a different East Coast chapter of the TAA.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

 Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The origins of TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation) and its connection to TACEC (Taiwanese American Conference East Coast)

·       This year is the 20th anniversary of TANG and 52nd anniversary of TACEC

·       TANG staff consists entirely of volunteers

·       The theme of this year’s TANG is “Identity: Write Your Story”

·       The Taiwan Night show that happens at TACEC and TANG

·       The programs for the different age groups that attend TANG: high schoolers, juniors, tiny tots, TANG parents, college, and young adults

·       TANG and TACEC are usually held together over the July 4th weekend and is a multigenerational experience with kids, their parents and grandparents attending

·       What TANG did during the pandemic

·       How the TANG high school counselors created a virtual program for high schoolers during the pandemic

·       In 2020 TANG organized a “Helping Hands Virtual Walk & Run” for the community to stay connected during the pandemic

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/christine-su-of-tang-enriching-youth-through-a-loving-taiwanese-community-ep-243/

Author Ed Lin stopped by to chat with me in the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan. This is the first of several live interviews we recorded at our outdoor on-location podcasting booth. We touched upon a broad range of topics, many that we’ve covered here in the past on Talking Taiwan. In fact, this gives us a good excuse to share some of our past episodes in the related links section for this episode on our website. On the other hand, my conversation with Ed brought up a few good ideas for future topics and guests that we should have on Talking Taiwan.

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/ed-lin-our-interview-live-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-242/

As Ed and I were talking, you’ll hear us talking to some of the people who walked by and stopped by to say hello, among them were of some of our supporters, mutual friends and a previous Talking Taiwan guest another Lin, Peter Lin who’s band the Asian American Jazz Collective performed at Passport to Taiwan that day. That’s the thing about Passport to Taiwan, when you’re there you never know who you’ll run into. We were also thrilled to meet and talk to some of our listeners who stopped by our booth.

 For those of you in New York City, you can catch Ed Lin performing in Short Stack 2 at the Ma-Yi Theatre from June 15-18. We’ll include a link to purchase tickets online on the Talking Taiwan website.

CORRECTION: The restaurant that Ed refers to in the interview as 688 is actually the 886 Restaurant. The film that Ed mentions as Taipei Au Revoir is Au Revoir Taipei.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

 NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       What Ed’s been working on lately

·       How Ed will be performing in Short Stack 2 at the Ma-Yi Theater from June 15-18 to benefit Heart of Dinner, a community organization aiding and feeding working-class AAPI seniors throughout the city

·       Ed will be speaking at the TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation)/TAC (Taiwanese American Conference), which will be at West Chester University from July 1-4

·       Taiwanese soft power and how it compares to that of other island nations like Ireland or Jamaica’s

·       People who will be stopping by to be interviewed in the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth at Passport to Taiwan

·       The upcoming movie adaptation of the novel Loveboat Taipei

·       Things to do in the first 24 hours upon arriving in Taiwan

·       Ximending Red House in Taipei

·       The bells of Kaohsiung Harbor public art project (Echo Across the Harbor)

·       The band Chthonic and how their song Supreme Pain for the Tyrant makes reference to Peter Huang, who tried to assassinate Chiang

·       How activist Yuri Kochiyama encouraged Ed when he was a student at Columbia University working on bringing Asian studies to the campus

·       How the Taiwanese and Taiwanese diaspora are becoming more outspoken and proud of their identity

·       How the Famous Porkchop House on Doyers Street in New York City’s Chinatown was renamed Taiwan’s Porkchop House

·       Cannabis use in Taiwan

Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/ed-lin-our-interview-live-at-passport-to-taiwan-ep-242/

In October of last year, Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters™ Program. Anna May Wong is one of the better known early Chinese American movie stars. She was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She received it in 1960, the inaugural year of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Anna May Wong was regarded as a fashion icon in the 1920s and 30s, and was also politically outspoken. In May, Barbie announced the release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/peilin-kuo-on-indie-film-making-and-the-life-of-anna-may-wong-ep-241/

To talk about the life and times of Anna May Wong I’ve invited Peilin Kuo a Taiwanese filmmaker who’s made a few short films about Anna May Wong and has plans to work on a biopic about the actress. Peilin also talked about some of her recent film projects, her love of martial arts films and her next film project that will be set in Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      How Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters™ Program in October 2022

·      Anna May Wong was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960

·      In May, Barbie announced release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

·      Taiwanese filmmaker Peilin Kuo who’d made a few short films about Anna May Wong

·      Peilin’s interest and start in filmmaking

·      Peilin’s connection and upbringing in Taiwan

·      What made Peilin decide to move to New York City

·      How Peilin first learned about Anna May Wong and what impressed her about Anna May Wong

·      Peilin’s approach to in creating her short films about Anna May Wong

·      Peilin’s plans to make a biopic about Anna May Wong

·      What set Anna May Wong apart from other Chinese American actresses

·      Anna May Wong appeared in 50-60 films

·      The stereotypical characters that Anna May Wong portrayed and the discrimination and anti-miscegenation laws she had to deal with

·      How Anna May Wong was a fashion icon and politically outspoken

·      Chinese press and government were critical of Wong but, Peking University awarded the actress an honorary doctorate in 1932.

·      Later in life Anna May Wong was outspoken about better film roles for Chinese Americans

·      Anna May Wong was passed over for the character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl Buck’s book, The Good Earth;  MGM cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface, later Rainer won an Oscar for her performance

·      Other stereotypically Asian character played by non-Asian actors in yellowface like Mickey Rooney’s character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

·      Anna May Wong’s visit to China in 1936

·      How Anna May Wong passed away at the age of 56 before she was supposed appear in the film, Flower Drum Song

·      How there are no recordings of TV show Anna May Wong appeared in called  the Gallery of Madam Liu Tsong

·      Liu Tsong was Anna May Wong’s birth name

·      Peilin’s next film project which will be set and shot in Taiwan

·      Peilin’s other film projects in the sci-fi and martial arts genre

·      Peilin’s love of martial arts films

·      How Peiln’s short film Once Upon A Time In The Bamboo was inspired by the film, A Touch of Zen (by director King Hu)

·      What Peilin loves about filmmaking

·      What she would be doing if she wasn’t a filmmaker

·      Peilin’s approach to filmmaking

·      Peilin’s advice for others who want to pursue filmmaking

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/peilin-kuo-on-indie-film-making-and-the-life-of-anna-may-wong-ep-241/

We had a beautiful day on Sunday at the Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park. Congratulations to the Passport to Taiwan team for making the event a huge success! The park was packed and food lines were long. We were so glad to be invited to be a part of it. For us it was a welcome change of pace. It’s not often that we get to meet our listeners in person!

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwans-26-notable-episodes-ep-240/

We want to thank everyone who stopped by the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth and those that tuned in to our livestream on Facebook. We did have some technical issues with the sound on our livestream and a very loud generator in the booth, so thank you for bearing with us. Kaju, our sound engineer and executive producer, is optimistic that he’ll be able to do some sound editing magic with the interviews we recorded that day.

Some of the people that stopped by that day included Tom Fifield of the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office, author Ed Lin, multi-disciplinary artist Chin Chih Yang, singer and musician Jilliyeah, and Christine Su of TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation). We’ll be sharing those interviews as future episodes of Talking Taiwan.

We’d also like to give a huge shoutout to our volunteers Josh and Marcellus. The two of you were indispensable in helping us to get set up and breaking down at the end of the day. We really couldn’t have done it without you!

In preparation for Passport to Taiwan, we created a selection of audio clips from some of our most notable interviews to play in our booth and we thought we’d share them with you here. Whether you’re new to Talking Taiwan or one of our loyal listeners we hope that you enjoy it and maybe even discover an episode that interests you.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwans-26-notable-episodes-ep-240/

This year the Passport to Taiwan will be returning to New York City’s Union Square Park on Sunday, May 28th from 12 noon to 5:00pm. It will be the first in-person Passport to Taiwan in three years since the pandemic, and we are looking forward to it!

Talking Taiwan will be there with a special live on-location podcasting studio. Read on to learn more about what we have planned.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2023-u-s-largest-taiwan-festival-is-back-in-union-square-ep-239/

Since the first Passport to Taiwan was held in 2002 it’s become the largest outdoor Taiwanese American event in the entire United States. Passport to Taiwan is a celebration of Taiwanese art, culture, music, community, and of course food.

In this episode I mention some of the notable performances, organizations and businesses that will be at Passport to Taiwan. For a full list of performances visit the Passport to Taiwan website at: www.p2tw.org

If you’re going to be in New York City on May 28th stop by Talking Taiwan’s booth to hear clips from some of our most notable guests.

Maybe you’ll catch me interviewing some invited guests like Jilliyeah, who some may recognize for the memorable acceptance speech she made at last year’s Grammy awards on behalf of the Taiwanese designers who won the Best Recording Package Grammy award for the album Pakelan. Jilliyeah put Taiwan in the mind of viewers that night when she said, on behalf of the designers “We are from Taiwan…Taiwan is a beautiful and a peace-loving country.” And then she added, “I hope someday if you can go and visit Taiwan, super welcome.”

Jilliiyeah is now in the U.S. pursuing her own career as a singer musician. She’s going to be stopping by to do an interview with me at the Talking Taiwan podcasting.

Some past guests might be stopping by too. You never know who’ll show up in at our on-location podcasting studio!

We’ll also be doing some giveaways for anyone who comes and sits in the “hot seat” with me and answers my Flash Five Questions, or who wants to pitch themselves, or someone else to be a guest on Talking Taiwan.

