Here’s our 2024 Top 5 Award Winners. 2024 was an eventful year! Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-2024-top-5-award-winners-end-of-year-end-of-year-review-ep-302/ In January we headed to Taiwan to cover the Presidential election, thanks to the generous support of donors. While we were there, we covered the election from Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. We were also able to hold two in-person podcast events where we met several of our Taiwan-based podcast guests in person for the very first time. In May we were shortlisted in the International Women’s Podcast Awards Moment of Visionary Leadership category.   Then in July we brought Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference East Coast (TAC-EC) where we created an on-location podcast studio and conducted 12 interviews in 3 days. We are grateful to have interviewed many of TAC-EC’s wonderful speakers. And it we had the honor of interviewing Taiwan’s former Vice President Dr. Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) who is best known for his excellent handling of the COVID pandemic in Taiwan. After speaking with him I came away thinking that the world would be a much better place if we had more politicians like Dr. Chen. We’ll be giving first listening access to this and other select interviews to anyone donating $50 or more to Talking Taiwan.   We never know what episodes are going to make the top 5 of the year and in this episode you’ll hear the story behind number 1 episode of 2024.   2024 marked a big change in the way we do things. Previously nearly all of our interviews were done remotely, but in 2024, we did a number of interviews in person, most notably the one with Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo that got shortlisted in the International Women’s Podcast Awards Moment of Visionary Leadership category.   We will be incorporating more in person interviews in 2025, and Talking Taiwan will be embarking on a North American Tour taking the podcast to communities on the East Coast, West Coast and Canada. In July we will be returning to the Taiwanese American Conference East Coast, and then heading to the Taiwanese American Conference on the West Coast in San Francisco. Later on in the year we will also head north to Taiwanfest in Toronto, Canada.   Your donation can help make all of this happen. Right now It’s a great time to make a contribution because all contributions made will be doubled. The first $11k we raise will be doubled thanks to our generous matching donors. To support Talking Taiwan you can make donation by PayPal or Zelle using our email address talkingtaiwanpodcast@gmail.com or Venmo @talkingtaiwan. You can also send us a check at our PO box that you’ll find on our website talkingtaiwan.com/support.    Thank you for listening. Wishing you a Happy New Year in 2025 and beyond!   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/talking-taiwan-2024-top-5-award-winners-end-of-year-end-of-year-review-ep-302/

In this episode of Talking Taiwan, I started off speaking with Taiwanese American documentary filmmaker Hsuan Yu Pan about how she got interested in documentary filmmaking. As we talked about her films, we covered a broad range of topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to parallels between the 2017 travel bans that barred people from seven Muslim majority countries from entering the U.S. and internment of Japanese Americans in the1940s. Time and time again entire groups of people have been targeted and blamed groups.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/documentary-films-on-the-pandemic-immigration-and-human-rights-issues-our-talk-with-taiwanese-american-filmmaker-hsuan-yu-pan-ep-301/   This led us back to the pandemic and recalling the high incidence of Asian hate that happened at that time. Her current film project Hear, Eat, Home touches on many of these topics including the Syrian Revolution and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After speaking to Hsuan Yu I get the sense that through her documentary filmmaking she wishes to create understanding so that history doesn’t repeat itself and to foster more empathy in the world.  Below in the Related Links section is a link where you can support and watch a work in progress version of Hsuan Yu’s film Hear, Eat, Home.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: Hsuan Yu’s upbringing and how she initially had aspirations to be a visual artist How Hsuan Yu got interested in documentary filmmaking How Hsuan Yu’s early experiences editing wedding videos taught her how to use video footage to tell a story How her work at Bric TV taught her how to find stories How she came up with the concept for her documentary film Alone Together that was shot during the pandemic How footage for Alone Together was gathered and planned How Alone Together featured footage from 11 different countries What Hsuan Yu learned from making the film Alone Together Hsuan Yu views her filmmaking as being about telling people’s stories How she met the Taiwanese puppeteer, Mr. Tsai who is the subject of her documentary film project I, Puppet How Hsuan Yu was able to encourage Mr. Tsai to do some impromptu puppetry in New York’s Washington Square Park How Mr. Tsai attended a Puppet Slam event in Coney Island, NY and brought the puppet slam concept back to his puppet museum in Taipei, Taiwan The relationship between Mr. Tsai and his father who is also a puppeteer How and why Mr. Tsai’s parents didn’t want him to become a puppeteer What Hsuan Yu loves about making documentaries Her documentary film project Hear, Eat, Home How two of the subjects of the film Hear, Eat, Home, Kinan Azmeh and Kevork Mourad are members of Yo-yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble How the internment of Japanese Americans and the travel bans of 2017 (aka Muslim bans) are examples of how the U.S. government has labeled certain groups of people as a threat and discriminated against them How Kinan Azmeh was affected by the travel bans of 2017 (aka Muslim bans) How different groups have been blamed such as the Japanese Americans, Muslim Americans and Asian American How as a documentary filmmaker Hsuan Yu feels that sne should document history so that people can learn from history Kevork Mourad’s background and family story What the film Hear, Eat, Home is about Hear Eat Home tells the story of Syrians, Japanese Americans and Ukrainians What Hsuan Yu believes makes a good documentary How Hsuan Yu was trying to finish working on Hear, Eat, Home in 2020, but she wasn’t satified with it When the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened in 2022 Hsuan Yu felt that she should include stories of her Ukrainian friends in to the film Hear, Eat, Home Hsuan Yu plans to complete Hear, Eat, Home me next year Hear Eat Home is available for view as a work in progress until January 5th Anyone wishing to support the completion of Hsuan Yu’s film Hear, Eat, Home can make a donation on the link provided on TalkingTaiwan.com for this episode   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/documentary-films-on-the-pandemic-immigration-and-human-rights-issues-our-talk-with-taiwanese-american-filmmaker-hsuan-yu-pan-ep-301/

NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women's Association) has been around since 1988 and for this episode about NATWA I interviewed Elena Ling, one of NATWA’s founding members, Hui-Na Lin, a past NATWA national president, Susan Liao, two-time president of NATWA’s Toronto chapter, and Sue Kuo NATWA’s current vice president and president elect for 2025. It is impossible to properly acknowledge the unique contributions of each NATWA national president, or all of NATWA’s board and committee members, NATWA’s supporters, donors, and countless others who have made NATWA what it is. Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-natwa-unique-contributions-by-three-national-presidents-ep-300/     As I reflect on this, I’d like to share a poetic analogy that Hui-Na Lin, 2022-2023 NATWA national president shared with me to describe the essence of NATWA. It’s from a short story she wrote “Fly Together Over Mountains” which she told me was inspired by the Canadian geese’s migration down south for the winter each year. A single goose could not make the trip as efficiently alone. Several geese fly together as a group in a V formation. There is one bird that leads the group initially, but when the lead bird gets tired, it moves to the back for a rest, and another bird takes the lead. The birds all take turns leading the group to their final destination. Like the Canadian geese NATWA’s members work together to support each other in turn. It’s not about one single leader.     As you listen to this episode you’ll learn more about how NATWA meets its five point mission statement which 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.   Special Thanks to Elena Ling and Alvina Ling for providing useful details about NATWA’s formation and history for this episode. And a very special thank you to NATWA and its members for all of the encouragement and support that you’ve given to our two-person team here at Talking Taiwan. Thank you for making our work possible.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   How and why NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women's Association) was founded Annette Lu’s (former Vice President of Taiwan) connection to NATWA How Annette Lu was one of the Kaohsiung Eight (one of eight people arrested as a result of the Kaohsiung aka Formosa incident) The first meeting with the 30 founding members of NATWA How NATWA has a President-elect who serves as Vice President the year before becoming President How NATWA started off as a national organization The early formation of NATWA How progressive it was at the time to form NATWA How NATWA has grown from 30 to 1,000 members How NATWA became a 501(c)(3) organization How NATWA has 2 major events a year, an annual convention (in April) and a mid-year leadership meeting (in October) The impact that NATWA has made in the lives of its members How Hui-Na Lin and Susan Liao got involved in NATWA initially and later took on leadership roles in the organization NATWA’s early struggles in attracting members due to pressure from Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) government at the time NATWA’s early successful fundraising efforts Why NATWA avoided accepting any government funding NATWA’s early successful projects NATWA’s charitable fundraising efforts How NATWA’s members are aging How NATWA’s membership and programs grew during the pandemic What made NATWA’s WebEx programs during the pandemic successful What types of WebEx programs NATWA offered during the pandemic Major activities organized by NATWA Toronto The first NATWA event that Felicia Lin, the host of Talking Taiwan was invited to attend How Hui-Na and her team got NATWA’s members to attend the first in-person mid-year meeting and annual conventions that took place after restrictions on COVID were eased How NATWA addresses women’s issues and promotes women’s dignity The formation of NATWA II an organization for second generation Taiwanese American women Questions about the future direction of NATWA What Elena, Hui-Na and Susan have each gotten out of their involvement with NATWA   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-natwa-unique-contributions-by-three-national-presidents-ep-300/

After hearing about Team Taiwan’s historic gold medal baseball win at the Premier 12 on November 24th I reached out to Richard Wang who I previously interviewed in 2020 about how Taiwan was the only place on the planet where professional baseball was being played during the COVID pandemic and since the entire world was watching, it led to English broadcasts of Taiwan’s baseball games. Related Link: https://talkingtaiwan.com/team-taiwans-historic-gold-medal-baseball-win-our-conversation-with-richard-wang-ep-299/ Well, it turns out that Richard was at the Tokyo Dome for Premier 12 and even had the honor of calling out all the names of Team Taiwan’s players as they were awarded their gold medals. In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, which was on December 3rd, I thought it would be fun to celebrate Team Taiwan’s win by inviting others to be “in the audience” during my online interview with Richard, so I put out the word on social media. Special thanks to all those who attended the online event on such short notice. Related Link: https://talkingtaiwan.com/team-taiwans-historic-gold-medal-baseball-win-our-conversation-with-richard-wang-ep-299/

