Indigenous Taiwan Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

KITA Foundation: Mapping the Path of the Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan’s Democracy and Freedom Ep 342

Felicia Lin — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:34:57 +0000

So in the vein of reflecting on the past, this year I thought I’d share my interview with Sabrina Liu and Meng Chiang who are part of the team that makes up the KITA Foundation, an organization that was formed as an oral history project to understand who are the trailblazers that paved the way for Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.

Every year we try to dedicate an episode of Talking Taiwan to 228, an important date in Taiwan’s history, marking the 228 Massacre. 228 stands for February 28 1947. February 28th is now commemorated as a national holiday in Taiwan known as the 228 Peace Memorial Day.

However, the 228 Massacre is not confined to this single date in history. There were circumstances leading up what happened on February 28th and there were also subsequent events after February 28th which escalated into bloody violence and massacres leading to what some refer to as the March Massacre.

Under the authoritarian Chiang regime, and Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang, what followed after 228 was 38 years of martial law and the White Terror era. Anyone could be disappeared, executed or worse for just saying or doing the wrong thing, or for what was seemingly wrong in the eyes of the authorities. The people of Taiwan were horrified and terrified. For decades there was denial and suppression of 228 by authorities in Taiwan, and generations dared not speak of 228.

228 was absent from high school textbooks until relatively recently. To learn more about the specifics of 228 I invite you to listen to some of our past episodes on the topic. We recommend episodes 309, 277, 228, and 172.

In an effort to confront its authoritarian past, in recent years Taiwan has taken steps to acknowledge historical sites of injustice such as buildings where military police fired on civilians on February 28, 1947. Around this time of year, around February 28 and leading into March, it’s a time to reflect on the past, and what we can learn from it.

Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back! Ep 319

Felicia Lin — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:00:12 +0000

Summer is upon us and I’m sure that a lot of our listeners especially those in New York will be happy to know that Taiwanese Waves will be returning to Central Park’s Summer Stage on August 3 at the Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 5:00pm

Since 2016 Taiwanese Waves has introduced Taiwanese music to audiences at Central Park’s Summer Stage. If you’re not familiar with Taiwanese Waves you’re in for a treat. In this episode I sat down with Mia, the main organizer of Taiwanese Waves and we are about to walk through and give you a taste of all of the acts that have performed at Summer Stage in the past nine years. You’ll also get to hear a preview of what to expect at this year’s concert.

Understanding the History of Taiwan through Dr. Jerome Keating (Classic) Ep 311

Felicia Lin — Sun, 18 May 2025 12:10:43 +0000

Few contemporaries are more qualified than Dr. Jerome Keating on understanding the history of Taiwan. He has been living in Taiwan for over 30 years. Initially he came over to Taiwan to work on the MRT.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and since 1999, Congressman David Wu (OR) and the co-chairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus have supported the celebration of Taiwanese American Heritage Week starting from Mother’s Day Weekend, so we thought this would be a good time to reshare one of our most popular episodes, an interview we did with Dr. Jerome Keating in 2020 about the history of Taiwan.

Dr. Jerome Keating has written several books about Taiwan. We invited him on to the podcast to talk about this latest book, Taiwan The Struggle Gains Focus. Dr. Keating also reflected on how Taiwan has changed in the past 30 years, and we discussed things past and present including Taiwan’s complicated international status, amendment of the constitution, changing the official name of Taiwan (which is the Republic of China) and redesigning the passport and flag of Taiwan.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What motivated Dr. Keating to write his latest book, Taiwan The Struggle Gains Focus
Who the book was intended for and who Dr. Keating writes for
How Taiwan has changed in the last 30 years
The semi-martial-like atmosphere of Taiwan when Dr. Keating arrived in 1988
Keating’s first book Island in the Stream and what motivated him to write it
What intrigues Dr. Keating about Taiwan as a subject matter
How the San Francisco Peace Treaty (signed in 1951) left Taiwan in a limbo status
How the US position on Taiwan 75 years after World War II is still undecided
The circumstances surrounding “Taiwan” aka the Republic of China losing its seat in the United Nations in 1971, which included a proposal to have 2 Chinas in the United Nations
The Republic of China and People’s Republic of China’s claims on China
How Taiwan has never had a seat in the United Nations
The Republic of China framework and constitution that Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang brought to Taiwan
Keating’s thoughts on amending Taiwan’s constitution
Changing the official name and flag that represent Taiwan
Submissions for the new Taiwan passport cover design
The Taiwan Civil Government wanting to make Taiwan the 51st state of the United States
How Dr. Keating sees Taiwan’s future

Team Taiwan’s Historic Gold Medal Baseball Win: Our Conversation with Richard Wang Ep 299

Felicia Lin — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 08:32:39 +0000

After hearing about Team Taiwan’s historic gold medal baseball win at the Premier 12 on November 24^th 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.

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 3^rd, 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.

An Oral History of TAC-EC by Three Past Organizers: Talking with Terry Tsao, Su-Mei Kao, and Powen Wang Ep 298

Felicia Lin — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 05:31:35 +0000

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.