For those of you who can’t make it to Passport to Taiwan, we want to let you know that we’ll be livestreaming throughout the day from Passport to Taiwan to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/talkingtaiwanpodcast

So if you’d like to see what we are up to on May 28th from 12 noon-5pm Eastern Time, just visit our Facebook page to catch our livestream from New York City’s Union Square Park. If you can’t tune in or we experience any technical issues, don’t worry we’ll be recording the event and will post recordings from the event to our YouTube channel and social media.

To learn more about the background and history behind the Passport Taiwan, we’re resharing some of my interview that was done in 2014 with Borcheng Hsu, the event’s organizer.

Here’s a little preview of what’s covered in this podcast episode:

·      Talking Taiwan will be at Passport with a special live on-location podcasting studio

·      Some of the notable performances including: the featured presentation sponsored by the Overseas Community Affairs Council and performed by the College of Performing Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts, “A Touching Encounter with Music and Dance from Taiwan,” Peter Lin’s band the AAPI Jazz Collective, Jilliyeah, and Taiwan Republic

·      Some of the organizations and businesses that will be at this year’s Passport to Taiwan

·      Some of the individuals or organizations I’ll be interviewing in Talking Taiwan’s booth at Passport to Taiwan

·      2002 was the first time that Passport to Taiwan was held in Union Square Park

·      How Taiwanese American Heritage Week was declared in 1999

·      Where the idea and the name Passport to Taiwan came from

·      How Passport to Taiwan started with a core group of 10 volunteers

·      How Passport to Taiwan was modeled after the Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival organized by CAPA (Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans)

·      On the day of Passport to Taiwan there are about 200 volunteers helping out

·      How Passport to Taiwan has grown

·      How other Taiwanese American communities participate in, visit and attend Passport to Taiwan

·      How there were only four food booths at the first Passport to Taiwan

·      Folk artists that have been invited to do demonstrations at Passport to Taiwan have included sugar paining, aborigine fabric weaving, clay figurines, straw weaving

·      Artists and performers who have been invited from Taiwan to be a part of Passport to Taiwan

·      How Passport to Taiwan is not just about Taiwan, but the Taiwanese American community and people, the shared democratic values of Taiwan and the U.S.

·      Misconceptions about Taiwan

·      The is most rewarding thing about organizing Passport to Taiwan

·      The challenges of running and organizing Passport to Taiwan

·      The most popular thing about Passport to Taiwan

·      How most of the food booths offering Taiwanese dishes are made by local people in the Taiwanese American community, specifically for Passport to Taiwan, and are not available elsewhere

·      Sponsors of Passport to Taiwan

·      How people can sponsor Passport to Taiwan

·      Future plans for Passport to Taiwan

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/passport-to-taiwan-2023-u-s-largest-taiwan-festival-is-back-in-union-square-ep-239/

How is it that I haven’t done an episode about bubble tea? It’s surprising that of all the things related to Taiwan, that I’ve covered on this podcast, I haven’t covered this one.

 Last year I heard that April 30th was National Bubble Tea Day when I saw a tweet by President Tsai Ing-wen. So I got to work planning to release an episode about bubble tea for this year’s April 30th.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

 https://talkingtaiwan.com/kristen-mccoy-ward-everything-about-bubble-tea-with-the-bobba-queen-ep-238/

I started off speaking to New York-based bubble tea shop veteran Sam Lin who brought the Quickly bubble tea brand from Taiwan to New York. His first Quickly shop was in Flushing near the public library on Kissena. Now he runs 22 Coco bubble tea shops in New York, New Jersey and Boston. Sam’s mother is a street vendor in Taiwan selling douhua (a sweet dessert tofu) and Sam grew up eating douhua with tapioca balls long before there was this thing called bubble tea. Sam had some interesting things to say about the origins of bubble tea and who invented it.

 As I was getting this episode ready for the end of April, I also spoke to Borcheng Hsu, organizer of the Bubble Tea Festival in New York, who clarified the origins of National Bubble Day.

 And finally, I came across a YouTube channel called Bubble Tea Kristin. It’s an amazing resource for almost everything related to bubble tea. Kristin has recipes for those wanting to make bubble tea drinks at home. In the past she’s owned and run several bubble tea shops and what she does now is help people who dream of opening their own bubble tea shop. I wanted to find out why she’s been called the “Boba Queen,” so I looked her up and invited her to be a guest on Talking Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         The origins of bubble tea and who invented it

·         Why National Bubble Tea Day is on April 30th

·         What should New York City celebrate as bubble tea day

·         Kristin the “Boba Queen”

·         Where Kristin’s love and interest in bubble tea comes from

·         How she learned about the bubble tea business and opened her own bubble tea shops

·         How she sold her bubble tea business at the beginning of the pandemic and now mentors and helps other people to open bubble tea shops

·         How her past experiences and childhood prepared her for being an entrepreneur and business owner

·         How it’s difficult to be profitable in the first year of running a bubble tea shop

·         What it takes to have a successful bubble tea shop

·         How to get the right texture for the tapioca pearls in bubble tea

·         The different types of tapioca pearl balls and toppings

·         How long tapioca pearls last after they are cooked

·         Kristin’s visit to Taiwan in 2018

·         How bubble tea shops are popping up all around the world

·         The different flavors of bubble tea that Kristin created for her shops

·         How bubble tea has evolved over the years since Kristin opened her first bubble tea shop

·         The reactions from people that Kristin has gotten since she is not from Taiwan or Asia

·         How she was once the only white female bubble tea shop owner in the U.K.

·         Any backlash she’s experienced as a bubble tea shop owner

·         How Kristin works with her bubble tea shop clients and advises them

·         Her recommendations of what to do in the first year of running a bubble tea shop

·         How the approach of business owners in the U.S. differs from those in the U.K.

·         How the pricing of bubble tea is important

·         How Kristin has helped bubble tea shop owners who have already started their business but run into some problems and need help

·         How Kristin sees her role in the world of bubble tea

·         What Kristin misses about running a tea shop

·         A drink recipe that people can make at home

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/kristen-mccoy-ward-everything-about-bubble-tea-with-the-bobba-queen-ep-238/

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and my guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan, Peter Lin is here to talk about the Asian American Pacific Islander or AAPI Jazz Fest which is coming up on May 20th in Newark, NJ. The AAPI Jazz Fest celebrates the diversity of the pan-Asian jazz community with a full day of performances and panels. Peter is Founder of Yardbird Entertainment and Producer of the AAPI Jazz Fest.  

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/aapi-jazz-fest-2023-celebrating-the-diversity-of-the-pan-asian-jazz-community-with-peter-lin-ep-237/

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

 NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

 Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

 Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/aapi-jazz-fest-2023-celebrating-the-diversity-of-the-pan-asian-jazz-community-with-peter-lin-ep-237/

This past Saturday, April 29th was the first TaiwanFest of the year in New York City. So we decided to go check it out and see what businesses and community organizations were there.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-nyc-2023-talking-taiwans-live-stream-coverage-in-the-rain-ep-236/

 For this episode we tried out something different by livestreaming and talking to people on location. It was a test run for May when Talking Taiwan will be at this year’s Passport to Taiwan on Sunday, May 28th from 12-5pm in New York City’s Union Square Park. We’ll be having an outdoor on location podcasting studio. So if you’re in New York, drop by, I’ll be interviewing people in the booth throughout the day. Come and talk to us. Hear highlights from some of our most notable episodes. Suggest someone to be a guest on Talking Taiwan. We’ll be doing giveaways for anyone who willing to sit in the hot seat to answer my flash five questions or better yet, anyone who wants to pitch themself to be a guest on Talking Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Related Links:

TaiwanFest.NYC: https://taiwanfest.nyc/

Sweeeet NYC: https://www.instagram.com/sweeeetnyc/

Passport to Taiwan: https://p2tw.org/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwanfest-nyc-2023-talking-taiwans-live-stream-coverage-in-the-rain-ep-236/

 This episode is a follow up on episode 233 that covered Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen’s 48-hour transit through New York from March 29-31 en route to Central America.

When Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan to go on a ten-day state trip to Central America to meet with Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize. She first transited through New York from March 29-31 en route to Central America. At the end of her trip she transited through Los Angeles from April 4-5th, where she met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/tim-chng-and-borcheng-hsu-the-day-president-tsai-ing-wen-met-protesters-from-the-peoples-republic-of-china-ep-235/ 

In this episode of Talking Taiwan I started off speaking with Tim Chng (who was previously on Talking Taiwan in episode 159) and Borcheng Hsu (a community organizer based in New York City) about how Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen was met with protestors representing the PRC, People’s Republic of China on the first day of her arrival in New York City. All three of us were all there that day, on the afternoon of March 29th at the first major site of the protests, the Lotte New York Palace Hotel where President Tsai was staying.

Our discussion raised a lot of questions, like: How organized the PRC protestors were. How did they know President Tsai’s itinerary in New York? As you’ll hear from our conversation, the protestors seemed to know when and where to show up and make a scene.

On the other hand, how prepared was the Taiwanese American community? What did community do in response? And what can concerned Taiwanese Americans do to be better prepared in the future when a similar situation arises?

After President Tsai’s 48-hour transit in New York, she headed to Central America to meet with Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize.

