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Politics and polemic Archive
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Hijacked history (review of ‘The Hijacked War’ for Taipei Times)
The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Outside historical circles, the name Li Da-an (李大安) will be familiar to few Taiwanese. However, there was a time where this lowly soldier was feted as a national hero in Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) propaganda. As one of 155,000 inmates in the UN’s POW camp on […] -
The complex tale of Taiwanese identity (Global Asia review of ‘Politics and Cultural Nativism in 1970s Taiwan’)
The following book review appeared in the June issue of Global Asia: References to Taiwan as the first Chinese democracy have justifiably drawn flak in recent years. With almost 90 percent of Taiwan’s population now identifying as Taiwanese and less than 5 percent as Chinese, the description is no longer seen as appropriate. For many, it […] -
Amidst Ukraine’s broad steppes: three views from a warzone
The following piece appeared in today’s Taipei Times: It wasn’t until 7am that Masha Gorenkova realized something serious was up. The first explosion had woken her at 4:30am, and several more had occurred in the interim; but like most of the neighbors in her Kyiv apartment block, she hadn’t twigged. Given the tone of inevitability […] -
Tears, disbelief, and solidarity as Taiwan’s Ukrainians speak out
The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Solidarity and steadfastness. These qualities were evident among Ukrainians long before missiles began pulverizing their cities early Thursday morning. They were on display again on Friday and Saturday in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where hundreds of people gathered outside the building housing the Russian representative office. Ukrainians […] -
Ritual humiliation (review of ‘Chiang Kai-shek’s Politics of Shame’ for Taipei Times)
The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Few historical revisionists can have been as audacious as Grace C. Huang in comparing Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to Mahatma Gandhi. Yet, not only does Huang attempt the parallel, she makes rather a good case for it. Previous studies of leadership, Huang writes, have “tended to portray […] -
Hand in glove: Taiwan-born movie star branches out to chart his own course
The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Ignacio Huang (黃勝煌) is a puppet master. But unlike Argentina’s political operators, he doesn’t pull strings. “It’s glove puppetry,” says Huang of budaixi (布袋戲, traditional Taiwanese puppetry), which in recent years has replaced the big screen as his bread and butter. Ahead of legislative elections in Argentina […] -
Fisherman’s friend? Film festival documentary fails to lift lid on industry abuses
The following article was published by the News Lens on November 11: The Taipei International Labor Film Festival (TILFF) wrapped up on October 15 with minimal fanfare. Thanks to Covid – which saw proceedings switched to an online format – and a rather underwhelming publicity drive, this 15th installment of the two-week event slipped under […] -
En route to a brighter tomorrow (Médecins Sans Frontières-Magnum exhibition at Art Taipei 2021)
The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Assorted political bigwigs turned out for the VIP opening of Art Taipei on Thursday. With projected foot traffic of 100,000-plus and a 30 percent increase in exhibitor participation, the event — which runs until Monday at the Taipei World Trade Center — was another opportunity to showcase […] -
Taiwan entwined in WHO’s history (Review of Harry Yi-Jui Wu’s ‘Mad By the Millions’ for Global Asia)
The following book review appeared in the September issue of Global Asia: Taiwan’s relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO) has been problematic at best since the country was expelled from the UN agency in 1972.1 From 2009 to 2016, as then-President Ma Ying-jeou fostered a cosy relationship with Beijing, Taiwan was granted observer status […] -
Taiwan’s free quarantine leaves little cause for complaint
The following article was published in today’s Taipei Times I’m writing this on a beachfront balcony with a spectacular ocean view. My hotel room is spotless, spacious and well-equipped. Meals are delivered to the door thrice daily, and my all-inclusive two-week stay is free. True, the beach remains tantalizingly inaccessible. But that’s the only downside […]