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 five 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

Felicia Lin and past TAC-EC organizer Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文) , with an early copy of the Directory of Formosans

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

“Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290

Felicia Lin — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:58:45 +0000

Here’s my conversation with award winning journalist Mike Chinoy on his new film Decathalon about CK Yang and Rafer Johnson in 1960 Olympics.

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.

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

Decathlon: The CK Yang & Rafer Johnson Story 奧運傳奇：楊傳廣與強森 | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/usbdC5v3LX8?si=FgQKZkFaJh-eutGj

C.K. Yang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Chuan-kwang

Rafer Johnson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafer_Johnson

Decathlon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon

What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/p8pYnsnq8x0?si=Ddksa2SSZJDWCbGG

Amis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amis_people

Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_invasion_of_Taiwan_(1895)

Taiwan under Japanese rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_under_Japanese_rule

History of the Kuomintang: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Kuomintang

Flags banned, signs ripped up: Why you can’t mention Taiwan at the Olympics: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/flags-banned-taiwan-olympics-chinese-taipei-rcna165502

Taiwan asks for investigation into a fan at Olympic badminton having a sign taken away and ripped up: https://apnews.com/article/2024-olympics-taiwan-china-273274375d4ae6221b0aa17d1dfe2e7e

Security guard snatches bubble tea sign from Taiwanese fan at Olympic badminton final: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5914949

Boxer Lin Yu-ting says she blocked out gender dispute en route to gold: https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/boxing-taiwans-lin-says-she-blocked-out-gender-dispute-en-route-gold-2024-08-10/

Boxer from Taiwan shakes off gender questions to win fight and assure medal: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/lin-yu-ting-chinese-taipei-boxer-taiwan-shakes-gender-questions-wins-b-rcna165051

1960 Rome Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/rome-1960

1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tiananmen_Square_protests_and_massacre

How covering June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown kicked off ‘CNN Effect’: https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/01/world/asia/tiananmen-chinoy/index.html

Chiang Kai-shek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek

Republic of China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China_(1912%E2%80%931949)

People’s Republic of China: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

Formosa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Formosa

Frank W. Chen: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9748617/

Late Life: The Chien-Ming Wang Story: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8234502/

Le Bron James: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeBron_James

1958 Kinmen and Katsu crisis (aka The 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis): https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM4900.html

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/taiwan-strait-crises

https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=754

UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles): https://www.ucla.edu/

Senator Robert F. Kennedy: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy

Eunice Kennedy Shriver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver

1964 Tokyo Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/tokyo-1964

Special Olympics: https://www.specialolympics.org/

National Sports Training Center in Kaohsiung: https://web.nstc.org.tw/English/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Sports_Training_Center

An article about C.K. Yang from the 1963 Sports Illustrated cover with the headline “The World’s Greatest Athlete” and C.K. Yang’s photo on it: https://vault.si.com/vault/1963/12/23/the-cobra-and-c-k-yang

Asian Games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Games

1956 Melbourne Olympics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Summer_Olympics

https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/melbourne-1956

This Week in China’s History: October 25, 1971: https://thechinaproject.com/2020/10/21/when-the-prc-won-the-china-seat-at-the-un/

Kuomintang (KMT): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party

Taiwan Strait Risk Report Newsletter: https://taiwanrisk.com/

David Kilgour Author and Human Rights Advocate: Why 2022 is the China Genocide Olympics Ep 170

David Kilgour Author and Human Rights Advocate: Why 2022 is the China Genocide Olympics (Episode 170): https://talkingtaiwan.com/david-kilgour-author-and-human-rightd-advocate-why-2022-is-the-china-genocide-olympics-ep-170/

The post “Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290 appeared first on Talking Taiwan Podcast.

Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo: The Kaohsiung Incident – The Watershed Moment That Led to Taiwan’s Democratization Part 2 Ep 289

Felicia Lin — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 09:10:29 +0000

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.

Photo Credit: Linda Gail Arrigo

Invisible Nation: Director Vanessa Hope Discusses her Documentary About Tsai Ing-Wen’s Presidency Ep 284

Felicia Lin — Wed, 29 May 2024 08:51:03 +0000

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.

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

Our Live Podcast Event @ Pic Collage: Highlights and Interesting Stories of 10 Guests in Taipei Ep 276

Felicia Lin — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:19:30 +0000

On January 25th we held the second in-person event during the Talking Taiwan Election Tour at the PicCollage office in Taipei thanks to John Fan, who was a guest on episode 179 of Taking Taiwan. Many of our past guests, friends and supporters were in attendance at the event, and what made the event extra special for us of course was the chance to meet some of our past guests in-person for the very first time.

In this episode you’ll hear me speaking with our previous podcast guests and a few people from the audience also came up and spoke with me at our impromptu on-stage podcasting booth. Previous guests featured in this episode include: Eric Chang (episodes 121, 127 and 231), Jane W. Wang (episode 150), Karen Chung, (episodes 217 and 219), Elias Ek (episode 59), Brian Foden (episodes 184 and 185), Richard Wang (episode 77), Jerome Keating (episodes 97, 98 and 186).