At the end of her she transited through Los Angeles from April 4 to 5th and met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before returning to Taiwan. While in L.A. she was once again met with PRC protestors. Tim, Borcheng and I also talked about what happened in L.A.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         How Tim and Borcheng were involved in self-determination and pro-democracy demonstrations for Taiwan in the 1990s, when a thousand people or so could easily be gathered to show support

·         What motivated Tim to drive up from Baltimore to be in New York in time to welcome Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen when she arrived at the hotel she was staying during her 48-hour transit through New York

·         Why the bus from DC with Taiwanese American supporters of President Tsai wasn’t able to make it to New York in time for President Tsai’s arrival at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel where she was staying

·         What the scene was like and what happened prior to President Tsai Ing-wen’s arrival at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on March 29th

·         How Tim and Chi Chun Wang, the President of the Taiwanese Association of America Baltimore chapter spoke to some pro-democracy Chinese activists who said that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) protestors were being paid $30 an hour

·         What happened outside of the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on March 29th before and when President Tsai Ing-wen arrived

·         How the PRC (People’s Republic of China) protestors were organized and seemed to know President Tsai’s itinerary while she was in New York

·         How Borcheng worked with TECRO and the NYPD (New York Police Department) on March 29th

·         How sound permits are required for the use of amplified sound in New York City

·         The NYPD’s handling of the situation on March 29th

·         What the PRC protesters were saying about President Tsai and Taiwan

·         How prepared the Taiwanese American community was to respond by organizing counter protests

·         What happened on March 30th when President Tsai accepted the Global Leadership Award from the Hudson Institute

·         What happened on March 31st when President Tsai left her hotel in New York to go to Central America

·         What happened with the protests of President Tsai’s visit to New York in 2019

·         How one of Tim’s tweets about the protests of President Tsai in New York on March 29 was misconstrued by someone

·         The questions about why pan-green supporters were waving ROC (Republic of China) flags and not green flags or other flags

·         Former President Ma Ying-jeou’s visit to China

·         The protests during President Tsai’s transit in Los Angeles (from April 4-5)

·         What happened when President Chen Shui-bian visited New York in 2000 and later years

·         What can concerned Taiwanese Americans, and supporters of Taiwan’s democracy do to be better prepared in the future when a similar situation arises

·         How the NYPD and LAPD handled protests against President Tsai and Taiwan in New York and Los Angeles

 Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/tim-chng-and-borcheng-hsu-the-day-president-tsai-ing-wen-met-protesters-from-the-peoples-republic-of-china-ep-235/

In part two of our interview with T.H. Schee we talked about what concerns in particular that Taiwan should have about AI, ChatGPT and Baidu’s chatbot Ernie.

ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI in partnership with Microsoft, which is its largest investor. It was released in November of 2022. And in case you’re wondering, GPT stands for: generative pre-trained transformer.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/t-h-schee-what-concerns-should-taiwan-have-about-a-i-chatgbt-and-baidus-chatbot-ernie-ep-234/

ChatGBT is quite versatile. It can mimic human conversation, and do a whole range of things from drafting email to writing essays, taking tests and writing and debugging computer programs.

On February 7th Chinese company Baidu announced it would be creating a Chinese language ChatGPT, Ernie Bot. A week later, Taiwan’s Science and Technology Minister, Wu Tseng-tsong announced that Taiwan will be developing its own Chinese language chatbot due to fears of bias that could be created by China’s chatbot.

And on March 16th the Ernie Bot was publicly unveiled.

T.H. Schee is a digital veteran with twenty years of experience in the private and NGO sectors. He was a founding member of the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum and provided his expertise on digital crisis response to the UN Global Geospatial Information Management group. He has served as an adviser to government agencies and the city of Taipei (2016–18) and is a stalwart writer on the intersection of digital and tech policies.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       Comparing people’s concerns about the Internet in 1995-1996 with concerns about AI today

·       Yams.com the first Chinese language search engine which was created in Taiwan

·       ChatGPT

·       Baidu’s Chinese chatbot Ernie

·       Baidu’s demo of Ernie

·       How and open, free Internet is key to the successful development of chatbots like Ernie or ChatGPT

·       How the government of Taiwan is supporting developing its own Chinese language chatbot

·       T.H. Schee’s thoughts on ChatGPT

·       How different generations use and access the Internet

·       How ChatGPT is similar to a search engine

·       If ChatGPT can produce responses in Chinese should Taiwan be concerned

·       T.H. estimates that 30-40% of the results written in traditional Chinese characters that show up on page one of a Google search are actually sources from China

·       Whether or not it’s a good idea for Taiwan to try to develop its own version of ChatGPT and if it will reap any benefits from doing so

·       How to combat bias in ChatGPT or similar chatbots

·       T.H’s thoughts on how Taiwan should approach developing its own version of ChatGPT

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/t-h-schee-what-concerns-should-taiwan-have-about-a-i-chatgbt-and-baidus-chatbot-ernie-ep-234/

On March 29th Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen left Taiwan to go on a ten-day state trip to Central America to meet with Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Guatemala and Belize. In a pre-departure speech, President Tsai shared that the theme of her trip "Meeting Democratic Partnership, Fostering Shared Prosperity” expresses our determination to foster deeper exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and our allies.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/president-tsai-ing-wens-48-hour-transit-through-new-york-en-route-to-central-america-ep-233/

This episode of Talking Taiwan is about first leg of President Tsai’s trip that brought her to New York for a 48-hour transit from March 29-31, 2023.

 This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/president-tsai-ing-wens-48-hour-transit-through-new-york-en-route-to-central-america-ep-233/

Last year I spoke with T.H. Schee about Taiwan’s civil defense preparedness in episode 178. This was a hot topic of discussion in Taiwan after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2023. It made the military threat that the people of Taiwan face from the People’s Republic of China very real. A year has passed since Russia’s invasion and I wanted to bring T.H. back for a follow up conversation about this and how the government and people of Taiwan have adjusted and continue to deal with the situation there. We also touched upon some recent news stories in Taiwan that are related to the topic of internet security. Next week we’ll be sharing the second part of my interview with T.H. about AI.  We’ll be talking about ChatGPT, Baidu’s chatbot Ernie and what concerns in particular that Taiwan should have about AI.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/th-schee-on-taiwans-civil-defense-preparedness-one-year-later-after-the-war-in-ukraine-ep-232/

T.H. Schee is a digital veteran with twenty years of experience in the private and NGO sectors. He was a founding member of the Taiwan Internet Governance Forum and provided his expertise on digital crisis response to the UN Global Geospatial Information Management group. He has served as an adviser to government agencies and the city of Taipei (2016–18) and is a stalwart writer on the intersection of digital and tech policies.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       The situation in Taiwan since we last spoke to T.H. last year

·       Thoughts from T.H.’s March 3 talk with New Bloom Magazine “Lessons from Ukraine for Taiwan?”

·       What the government in Taiwan is doing regarding Taiwan’s military preparedness

·       Proposed changes to Taiwan’s Mobilization Act that include the military taking control of the media during wartime and the mobilization of people as young as 16 years old

·       The importance of allies and partners for Taiwan

·       The submarine cables that were cut and affected the internet access of people on Matsu

·       How Vietnam had four out of five of its submarine cables cut which meant that there were no ships available to repair the cables that were cut and affected Matsu, so Matsu was without internet access for two to three months

·       How the people of Matsu were impacted by the cut submarine cables

·       The Taiwan government responded by providing a microwave transmission for Matsu

·       How some people of Matsu purchased SIM cards from China to be able to access the internet, and what is problematic about that

·       The Taiwan Internet Governance Forum

·       How/why the submarine cables in the Taiwan Strait have gotten cut 25 times in five years

·       The hi-resolutions photos from the National Palace Museum got hacked and ended up for sale online

 Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/th-schee-on-taiwans-civil-defense-preparedness-one-year-later-after-the-war-in-ukraine-ep-232/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/eric-chang-on-the-unfolding-situation-at-the-legislative-yuan-during-the-sunflower-movement-ep-231/

The Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, which started in protest to the passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA), happened nine years ago, on the night of March 18, 2014. I was in Taipei when the Legislative Yuan, which is the equivalent of the parliament in Taiwan, was occupied by students and activists in an effort to block the passage of the trade agreement between Taiwan and China. It was the beginning of what became known as the Sunflower Movement. The day before, on March 17, the Kuomintang (KMT) had attempted to force through passage of the CSSTA in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, without giving it a clause-by-clause review.

Several days later at a press conference on March 23rd Taiwan’s then President Ma Ying-jeou stated his resolve in passing the trade agreement. That night, students and activists attempted to occupy the Executive Yuan in protest. A few days later, on March 28th I spoke with Eric Chang who joined students and protestors outside of the Executive Yuan on the 23rd. He was there when police started breaking up the students and protestors, himself among them, and he shared what he saw and experienced that night in episode 121.

