Taiwan Archive

Why Taiwan can’t copy Ukraine’s civil defense blueprint

The following article went live on The Diplomat website today. Ukraine’s successful deployment of Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) has brought renewed focus to the possibility of creating a similar military reserve in Taiwan. Yet, much of this discussion has ignored the constitutionality of such a move. A March 15 commentary in War on the Rocks […]
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Toward a healthier information environment in Taiwan

The following piece appeared in today’s Taipei Times: What lessons can Taiwan learn from the disinformation campaigns that have surrounded the war in Ukraine? At an Amnesty International Taiwan event in Taipei on Wednesday night, four speakers offered compelling insights into this and related questions. One of the main takeaways was the observation that disinformation […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The Cold War history behind Nicaragua’s break with Taiwan

The following piece appeared as the leader today in The Diplomat magazine: We touched down in Managua, Nicaragua, shortly before 7:50 p.m. on July 18, 2014. The tickets were originally booked for a cheaper flight the following day, but Pablo Morales was having none of it. “It’s Liberation Day,” he said. “You have to be […]
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Taiwan and Lithuania look to the long term on consumer goods trade

The following piece article appeared in the Taiwan Business TOPICS, the magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan: What does Lithuania mean to Taiwan? Prior to 2021, perhaps only the presence of several of the country’s basketball players in the NBA. However, following donation in July and October last year of more than […]
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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 […]
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Globetrotting entrepreneur brings a taste of the Baltics to Taiwan

The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Once Peter Young (楊良棟) gets going, you can’t be sure where he’ll end up. One minute, it’s eighteenth-century Baltic history, the next, the health benefits of chokeberry wine. A discussion of the current situation in his native Hong Kong kicks off a sweeping tour of Chinese history that […]
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Hidden in plain sight: the extradordinary work of Hsieh Tong-liang (Part 2)

Part 2 of a feature for Guan Xi Media: With tea and preliminary chit-chat done, Diane suggests we start our tour in the large exhibition space next door. Split into sections showcasing the various series of works that have occupied periods of Hsieh’s life spanning, in some cases, a single year, in others, decades, the […]
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Life on the lam: an undocumented migrant worker’s story

Although the exact figure is difficult to ascertain, Ministry of Labor figures suggest there are over 55,000 undocumented migrant workers in Taiwan. In 2017, the National Immigration Agency announced that it would stop referring to these workers as “runaways.” However, this remains the default description among media and public. The term is misleading. Most workers […]
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