In July we brought Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast (aka TAC-EC) at West Chester University where we set up an on-location podcast studio and I interviewed 12 people in 3 days. It was pretty nonstop but it was well worth it. One thing we strive to do with Talking Taiwan is to record oral histories, so it was my pleasure to sit down with several of TAC-EC’s past organizers to talk about the conference’s history.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/oral-histories-by-three-tac-ec-past-organizers-talking-with-terry-tsao-sue-mei-kao-and-powen-wang-ep-298/   First, I spoke with Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文), who told me about how TAC started out as a summer retreat for Christian families in 1970 and later evolved into a conference for the entire Taiwanese American community. At the time Taiwan was under Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalists authoritarian regime, and Pok-wen recounts how the Chinese Nationalists (KMT) tried to interfere with TAC in those early years.   I also spoke with past TAC organizers Su-Mei Kao, and Shih-Chieh or Terry Tsao.   TAC is a conference with a 50 year plus long history and its programs have covered diverse issues impacting Taiwanese Americans, including human rights in Taiwan, and momentous social, historical, political events related to Taiwan and their implications.   About TAC-EC:   The first Taiwanese American Conference East Coast (TACEC) was held in 1970 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It was a summer retreat for the area's Christian families but has turned into an event for the entire Taiwanese American community. Over the years, the conference has expanded its programs to encompass diverse issues impacting Taiwanese Americans, including human rights in Taiwan, and momentous social, historical, political events and their implications. TACEC invites Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans from diverse professional backgrounds to share their experiences. The number of participants has steadily grown, numbering over 2,000 in the late 80s and 90s.   TAC-EC is hosted by Taiwanese Communities in four different regions: New York, New Jersey, Washington and Philadelphia (including south Jersey and Delaware). Each region is currently on a four-year rotation and takes turns chairing the TACEC board that oversees the operation of TAC-EC.   The conference today draws about 600 - 800 participants annually, with the majority being first generation Taiwanese Americans. Many second generation Taiwanese Americans who now have children have eagerly expressed interests in developing TAC-EC programs for their children and re-engage their peers who were past participants.     TAC-EC’s MISSION:   To stimulate public interest in the cultural, religious, educational, socioeconomic and other activities of Taiwanese/Taiwanese Americans To pass down Taiwanese cultural and religious heritage in the Taiwanese Americans community To facilitate exchanges among Taiwanese Americans organizations, and to foster exchange, mutual support and collaboration between Taiwanese American organizations and Taiwanese or other ethnic groups’ organizations To organize an annual conference or workshops of various topics about current affairs and future development of the United States and Taiwan   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: Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文), an early participant and organizer of TAC-EC talks about how he got involved in TAC-EC, the formation of TAC-EC, and its early years How the conference started as a Christian summer camp and then the Formosan Club (aka Taiwanese Association) joined What caused a split between the Christians and Formosan Club The year Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文) organized the conference (1989) How TAC-EC has evolved from the 1970s to 2013 The formation of TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation) Su-Mei Kao, organizer of TAC-EC in 2015 talked about her experiences organizing the conferences and how changes were made to create more interaction and shared events between TAC-EC and TANG attendees The speakers and topics covered at TAC-EC 2015 How Su-Mei Kao had attended TAC in the southern region before TAC on the East Coast and how the conferences in these regions differ Shih-Chieh (Terry) Tsao, organizer of TAC-EC 2023 talked about how he got involved in TAC-EC Shih-Chieh (Terry) talked about the theme of TAC-EC How China reacted to Nancy Pelosi’s (former speaker of the United States House of Representatives) visit to Taiwan in August of 2022 Some of the most memorable speakers that were invited to speak at TAC-EC 2023 How FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs and GTI (Global Taiwan Institute) and WUFI (World United Formosans for Independence) were instrumental in helping to organize TAC-EC 2023 How Shih-Chieh (Terry) hopes that TAC-EC can welcome more participants with a wider spectrum of political leanings on Taiwan Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/oral-histories-by-three-tac-ec-past-organizers-talking-with-terry-tsao-sue-mei-kao-and-powen-wang-ep-298/

Last year in August of 2023 I interviewed Dr. Jung Tsai about the medical mission to Ukraine that he had organized. If you haven’t already had a chance to hear my first interview with Dr. Tsai about his medical mission to Ukraine, check out Episode 251: Dr. Jung Tsai: On His Courageous Medical Mission to Ukraine for Taiwan.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/aftermath-of-his-medical-mission-to-ukraine-one-year-later-dr-jung-tsai-ep-297/   This past July we took Talking Taiwan on the road to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast that was held at Westchester University. And we set up an on-location podcast studio there. Dr. Tsai was one of the speakers at TAC, so nearly a year after his return, we sat down with him to hear how his medical mission went.   This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/aftermath-of-his-medical-mission-to-ukraine-one-year-later-dr-jung-tsai-ep-297/

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/