At the time I spoke to Eric it had been only 10 days since the occupation of the Legislative Yuan, so the situation at the Legislative Yuan and the Sunflower Movement was still unfolding and this of course was before we knew what the outcome would be. It's interesting to look back on it and hear my conversation with Eric in pre-COVID times, and way before the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021. We talked about the role of social media in the occupation of the Legislative Yuan, how the Sunflower Movement galvanized young people in Taiwan at the time, and the atmosphere outside the Legislative Yuan while it was occupied; every day there were thousands of people from all walks of life gathered outside in the streets surrounding the Legislative Yuan.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·       What the occupation of the Legislative Yuan by students and activists means for Taiwan’s democracy

·       What the scene/situation around the occupied Legislative Yuan was like

·       Comparisons between the occupation of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan with what would happen if people tried to occupy the U.S. Capitol Building

·       How peaceful and organized the student protestors are; they have set up a variety of stations for supplies, to charge mobile phones, for recycling, first aid

·       Professors have given lectures outside in the perimeter of the Legislative Yuan

·       A sausage vendor that’s set up outside of the Legislative Yuan and is giving out sausage for free

·       Medical and legal professionals who have volunteered to help the student protestors

·       How Eric and his friend Dwagie (Taiwanese hip hop artist/rapper) have visited the Legislative Yuan area since the occupation

·       The March 30th Rally in support of the Sunflower Movement that took place globally

·       The Taiwan Voice Facebook page

·       How people can speak publicly or perform in the area surrounding the occupied Legislative Yuan

·       Lazy Habits, a jazz hip hop band performed outside of the occupied Legislative Yuan

·       High school students in Tainan (in southern Taiwan) are speaking out publicly about the occupation of the Legislative Yuan

·       How the Sunflower Movement has galvanized people across Taiwan

·       How Eric has seen friends who are KMT supporters come out in support of the Sunflower Movement and occupation of the Legislative Yuan

·       How young people learn about news through social media, Facebook and PTT, a popular local bulletin board founded by a National Taiwan University student in 1995

·       Whether or not the pact (Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement) will get passed

·       How the Sunflower Movement has made people feel more comfortable to free to speak out publicly

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/eric-chang-on-the-unfolding-situation-at-the-legislative-yuan-during-the-sunflower-movement-ep-231/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/rur-architecture-what-inspired-the-team-to-design-the-taiwan-music-center-and-kaohsiung-port-terminal-ep-230/

We will be bringing back Jesse, Nanako and Jasmine to show us the Kaohsiung Port Terminal, Taipei Music Center and other architecture projects via video. That video will be posted on Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel at a later date.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      How Jesse, Nanako and Jasmine ended up choosing their careers in architecture

·      How things have evolved in Jesse and Nanako’s 35-year-long careers in architecture

·      How Jesse and Nanako started teaching and how that has shaped their careers in architecture

·      How Jesse and Nanako started entering architecture competitions, and things transpired from there

·      The Dubai tower project that Jesse and Nanako worked on

·      The AIishan Mountain project that Jesse and Nanako won

·      The inspiration behind the Taipei Music Center

·      How and why the Taipei Music Center project changed over time

·      The purpose/function of the Taipei Music Center

·      How other projects like the stadium in Taipei aka the Taipei Dome have been delayed and not completed

·      How Aldo Rossi, Jesse’s teacher and employer influenced the design of the Taipei Music Center

·      The indoor and outdoor performance space of the Taipei Music Center

·      Why it took over 10 years to complete the Taipei Music Center

·      The Taipei Music Center opened on September 5, 2020, and on October 3rd the 31st Golden Melody Awards were hosted there

·      The three functions of the music center: performance, history, production

·      Social media’s impact on the visibility of the Taipei Music Center

·      What a surprise it was to win the design competition for the Kaohsiung Port Terminal

·      Why the Kaohsiung Port Terminal project took 13 years to complete and the adjustments that had to be made over time

·      How the Taipei Music Center and Kaohsiung Port Terminal projects were inspired by Jesse and Nanako’s work in New York

·      Jesse and Nanako’s work in New York

·      How teaching affects their approach to architecture projects

·      The O-14 tower in Dubai that Jesse and Nanako worked on

·      What it is like seeing one’s architectural projects completed and come to life

·      Jesse, Nanako and Jasmine’s thoughts on being architects and their advice for those interested in going into architecture

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/rur-architecture-what-inspired-the-team-to-design-the-taiwan-music-center-and-kaohsiung-port-terminal-ep-230/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/robert-tsao-founder-of-umc-pledges-to-donate-usd-100-million-to-taiwans-military-cause-ep-229/

In December we spoke with Robert Tsao, founder of UMC, who in August of 2022 pledged to donate 100 million U.S. dollars to help Taiwan defend itself. In 2011 he moved to Singapore and became a citizen there, but in September of last year he renounced his Singaporean citizenship, and reinstated his citizenship in Taiwan.  

We talked about what motivated him to decide to make the donation to defend Taiwan, why he’s been perceived as pro business investment in China, and about his support for a referendum on unification between Taiwan and China.

We even asked him about his early support in 1993 for the New Party (Xin dang), a political party in Taiwan that had a pro Chinese unification stance.

Mr. Tsao also shared his thoughts on the Chinese Communist party today and why he thinks it’s important protect Taiwan from an attack by the Chinese Communist People’s Republic of China.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Talking Taiwan has a donor who is willing to make a $5,000 matching donation!

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Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      Mr. Tsao’s thoughts on the November 2022 local elections in Taiwan

·      Mr. Tsao’s thoughts on whether the local elections will impact Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election

·      Mr. Tsao’s donation of 100 million U.S. dollars for Taiwan’s defense and what it will be spent on

·      Why Mr. Tsao decided to make the donation of 100 million U.S. dollars

·      Taiwan’s first direct presidential election was in 1996

·      How to protect Taiwan’s freedom and democracy

·      President Chen Shui-bian's Task Force on cross-Strait Relations, headed by Academia Sinica President and Nobel prize winner Professor Lee Yuan-tseh

·      Mr. Tsao’s suggestion regarding a referendum on Taiwan’s reunification with China in 2001

·      Taiwan’s independence

·      How Taiwan is unlike Hong Kong which was returned to China

·      The July 21, 2019 attacks at the Yuen Long MTR station in Hong Kong

·      Mr. Tsao’s thoughts on the Chinese Communist party

·      Parallels between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine and the possibility of China’ President Xi Jinping attacking Taiwan

·      Questions about Mr. Tsao’s thoughts on investment in China, and his support for a referendum on unification between Taiwan and China

·      Mr. Tsao’s support in 1993of the New party, a political party in Taiwan that had a pro-Chinese unification stance

·      How Mr. Tsao considers himself Taiwanese

·      The protests by people in China over strict COVID restrictions

·      Name rectification and constitutional reform for Taiwan

·      How much of a deterrent Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is to China attacking Taiwan

·      Military reform in Taiwan

·      Mr. Tsao’s thoughts on the unification of Taiwan and China

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/robert-tsao-founder-of-umc-pledges-to-donate-usd-100-million-to-taiwans-military-cause-ep-229/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/commemorating-the-228-massacre-taboos-scars-stigmas-and-an-essential-lesson-in-taiwan-history-ep-228/

228, February 28, 1947 is an important date in history for Taiwan. In Taiwan it is a national holiday known as 228 Peace Day, and since 228, which is also known as the 228 Massacre is just around the corner, we thought we’d share the first of 2 special episodes that we did last year for the 75th anniversary of the 228 Massacre.

At the same time, we wanted to share some community announcements for our listeners who might be looking for ways to commemorate 228. If you’re in New York, the Taiwan Center in Flushing, NY will be having a 228 Remembrance Memorial Service on Saturday, February 25, 2023 from 2:00-3:30pm. And for those in California, Josephine Pan tells me that annual 228 Commemorative Concert will be held in person again this year on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 7:30pm at the Arcadia Community Church. Both of these events are open and free to the public.

Full details for the 228 commemorative events in New York and California are listed below in the Related Links section.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·         How each guest first heard of or learned about 228

·         How the 228 was a forbidden topic of discussion

·         How my guests and their families were personally impacted by 228

·         The Formosa Incident aka Kaohsiung Incident

·         The White Terror and Martial Law era of Taiwan

·         The writer who was sent to prison because of his Chinese-language translation of a Popeye comic

·         Why the topic of 228 has been so taboo

·         Tsuann’s grandfather who was a political prisoner during the White Terror era

·         Post-traumatic stress

·         What Tsuann’s relatives experienced and witnessed about 228

·         Why Tsuann decided to try to help 228 victims and their families

·         Green Island, the place where political prisoners were exiled

·         The case of a 15-year-old girl who was jailed

·         How political prisoners, after being released were ostracized by society

·         How things banned during the Martial Law era included books, music, art or any medium related to communism or that was critical of the Kuomintang

·         Personal accounts of people persecuted during the Martial Law era

·         The families whose husbands and fathers disappeared due to 228

·         What Josephine’s relatives experienced and witnessed about 228

·         The privileges and overrepresentation granted to the Chinese vs. local Taiwanese under Kuomintang (KMT) rule

·         The injustices in Taiwan’s society under the initial rule of the KMT

·         Why it’s important to remember and understand 228

·         The importance of healing from historic trauma

·         Canada’s residential schools

·         What Tsuann discovered about 228 survivors through her work with the Transitional Justice Committee

·         Why Josephine started organizing an annual concert to commemorate 228

·         How 228 became a national holiday in 1998 but has almost been cancelled as a holiday twice

·         Comparisons of 228 Peace Memorial Day with U.S. holidays such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Memorial Day

·         My guests’ thoughts on whether or not 228 remains a national holiday

·         Indigenous Peoples Day

·         How to commemorate 228

·         What young people in Taiwan know about 228

·         What was previously taught to Josephine, Tsuann, and Wei-Wei about Taiwan in their textbooks when they were high school students in Taiwan

·         How the 228 Massacre has only recently been included in high school textbooks

·         How the 228 Massacre is being taught in high schools

·         The Jing-Mei Prison Museum in Taipei

·         Music that was banned during the White Terror era

·         Experiential ways to learn about 228

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/commemorating-the-228-massacre-taboos-scars-stigmas-and-an-essential-lesson-in-taiwan-history-ep-228/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/courtney-donovan-smith-of-taiwan-report-shares-his-analysis-on-taiwans-2022-nine-in-one-local-elections-ep-227/

With Taiwan’s next presidential election set for early 2024, what are the implications of Taiwan’s 2022 “Nine-in-One” Local Elections that took place back in November? We’ve invited Courtney Donovan Smith co-founder of Taiwan Report, ICRT’s Central Taiwan correspondent, and contributing columnist to Taiwan News to share his insights on the recent elections in Taiwan.

