Travel Archive

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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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 […]
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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 […]
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Fictionalizing Taiwan’s White Terror (review of ‘Transitions in Taiwan’ for Taipei Times)

The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times: Violence and oppression, we are told in the introduction to this collection of tales, are foundational to modern Taiwan, providing “a legacy that continues to influence its contemporary society.” It is interesting, then, that an anthology subtitled “Stories about the White Terror,” offers few instances of […]
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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 […]
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Neither here nor there: Study casts light on aging Taiwanese migrants to the US (review of Ken Chih-Yan Sun’s ‘Time and Migration’ for Taipei Times)

The following book review appeared in today’s Taipei Times. With droves of Taiwanese Americans reportedly bolting stateside on “vaccine tours,” the issue of transnational healthcare opportunism is back in the public eye. If you’re wondering if that’s a real thing, well, while I believe I may have just coined the phrase, the phenomenon it describes […]
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Of pigs and prudery

Anyone who has lived in Taiwan long enough, or for that matter any place where they stand out in terms of appearance or culture, will probably have experienced Othering. In Taiwan, it’s rarely of the nasty, aggressive kind nor, necessarily, even of the intentionally discriminatory type– though, as I’ve made clear elsewhere, that obviously exists, […]
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