This episode bookends the Talking Taiwan Election Tour episodes, but we do have some other interviews that we recorded while in Taiwan. Those will be released at a later date.

We are extremely grateful to our supporters and donors who made the Talking Taiwan Election Tour possible.

By the way, if you’d like to listen to the episode featuring our first in-person on January 19th at 4SC Crossfit thanks to T.H. Schee, check out episode 273 and if you want the full visual experience, visit Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel where you can watch video footage from both of our in-person events.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Jenny Luo talked about the Taiwan Plus show she’s producing called, Anything Goes with JL
Eric Chang shares his thoughts on the January 13^th election in Taiwan, and talked about his work at Taiwan News and enjoying Taiwan’s natural beauty
Jane W. Wang talked about her interest in permaculture and degrowth
Karen Chung talked about an app she’s been working on to improve the listening skills of those learning English called Ear Bug
Elias Ek talked about how his early career in radio shaped him as an entrepreneur, Dragon’s Chamber and his latest business venture Keego
Brian Foden talked about his podcast, If the Phrase Fits
Richard Wang shared how he’s helping to bring baseball games to the Taipei Dome, that the Yomiuri Giants (Japanese baseball team) will be celebrating their 90^th anniversary with games at the Taipei Dome, and starting this year, the local baseball league will have six teams
John Fan made introduced and explained what PicCollage does
Jerome Keating shared his thought on the future direction of Taiwan and where Taiwan is headed
Nancy Baldwin talked about her book, One Thousand Layers of Water and Clouds: The Tale of a Taiwanese Daughter
Elias Ek shared a few pet peeves that he has about terms and phrases commonly used in Taiwan
Felicia acknowledged Gus Adapon the original producer of Talking Taiwan who was in the audience
Dylan Black a Canadian who has lived and taught English in Taiwan for many years talked about how he is now doing so in China, and how life China compares to life in Taiwan so far

Sean Su: Observations on Election Day 2024 from Kaohsiung, Taiwan Ep 272

Felicia Lin — Sat, 13 Jan 2024 13:11:03 +0000

Talking Taiwan is on an Election Tour and we traveled down to Kaohsiung where I cast my vote in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election. Voting booths opened at 8am on January 13^th and we spoke with Sean Su, midday on election day. He was also in Kaohsiung to cast his vote. Sean shared some of his observations and we talked about the alarming text message alert many in Taiwan received on January 9^th. I remember reading the text about a missile flyover on my phone just as Kaju and I arrived in Kaohsiung on the high-speed rail. Sean is Co-Producer of Taiwan Report. Known for jump starting Keep Taiwan Free. He is also a frequent guest on ICRT.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Sean’s observations on election day in Kaohsiung
How if the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Lai Ching-te wins it would be the first time in history that an incumbent party after eight years in office is re-elected
Courtney Donovan Smith’s recent article about Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election, which mentions that Ko Wen-je’s YouTube subscribers have surpassed one million
The DPP’s rally that was held at Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei on January 11
Ma Ying-jeou’s comments that Taiwan has no choice but to trust Chinese leader Xi Jinping
The text message alert from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on January 9^th that stated in English that there was a missile flyover Taiwan airspace
Bilingual 2030
The case of the two Michaels from Canada that were kidnapped by China
How China conducted a series of missile tests in the waters surrounding Taiwan, including the Taiwan Strait in 1995 in response to President Lee Teng-hui’s visit to Cornell University and in 1996 before Taiwan’s first direct presidential election
What China would need to do in order to successfully invade Taiwan

Indigenous Taiwan Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

KITA Foundation: Mapping the Path of the Trailblazers that Paved the Way for Taiwan’s Democracy and Freedom Ep 342

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Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back! Ep 319

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Understanding the History of Taiwan through Dr. Jerome Keating (Classic) Ep 311

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Team Taiwan’s Historic Gold Medal Baseball Win: Our Conversation with Richard Wang Ep 299

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An Oral History of TAC-EC by Three Past Organizers: Talking with Terry Tsao, Su-Mei Kao, and Powen Wang Ep 298

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“Decathalon” The Story of Taiwan’s Greatest Olympian: My Conversation with Award-Winning Journalist Mike Chinoy Ep 290

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Decathlon: The CK Yang & Rafer Johnson Story 奧運傳奇：楊傳廣與強森 | Full Documentary: https://youtu.be/usbdC5v3LX8?si=FgQKZkFaJh-eutGj

Dr. Linda Gail Arrigo: The Kaohsiung Incident – The Watershed Moment That Led to Taiwan’s Democratization Part 2 Ep 289

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Invisible Nation: Director Vanessa Hope Discusses her Documentary About Tsai Ing-Wen’s Presidency Ep 284

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Our Live Podcast Event @ Pic Collage: Highlights and Interesting Stories of 10 Guests in Taipei Ep 276

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Sean Su: Observations on Election Day 2024 from Kaohsiung, Taiwan Ep 272

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

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