The topic of plagiarism also came up since plagarism scandals have plagued political candidates from all three political parties, the DPP, KMT and TPP. Donovan also shared his analysis on how each of the major political parties in Taiwan fared in the November elections.

While it might be a bit too early to discuss the 2024 presidential candidates, we’ll definitely have Donovan back at a later date to discuss Taiwan’s 2024 Presidential Race.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      Taiwan’s local elections (aka the 9-in-1 elections) that were held in November 2022

·      What positions were up for election

·      22 positions were up for election

·      The results of the November 2022 elections in Taiwan

·      How the DPP, KMT and TPP fared in the elections

·      What implications the November elections might have for Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2024

·      Why President Tsai Ing-wen stepped down as the DPP party chair

·      The DPP and KMT’s strategies during the November 2022 local elections

·      The DPP’s missteps during the November 2022 local elections

·      The plagiarism scandals that have affected Taiwan’s 3 major political parties: the DPP, KMT & TPP

·      The increasing numbers of women being elected as legislators and to other positions in Taiwan

·      The referendum to lower voting age in Taiwan from 20 to 18 years old

·      How Donovan got into writing and reporting about Taiwan’s politics

·      Those who write and comment on Taiwan’s politics: Michael Turton, Nathan Batto

·      How Donovan created an RPG (role playing game)

·      Who will be the KMT presidential candidate for Taiwan’s presidential election in 2024

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/courtney-donovan-smith-of-taiwan-report-shares-his-analysis-on-taiwans-2022-nine-in-one-local-elections-ep-227/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/ed-hill-talks-about-his-off-broadway-debut-and-comedy-special-candy-and-smiley-ep-226/

Ed Hill is a Vancouver based Taiwanese comedian on his first national North American tour. We spoke about his early years in Canada, his connection to TAIWANfest and how his overachieving Asian tendencies came out when he first started doing comedy.

In 2021, Ed became the first comedian of Taiwanese-Canadian descent to release a full one-hour comedy special titled “Candy & Smiley.” The special was named “Top 15 Comedy Specials of 2021” by Paste Magazine and “Best of 2021” by NPR Radio. The special is currently streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

From March 30-April 2 Ed will be doing an off-Broadway show, “Stupid Ed” at the Tank in New York City.  

Ed's tweets have also been featured on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon", Buzzfeed, and The Huffington Post.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      Ed’s connection to TAIWANfest

·      Ed’s connection to Taiwan

·      The discrimination he’s experienced and how it became a part of his standup routine

·      How he got into doing standup comedy

·      How he handles it when he bombs as a comedian in front of an audience

·      How Ed’s training as a therapist informs his comedy

·      Ed’s comedic influences

·      Ed’s mentor the late comedian Louie Anderson

·      Ed’s tweets that have ended up on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and how he comes up with them

·      Ed’s first comedy special Candy and Smiley

·      How Ed’s first comedy special Candy and Smiley was affected by the pandemic

·      How Ed’s parents have reacted to his doing comedy

·      Ed’s upcoming off-Broadway show, Stupid Ed

·      Through his show Stupid Ed, Ed will be reflecting on his relationships with the female figures in his life

·      What Ed wants to do with his comedy

·      Ed’s story podcast, the Guide to Quarantine

·      Ed’s advice to others interested in doing standup comedy

·      What Ed gets out of doing standup comedy

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/ed-hill-talks-about-his-off-broadway-debut-and-comedy-special-candy-and-smiley-ep-226/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/spark-accel-a-virtual-accelerator-for-taiwanese-american-entrepreneurs-ep-225/

SPARK Accel is a personalized 4-week virtual accelerator for Taiwanese American entrepreneurs. At the end of the program there will be a virtual pitch competition and a chance for participants to win up to $15,000. SPARK Accel is an initiative under the Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL). TACL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of Taiwanese Americans.

Stacey Pai, one of the founding team members of SPARK Accel, spoke with me about how SPARK Accel supports entrepreneurs, and what stage of entrepreneurs are eligible to participate in its accelerator program. As SPARK Accel grows, it is looking to recruit a volunteer program manager, fundraising manager, community manager, marketing manager, and startup mentors. This is a great opportunity for budding Taiwanese entrepreneurs.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/spark-accel-a-virtual-accelerator-for-taiwanese-american-entrepreneurs-ep-225/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/andrew-klerck-blindness-later-in-life-could-not-stop-this-thriving-entrepreneur-ep-224/

Andrew Klerck is the founder of Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs, a group that serves foreigners who want to start a business in Taiwan. He spoke with me about how much you need to start a business in Taiwan, and why Taiwan is a great place to do so.

Andrew also talked about how he got started on his own journey as an entrepreneur and lost his eyesight over 15 years ago while running an export company. Today he is a thriving entrepreneur, thanks to the assistive technology of smartphones, screen readers, and smart glasses.

He shared from a foreigner’s perspective, good reasons to do business in Taiwan and some of the challenges of doing business in Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Talking Taiwan has a donor who is willing to make a $5,000 matching donation!

Help us double what we raise to $10,000 by MAKING A CONTRIBUTION to Talking Taiwan at:

http://gofundme.com/building-talking-taiwans-legacy

https://www.patreon.com/talkingtaiwan

PayPal using: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Zelle using: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Checks or money orders made payable to Talking Taiwan can be sent to:

Talking Taiwan 

PO Box 1049

New York, NY 10113

https://talkingtaiwan.com/support/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

·      What brought Andrew to Taiwan

·      Why Andrew started the Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs(TIE) group

·      What the Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs group does and who they serve

·      The Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs mastermind group

·      The difference between the Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs Facebook group and the Taiwan Impact Entrepreneurs mastermind group

·      How the TIE mastermind group is run

·      Why Taiwan is a good place for foreigners to live

·      Why Taiwan is a good place for foreigners to start a business

·      The advantage of doing business in Taiwan

·      The difficulties and tradeoffs of doing business in Taiwan for foreigners

·      How to build good credit and get offered credit from banks in Taiwan

·      How it’s difficult for foreigners to get funding in Taiwan

·      The Taipei Entrepreneur Hub

·      Abled Minds Taiwan

·      What prevents disabled people in Taiwan from pursuing entrepreneurship

·      How Andrew lost his eyesight

·      How Andrew managed to run a business as he was loosing his eyesight

·      The technology that helps Andrew as a blind person with his daily life and to do business

·      Andrew’s upbringing in South Africa under apartheid

·      The entrepreneurial and business mindset of Andrew’s parents

·      How Andrew has run a company that had operations in nearly 60 different countries

·      Andrew’s TIE partner Jamie Rufe was an executive assistant to Foxconn CEO, Terry Gou

·      Andrew’s advice for people who want to start a business in Taiwan but don’t have a lot of cash

·      The importance of street hustling and selling

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/andrew-klerck-blindness-later-in-life-could-not-stop-this-thriving-entrepreneur-ep-224/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/graci-kim-from-new-zealand-diplomat-to-new-york-times-best-selling-author-ep-223/

Graci Kim is a New York Times Bestselling author of the Gifted Clans series. In 2012, she was interviewed for Talking Taiwan about her cooking show called Graci in the Kitchen. We’ve invited her back to give us an update on what she’s up do these days.

She’s been a New Zealand diplomat, once ran a business that turned children’s drawings into cuddly toys, and given a TED Talk in 2018 that still resonates today.

She spoke with us about her Korean roots, how she decided to become a writer, what it was like when her book, The Last Fallen Star hit the New York Times Bestseller list, and her writing process.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Talking Taiwan has a donor who is willing to make a $5,000 matching donation!

Help us double what we raise to $10,000 by MAKING A CONTRIBUTION to Talking Taiwan at:

http://gofundme.com/building-talking-taiwans-legacy

https://www.patreon.com/talkingtaiwan

PayPal using: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Zelle using: talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

Checks or money orders made payable to Talking Taiwan can be sent to:

Talking Taiwan 

PO Box 1049

New York, NY 10113

https://talkingtaiwan.com/support/

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/graci-kim-from-new-zealand-diplomat-to-new-york-times-best-selling-author-ep-223/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/ep-222-lost-episodes-graci-in-the-kitchen/

Here’s a Lost Episode of Talking Taiwan from 2012 featuring Graci Kim. At the time she had a YouTube show called Graci in the Kitchen, and she talked about some of the episodes that were in the works. Next week we’ll be sharing our follow up interview with Graci to find out what she’s been up to since then.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-2022-top-5-award-winner-end-of-year-review-ep-221/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

It’s that time of year again… time to reveal the top 5 Talking Taiwan episodes of the year.

As we were preparing for this last episode of the year I reflected on this past year and, I realize that there is a lot to be grateful for. Talking Taiwan has had 3 different sponsors throughout the year: The Taiwan Elite Alliance, The Taiwanese United Fund, and NATWA the North America Taiwanese Women's Association. We are grateful for our many individual donors and the generosity of Guy Gilchrist who donated 10 of his drawings that helped to raise money for Talking Taiwan.

And we’re also grateful to all of our amazing guests and want to thank each and every one of you for being a part of the Talking Taiwan podcast.

Our New Year’s wish is for there to be more peace, love and happiness in the world.

