Travel Archive

China exploits the West’s tolerance

The following op-ed appeared in Taipei Times today: It is quite the irony when former British prime minister Boris Johnson — a buffoon who for far too long was taken seriously — is branded a buffoon for saying something deadly serious. Following Johnson’s withering criticism of China at a business forum in Singapore on Wednesday […]
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Why is China’s English disinformation still so crude?

The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: The comment arrived shortly after I’d posted the link on Facebook. The article, which was my first for Taiwan Business TOPICS, the magazine of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, was about burgeoning trade between Taiwan and Lithuania. Accompanied by the profile picture of an attractive […]
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When the KMT called the shots in the Philippines (review of ‘Diasporic Cold Warriors’ for Taipei Times)

The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times. In 1950, the overseas Chinese community of the Philippines numbered 230,000 — just over 1 percent of the country’s population. This made it among the smallest overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. In comparison, Thailand had more than 3 million Chinese residents that same year. Yet, […]
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An interdisciplinary treasure trove of learning (review of ‘Maritime Landscapes’ for Taipei Times)

The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times. Now and then a work appears that ruthlessly exposes the limits of one’s knowledge. Even seasoned students of Taiwan’s history are likely to find this book doing so repeatedly. Whether speculating on the origins of the Pisheye (毗舍耶) raiders who terrorized coastal Fujian in the twelfth […]
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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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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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Taiwan comparisons resonate among Ukrainian residents

The following piece appeared on Ketagalan Media’s website: In the build-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, parallels with Taiwan’s situation were frequently mentioned in international media. Following British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments at the Munich Security Conference on February 19 that the echo of an unchallenged invasion “will be heard in Taiwan,” Taipei was […]
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Hidden in plain sight: The extraordinary work of Hsieh Tong-liang (Part 1)

The follow article appeared in Guanxi Magazine: For years I’d been intrigued by the peculiar house on Chang’an Rd in Taichung’s Taiping District. As with most of my best discoveries in Taiwan, I’d stumbled upon it – in this case almost literally, when a scuffed pass had sent a football trickling down a sloping, paved […]
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In a league of their own

The following article appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Taiwan’s history is full of three-digit numbers indicating the month and day of major events: there’s 228 denoting the pivotal White Terror incident in 1947 and 921 for the devastating Jiji earthquake of 1999. Not quite as well remembered are 823, which represents the start of the […]
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