We’re really excited about the guests we’ve lined up to interview and topics to cover. We look forward to continuing to break new ground in the new year. For links to the top 5 episodes of 2022 visit our website TalkingTaiwan.com. Wishing you a wonderful rest of 2022 and a Happy New Year!

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-2022-top-5-award-winner-end-of-year-review-ep-221/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-caused-the-cancellation-of-worldpride-taiwan-2025-our-discussion-with-david-yu-ep-220/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In August the news broke that WorldPride 2025 was no longer going to be hosted by Taiwan.

Less than a year ago, InterPride and Taiwan had celebrated the selection of Kaohsiung Pride’s bid over the Capital Pride Alliance of Washington D.C. to host WorldPride 2025 in Taiwan. The announcement about WorldPride Taiwan 2025 was hugely significant since Taiwan was the first country in Asia to legalize same sex marriage in 2019 and It would be the first ever WorldPride event to be held in East Asia.

My listeners will recall that we did an episode about this news last December with Darien Chen in episode 162.

What had happened to make Kaohsiung Pride and the Taiwan Preparation Committee decide to withdraw from hosting WorldPride Taiwan 2025?

In August I came across a tweet about the cancellation by Bi-Khim Hsiao, Taiwan's Representative to the United States. She had tweeted an article written by David Yu, Don’t Sacrifice Taiwan in the Fight for LGBT Rights. The article had been published in Foreign Policy.

I reached out David and I invited him to come onto Talking Taiwan as a guest to discuss and reflect on what happened. David is Contractor CTO of an LA-based life sciences startup.

I also reached out to the Kaohsiung Pride committee, and InterPride for comment but have not received any responses to date.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-caused-the-cancellation-of-worldpride-taiwan-2025-our-discussion-with-david-yu-ep-220/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-karen-chung-shares-secrets-of-language-learning-and-challenges-taiwanese-students-face-learning-english-ep-219/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Dr. Karen Chung is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of National Taiwan University. She talked about something called the echo method when she was previously interviewed for Talking Taiwan in 2012 and we’ve invited her back to give us an update.

In this interview she shared some additional tips on how to use the echo method and her thoughts on the challenges that Taiwanese students face in learning English. We also spoke about Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Plan.

Professor Chung has a TEDx talk with over 1.5 million views and an online Open Course Ware course in phonetics on the Taiwan University site which has received over 1.3 million views.

A lifelong learner herself, she talked about when she first started learning Chinese, and how to this day, she continues improving her Chinese.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-karen-chung-shares-secrets-of-language-learning-and-challenges-taiwanese-students-face-learning-english-ep-219/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/ep-217-lost-episodes-karen-chung-on-the-echo-method/

A Note from the Host Felicia Lin

Here’s another one of the lost episodes of Talking Taiwan that we discovered were recorded back around 2012. Yes that’s 10 years ago when Talking Taiwan was just being created. Next week we’ll be bringing this guest back for a follow up interview to find out what they’re up to these days.

This lost episode of Talking Taiwan from 2012 features Karen Chung, an associate professor of English at National Taiwan University, she’s talking about something called the “Echo Method.” Next week we’ll be sharing our follow up interview with Karen to find out what she’s been up to since then.

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/ep-217-lost-episodes-karen-chung-on-the-echo-method/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-mark-chen-talks-about-his-years-of-service-in-taiwan-ep-217/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In part one of my interview with Dr. Mark Chen (episode 212) we talked about his advocacy work for Taiwan in the U.S. and the impact of the Kaohsiung Incident on Taiwan’s democratization. Several of the people who were tried and sentenced in connection with the Kaohsiung Incident later became prominent leaders in Taiwan’s first opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party. The incident happened 43 years ago in 1979 on December 10th, which just passed, making it a good time to share part two of my interview with Dr. Chen.

In the second half of my interview with Dr. Mark Chen, we talked about his work in Taiwan as an elected official and public servant. He became a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1992; that year was the first time that elections were held for all 161 seats of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan. Dr. Chen has also been elected Magistrate of Tainan County, and served in that position from 1993-2001. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004-2006, the Secretary General in the Office of the President from 2006-2007, the Secretary General of the National Security Council from 2007-2008 and a Legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan from 2001-2004 and 2012-2016. Currently he is the chairman of the Prospect Foundation.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:  

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-mark-chen-talks-about-his-years-of-service-in-taiwan-ep-217/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/j-w-henley-author-of-migrante-reveals-the-plight-of-migrant-workers-in-taiwan-ep-216/

J.W. Henley , author of Migante discusses how the plight of migrant workers in Taiwan came to him, and all the research that was involved.

Joe Henley is Freelance Writer and Author. The last time we had Joe on Talking Taiwan (in episode 64) we spoke about his book Bu San Bu Si. In this episode I spoke with him about his latest book, Migrante, which has recently been translated into Chinese. Joe shared how the idea for this book about the plight of migrant workers in Taiwan came to him, all the research that was involved, why he’s donating all of his proceeds from the sales of Migrante, and how his band nearly got arrested when they were performing in the Philippines.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/j-w-henley-author-of-migrante-reveals-the-plight-of-migrant-workers-in-taiwan-ep-216/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-bonny-ling-discusses-the-challenges-taiwan-faces-dealing-with-migrant-workers-ep-215/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Dr. Bonny Ling is a scholar and practitioner who works on international human rights and development. She is Executive Director of Work Better Innovations, a research consultancy with a community service mission working on new ideas for a responsible economy. We spoke about her work with migrant workers, the challenges that Taiwan has faced in dealing with migrant workers, why it is important for Taiwan to address the wider challenges of combatting human trafficking and modern slavery. She also spoke about her forced labor project that is going to take her back to Taiwan to work with SMEs (small medium enterprises) in December. In Taiwan 98 percent of all businesses are small medium enterprises and they employ close to 80 percent of the total domestic workforce. The European Union (EU) defines a small enterprise as one with less than 50 employees and a medium enterprise as one with less than 250 employees.

Dr. Bonny Ling has worked in the UN system and in international civil society. Bonny is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow with the University of Nottingham Taiwan Studies Programme; Research Fellow with the Institute for Human Rights and Business; and Advisory Board Member of the INGO Human Rights at Sea. Bonny wrote her PhD in Law on human trafficking and China at the Irish Centre of Human Rights and is an expert on human trafficking and modern slavery. She graduated from Cambridge University (criminology) and the Fletcher School, Tufts University (law and diplomacy). Bonny has served as an international election observer in East Timor and for the OSCE. Previously at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, she writes on human rights, migrants, business responsibilities and international development and is a contributing writer for Ketagalan Media, New Bloom, Taipei Times, Taiwan Insight and The News Lens.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-bonny-ling-discusses-the-challenges-taiwan-faces-dealing-with-migrant-workers-ep-215/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/a-master-class-in-art-and-life-with-guy-gilchrist-famous-cartoonist-for-the-muppets-ep-214/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

On November 5th we hosted a special live online event for people to experience the artistry of Master Cartoonist Guy Gilchrist. Guy’s artwork is enshrined in the Smithsonian Museum and first lady Nancy Reagan has declared him a national treasure. In this episode we share highlights from the event.

HURRY!   LAST CHANCE!   YOU CAN WIN ALL OF GUY'S DRAWINGS FROM THIS PODCAST BY DONATING $25 OR MORE TO TALKING TAIWAN!  

Guy has generously donated all 10 of the drawings he did that night of various Muppets and classic cartoon characters. You own Guy’s artwork! Just enter to win his drawings by simply by making a donation of $25 or more to TalkingTaiwan.com/support by 11:59 EST on November 30.

Deadlines to Enter th Contest for our fans abroad are as follows:

Great Britain:     December 1  4:59am GMT

Taiwan:               December 1  12:59pm CST 

To Donate, the EASIEST WAY IS TO click this link and go to the Talking Taiwan Support Page

Alternatively, you can go directly on PayPal and use talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com

*Note: When donating with PayPal or with a credit or debit card, be sure to select the option "Sending to a friend" to avoid withheld commissions

To see Guy in action and draw along with his tutorials visit our YouTube channel and watch A Master Class In Art and Life with Guy Gilchrist: Famous Cartoonist for The Muppets.

https://youtu.be/aijIsddfo8c

A full replay of the event (which is over two hours long) is also available on our YouTube channel. Guy Gilchrist: The Muppets Master Cartoonist Main Event REPLAY

https://youtu.be/L_K_zbbeiNg

We want to thank Guy Gilchrist and his cameraman Rich for sharing his amazing talent with us. Aside from being a talented artist, Guy really knows how to bring happiness to others through his art, as you’ll see if you watch any of the recordings of the event that we’ve posted on our YouTube channel.

A portion of the money raised will benefit Guy’s favorite charity World Central Kitchen.  

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here are the highlights from this episode:

[Timestamps for topics covered during the episode are on YouTube]

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/a-master-class-in-art-and-life-with-guy-gilchrist-famous-cartoonist-for-the-muppets-ep-214/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/formosa-files-john-ross-and-eryk-michael-smith-are-on-a-mission-to-share-the-history-of-taiwan-ep-213/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith are the co-hosts of the Formosa Files podcast. Together John and Eryk tell stories from the history of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa) in a nonchronological order. They spoke with me about where the idea for the podcast came from, their love of history and where they find inspiration for their podcast episodes. They are on a mission to share the history of Taiwan far and wide. Now in their second season, John and Eryk also shared what we can expect from season three.

John Ross is an author and co-founder of publisher Camphor Press, which specializes in books on Taiwan and China in English, while Eryk Michael Smith has worked as a writer and journalist for multiple media outlets in Taiwan, including the island's only English-language radio station ICRT (FM 100.7). Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for well over 20 years and call the island home.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/formosa-files-john-ross-and-eryk-michael-smith-are-on-a-mission-to-share-the-history-of-taiwan-ep-213/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-mark-chen-advocate-for-taiwan-in-both-the-u-s-and-taiwan-ep-212/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

1979 was a crucial year for Taiwan. In January of that year the United States changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing and in December of that same year the Kaohsiung Incident happened. Speaking with my guest, Dr. Mark Chen, for this episode made me realize that there are many people to thank for the important work that they did back then to safeguard Taiwan and the people of Taiwan.

Dr. Mark Chen (陳唐山 ) has spent much of his life dedicated to doing advocacy work for Taiwan both in the U.S. and in Taiwan. Listeners of this podcast may recall his name being mentioned in episode 199 when I spoke with Gerrit van der Wees about the Taiwan Relations Act.

When the United States formally recognized the communist People’s Republic of China and severed its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, Mark Chen and others reached out to U.S. congressmen and senators to express the concerns of the people of Taiwan. As a result, he and several others were invited to testify in front of the U.S Congress as the Taiwan Relations Act was being drafted. The act passed in April of 1979. Later that same year when the Kaohsiung Incident happened on December 10th Dr. Chen and overseas Taiwanese were galvanized to call for further investigation into the matter and to put international pressure on the Kuomintang government to release those charged and arrested in connection with the Kaohsiung Incident.

Dr. Chen also shared how the advocacy work being done for Taiwan at the time led to the formation of FAPA (the Formosan Association for Public Affairs) in 1982. This year marks the 40th anniversary of FAPA.

In part one of my interview with him we focus on the work he’s done for Taiwan in the U.S.- which started when he was a student at the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Chen has been the president of the Taiwanese Association of America, World Federation of Taiwanese Associations, and the Formosan Association of Public Affairs.

In part two of my interview with Mark Chen, we’ll talk about his work in Taiwan as an elected official and public servant, and his current work as the chairman of the Prospect Foundation.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-mark-chen-advocate-for-taiwan-in-both-the-u-s-and-taiwan-ep-212/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/guy-gilchrist-on-dealing-with-setbacks-and-how-dr-seuss-influenced-his-life-ep-211/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In this episode of Talking Taiwan, we share the second half of my interview with illustrator and cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, picking up after part one in episode 207. In the second half of my interview with Guy, he talked about how Dr. Seuss has been an influence in his life. Guy also talked about how he had to deal with chronic pain and back surgery.

These days Guy can be seen on social media and at Comicons around the country doing what he loves most drawing cartoon character live for his fans. Guy is best known as the cartoonist of Jim Henson and The Muppets. He’s also had his hand in notable cartoons such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Tiny Toons, Pink Panther, and Disney, among others. He was declared a national treasure by former First Lady, Nancy Reagan and his artwork has been enshrined in the Smithsonian.

Since one thing we can’t do on this podcast is to show the magic of Guy’s cartooning, we decided to host a LIVE online event where you can meet Guy this Saturday, November 5th at 6:30pm EST.

At the event you’ll have a chance to see him drawing live. Guy will also show you how to draw cartoon characters yourself. The best part of all this is that Guy has generously offered to donate all of the drawings he does that night and you can enter to win them by simply making a donation of $25 or more to Talking Taiwan’s GoFundMe page: http://gofundme.com/building-talking-taiwans-legacy

If you’d like to attend the event just Register at: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0qcuippj0oGNFuyKrRnUTpoPMCFSBcWEqP#/registration

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/guy-gilchrist-on-dealing-with-setbacks-and-how-dr-seuss-influenced-his-life-ep-211/

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/emma-choi-youngest-npr-host-talks-about-her-comedy-podcast-everyone-and-their-mom-ep-210/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Emma Choi is the host of the NPR weekly short-form comedy podcast Everyone & Their Mom. She is the youngest host at NPR and currently in her final year at Harvard University. In January of 2021, she was an intern for the NPR show Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! Initially she was told that she couldn’t be hired since she was a college student but apparently her PowerPoint prowess led to her working with the Wait Wait team to create Everyone & Their Mom, which began airing in February 2022. She's a second generation Korean American. Emma is definitely a trailblazer with a quirky sense of humor. I especially enjoyed the episodes of Everyone & Their Mom that she did about the job of a grizzly bear conflict manager, and the one about how her grandmother’s kimchi could be improved. She spoke to me about what it's been like working at NPR and why she did a satanic Tickle Me Elmo impression during her internship interview.

On Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 11:32 PM Felicia Lin

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Emma Choi is the host of the NPR weekly short-form comedy podcast Everyone & Their Mom. In 2021, she was an intern for the NPR show Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! Apparently, it was her PowerPoint prowess led to her working with the Wait Wait team to create Everyone & Their Mom, which began airing in February 2022. She's a second generation Korean American. We talked about that it's been like working at NPR and being NPR's youngest host, what why she did a satanic Tickle Me Elmo impression during her internship interview.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/emma-choi-youngest-npr-host-talks-about-her-comedy-podcast-everyone-and-their-mom-ep-210/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-kuo-and-albert-wu-on-a-broad-and-ample-road-and-the-taiwanese-presbyterian-church-shooting-ep-209/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In mid-June I spoke with Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu about their weekly newsletter, A Broad and Ample Road. They began writing it in 2020 as a way to keep in touch with people during the pandemic.

We also spoke about the shooting at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods which had happened a month before on May 15th. We discussed how the shooting sparked debate on the shooter’s identity as Taiwanese or Chinese, and the terms benshengren (本省人) and waishengren (外省人) which are commonly used in Taiwan to differentiate people. Michelle reflected on how the close-knit nature of the Taiwanese community in Laguna. Her parents live five minutes from the church and knew members of the Taiwanese community in Laguna Woods. Albert shared why he felt that in a different life the shooter could have been one of his uncles.

Michelle Kuo is a social activist, lawyer, teacher, and writer. She is an associate professor at the American University of Paris in History, Law, and Society and a visiting associate professor at National Taiwan University.

Albert Wu is a historian and an associate research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-kuo-and-albert-wu-on-a-broad-and-ample-road-and-the-taiwanese-presbyterian-church-shooting-ep-209/

Related Links:

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-wilma-welsh-how-the-presbyterian-church-of-taiwan-became-the-voice-of-the-people-in-the-1970s-ep-208/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

When Wilma Welsh left Canada to work with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) in 1969, she told me that it changed her life.

Little did she know how she’d be a part of the pivotal role that the PCT would play as a voice for the people of Taiwan. During her time in Taiwan, Wilma experienced the Kuomintang’s surveillance and censorship, and felt the lingering impact of the 228 massacre which happened on February 28, 1947.

She was the English secretary to Reverend Kao Chun-ming, the General Secretary of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. When Taiwan’s international status and the fate Taiwan’s people came in to question Reverend Kao and others wrote the Public Statement on Our National Fate, Wilma typed it up and took it out of Taiwan to Hong Kong where it could be safely mailed out. She also recounted how she was working at the Bible Society in Taipei in 1975 when the Kuomintang arrived to confiscate Taiwanese Hoklo language versions of the Bible and ended up smuggling out 2 copies of the Bible.

In 2006 she became the Moderator of the 132nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She was the first lay person to ever hold this position. In 2010 she was by the bestowing of a Doctor of Divinity Degree (DD) from Knox College, the University of Toronto.  During her year as Moderator she received three additional honors, a life membership in the Women’s Missionary Society, the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Medal, and an honorary membership in the World Taiwanese Christian Association.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/dr-wilma-welsh-how-the-presbyterian-church-of-taiwan-became-the-voice-of-the-people-in-the-1970s-ep-208/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/guy-gilchrist-cartoonist-for-the-muppets-talks-about-how-to-achieve-your-dreams-ep-207/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

I first learned about illustrator and cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, when I interviewed Dr. Karen Tsai (in episode 120) about how she spearheaded the creation of Monster Dance, a children’s book created to help children deal with and understand the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Guy is best known as the cartoonist of Jim Henson’s Muppets comic strip that was printed worldwide in 660-plus newspapers daily in 80 different languages. Guy spoke with me about his humble beginnings, and how he made his childhood dreams of becoming a cartoonist a reality.

Guy has had a lead role on the creative team for the Muppet Babies, Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock, and other Henson creations. Throughout the years, Guy has also had his hand in notable cartoons such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Tiny Toons, The Pink Panther, and Disney, among others.

Since we can’t showcase or share all of Guy’s talents on the podcast, we are excited to announce that on November 5th, we’ll be hosting a live online event where you can meet Guy and see him draw your favorite cartoon characters live. Guy has agreed do a special live online event to help raise some money for Talking Taiwan on November 5th. To get invited to this special event to meet Guy online just make a donation to Talking Taiwan’s GoFundMe campaign: http://gofundme.com/building-talking-taiwans-legacy.

We'll be sharing more information about the fun things planned for this event in the upcoming weeks.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/guy-gilchrist-cartoonist-for-the-muppets-talks-about-how-to-achieve-your-dreams-ep-207/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/eric-chan-discusses-what-led-the-taiwan-military-to-shoot-down-a-chinese-civilian-drone-ep-206/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

On September first, the Taiwan military shot down a Chinese civilian drone that flew near Kimen. In this episode of Talking Taiwan. I speak with Eric Chan about what led up the incident, China’s increased gray zone tactics toward Taiwan since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in early August, and other news related to Taiwan’s military, such as the Taiwan Policy Act and UMC founder, Robert Tsao’s donation for civil defense in Taiwan.

Eric Chan is a non-resident research fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute, a Washington DC-based think tank dedicated to policy research on Taiwan and its people. He is also a senior airpower strategist with the U.S. Air Force, where he provides USAF with expertise on People’s Republic of China military capabilities, political leadership, and strategic culture.

Mr. Chan was previously the China, Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam Country Director with the Air Force. In this role, Mr. Chan was responsible for USAF

engagement with the Chinese Air Force, and for managing security cooperation with key allies and partners.

Mr. Chan has published widely on Chinese influence operations and gray zone warfare, Taiwan military reform, and military diplomacy with the People’s Liberation Army. He has written for publications including the Global Taiwan Brief, the USAF Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, The Diplomat, and War on the Rocks.

Mr. Chan holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science/History from the University of California, San Diego.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/eric-chan-discusses-what-led-the-taiwan-military-to-shoot-down-a-chinese-civilian-drone-ep-206/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/rev-michael-stainton-working-with-indigenous-people-in-taiwan-before-and-after-martial-law-ep-205/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In this episode of Talking Taiwan, I welcome back Reverend Michael Stainton to talk about his time in Taiwan and work with the indigenous people of Taiwan. Much of the time he spent in Taiwan was during the martial law era (before 1987) and he gives an interesting account of what Taiwan was like at the time.

Reverend Stainton is the President of the Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada and the Founder and Director of the Canadian Mackay Committee. We had Reverend Stainton on as a guest previously (in episode 173) to talk about Canadian missionary George Leslie Mackay’s contributions to Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/rev-michael-stainton-working-with-indigenous-people-in-taiwan-before-and-after-martial-law-ep-205/

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/eduordo-roquette-talks-about-his-life-changing-scooter-accident-and-playing-tiger-man-ep-204/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Edouard Roquette is the founder of Rooms.Taipei a co-living business. In episode 192 he spoke to me about his experiences as an entrepreneur and the challenges facing foreign entrepreneurs in Taiwan. I’ve invited him back on to talk about the life-changing scooter accident that happened to him in 2012. It landed him in a wheelchair for six months, and on crutches for eight years. With physical therapy and treatment Edouard has been able to walk and hike again. To this day he continues to consult with physical therapists about his condition. We also spoke about how he took on the role of playing Tiger Man at the annual festivities in Beigang celebrating the birthday of Mazu, the goddess of the sea, and his fascination with Taiwan’s religious festivals and ceremonies.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/eduordo-roquette-talks-about-his-life-changing-scooter-accident-and-playing-tiger-man-ep-204/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/john-eastwood-discusses-areas-in-need-of-legal-reform-in-taiwan-ep-203/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

John Eastwood is a partner at the Taipei office of the law firm Eiger. I spoke with John previously in episode 195 about some of the changes he’s seen in Taiwan from a legal perspective, in the 20 years that he’s resided in Taiwan. In this second half of our interview, John and I spoke about other issues and areas in need of legal reform in Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/john-eastwood-discusses-areas-in-need-of-legal-reform-in-taiwan-ep-203/

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-mets-taiwan-day-with-diana-lee-of-hello-taiwan-ep-202/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

On this episode of Talking Taiwan I’m speaking with Diana Lee, one of the founders and organizers of Hello Taiwan about Mets Taiwan Day which is in its 17th year. It’s coming up soon on August 28th. We talked about how the event got started, some of the celebrities and notable people who have appeared at Mets Taiwan Day in the past and what sorts of activities and things people will experience at the event. Among the most exciting news for Taiwanese baseball fans is who will be throwing the first pitch of the game, and how to get a limited edition MetsTaiwan No. 1 jersey. Hello Taiwan also sponsors other sporting and cultural events throughout the year.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-mets-taiwan-day-with-diana-lee-of-hello-taiwan-ep-202/

Related Links:

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https://talkingtaiwan.com/shui-ying-chung-talks-about-filmmaking-and-her-award-winning-short-ep-201/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Shu-Ying Chung is a filmmaker based in New York. Her short film Removable has been making the rounds at film festivals. It’s won several awards for best story, best short, best actress, and best director, to name a few. I spoke with Shu-Ying about what motivated her to write, direct and produce the film and how she can identify with the subject matter of the film due to her own past immigration status issues. She also talked about some of the highlights of her career in film and offered some advice for those interested in filmmaking.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/shui-ying-chung-talks-about-filmmaking-and-her-award-winning-short-ep-201/

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To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/charlie-wu-talks-about-the-annual-event-taiwanfest-ep-200/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Today Talking Taiwan hits a major milestone with episode 200! We think it’s especially meaningful that the topic of this interview is TAIWANfest, an annual Taiwanese Canadian event that dates back to 1990.

Nowadays, TAIWANfest is held annually in Toronto and Vancouver. And my guest on this episode is Charlie Wu, the Managing Director of Asian-Canadian Special Events Association , which organizes TAIWANfest and LunarFest. You may recall that we had Charlie on earlier this year (in episode 167) to talk about LunarFest.

TAIWANfest will be held in Toronto later this month from August 26-28 and in Vancouver from September 3-5. This year’s theme is: The Stories of Independence Indulge in Indonesia, Discover Malaysia.

The programming will feature the indigenous band, Kanatal, which is a sort of experiment, that breaks the mold. They are a newly formed band of 4 experienced musicians, that have performing on tour without even having an album released. Other programs at TAIWANfest include a standup comedian, film screenings discussions, and events both in-person and virtual with topics covering: literature, social activism, food and culture.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/charlie-wu-talks-about-the-annual-event-taiwanfest-ep-200/

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/gerrit-van-der-wees-the-past-and-present-state-of-u-s-taiwan-relations-ep-199/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In June I spoke with Gerrit van der Wees about an article that he wrote about U.S. President Biden’s remarks about Taiwan when he was in Tokyo in May.

Just last week, Gerrit wrote a very timely article about the controversy over the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plans to visit Taiwan.  In April Pelosi had planned to visit Taiwan as part of a tour to the Indo Pacific region but had to cancel because she contracted COVID-19.

Last week Pelosi left with a delegation for Asia, but made no mention of visiting Taiwan. There had been speculation that the Chinese would attack if U.S. fighter jets escorted Pelosi's plane into Taiwan, and in a phone conversation with U.S. president Joe Biden, Chinese president Xi Jinping warned Biden against “playing with fire” over Taiwan.

In his piece for the Taipei Times, Gerrit stated that it is essential that Pelosi stands her ground and pushes through with her plan to visit Taiwan. We’ll share Gerrit’s Taipei Times article and a few others about this situation on our website for this episode.

In my interview with Gerrit I asked him to explain in detail what the Taiwan Relations Act is, and what it tells us about the relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan. We also talked about the so-called U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, how his work on the Taiwan Communique evolved from 1980 to 2016, and his thoughts on the war in Ukraine, and how it relates to China and Taiwan.

About Gerrit van der Wees

Gerrit van der Wees is a former Dutch diplomat. From 1980 through 2016, he served as chief-editor of “Taiwan Communiqué.” Also, from 2005 through 2016 he was liaison for the Senate and the State Department at FAPA-HQ.  He currently teaches the History of Taiwan at George Mason University and Current issues in East Asia at George Washington University’s Elliott School for International Affairs.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/gerrit-van-der-wees-the-past-and-present-state-of-u-s-taiwan-relations-ep-199/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Emily Wu Truong is a motivational speaker for mental health awareness. She is affiliated with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and has been involved with this organization for the last 8.5 years. I’ve invited her on to Talking Taiwan as a guest since July is BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Mental Health Month. Emily spoke with me about her own struggles with mental health, and suicide. She has a passion for working with youths on mental health related issues. She also shared her thoughts about the oppression and trauma experienced firsthand or as generational trauma by the people of Taiwan, and how it could impact one’s mental health.

About Emily Wu Truong:

Emily Wu Truong is an award-winning mental health advocate, nationally-recognized motivational speaker, catalytic thought leader, community educator, playwright and published author. For over a decade, Emily has worked tirelessly to create more compassionate & accepting communities by bringing mental health education wherever she goes. As a speaker, Emily utilizes her story from depression to self-actualization, inspiring others to find meaning in life struggles. She has spoken to a variety of audiences, including students from elementary school to graduate school students, school administrators, teachers, families, law enforcement, faith-based communities, medical and mental health professionals and many more. Over the years, in recognition of Emily’s efforts to raise awareness on mental health and emotional resilience, she has been featured in the California Mental Health Movement “Each Mind Matters,” Good Morning America, NBC Asian America, LA 18 and World Journal (世界日報). Emily has also been honored with the “2015 Woman of Achievement Award” by former Senator Ed Hernandez. Also in 2015, Emily was honored with the Youth and Young Adult Leadership Award at the 29th Annual National Alternatives Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. In 2017, the Los Angeles County Supervisors honored Emily's request to establish May 10th as "Asian Pacific American Mental Health Day." In 2018, former Assemblyman Ed Chau honored Emily with the 2018 Make A Difference Award. Emily has become a role model for many, sharing her life lessons and delivering her message that helplessness is not hopelessness and that with help, there is hope.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

To view all related links for this article, click link below:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/emily-wu-truong-award-winning-mental-health-speaker-inspires-others-to-find-meaning-in-their-struggles-ep-198/