Self-Empowerment Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Claire Wang (王婉諭) Chairwoman of the New Power Party Talks about Relaunching the Party | Ep 352

Felicia Lin — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:58:58 +0000

We sat down to speak with Claire Wang (王婉諭), chairwoman of the New Power Party, one of Taiwan political parties, that emerged from the Sunflower Movement. While she never imagined herself going into politics, personal circumstances changed that. She’s a powerful example of transforming personal tragedy into action. Wang is a passionate advocate for progressive values and local democracy, from judicial reform and child protection to housing justice. Now she’s leading a new chapter for the New Power Party. Last July we brought Talking Taiwan to TAC-WC, the Taiwanese American Conference West Coast hosted in San Francisco/Silicon Valley.

It was just weeks before the historic July 26th vote to recall 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang lawmakers. At the time it was the largest recall effort attempted by the citizens of a democracy. As a result of what was called the Great Recall Movement, a total of 31 KMT legislators were put up for a recall vote. Another 7 KMT legislators in addition to the first 24 would be up for a recall vote on August 23. Last July Talking Taiwan traveled back to witness the first recall vote on July 26th. To learn more about the Great Recall movement we encourage you to listen to our past episodes 316 with recall campaigners Carol, Acho and Eric, and 317 with Courtney Donovan Smith.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times (太平洋時報).

Dr. Hsing-Huan Wang (王興煥): Chairman of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, An Unwavering Voice for Taiwan’s Independence | Ep 351

Felicia Lin — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:02:38 +0000

Dr. Hsing-Huan Wang (王興煥) is chairman of the Taiwan Statebuilding party. Last July we sat down to speak with him at TAC-WC, the Taiwanese American Conference West Coast hosted in San Francisco/Silicon Valley. We talked about how he went from studying Buddhist philosophy and aspirations to pursue academic research as a professor, to accidentally becoming a politician. The Taiwan Statebuilding has a clear vision for an independent Taiwan and a Taiwanese Republic. The party also takes a hard line on China as an enemy state.

This interview was recorded just weeks before the historic July 26th vote in 2025 to recall 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang lawmakers. At the time it was the largest recall effort attempted by the citizens of a democracy. As a result of what was called the Great Recall Movement, a total of 31 KMT legislators were put up for a recall vote. Another 7 KMT legislators in addition to the first 24 would be up for a recall vote on August 23. Last July Talking Taiwan traveled back to witness the first recall vote on July 26th. To learn more about the Great Recall movement we encourage you to listen to our past episodes 316 with recall campaigners Carol, Acho and Eric, and 317 with Courtney Donovan Smith.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times (太平洋時報).

Cony Hsieh Kaohsiung Pride President Focuses on LGBTQ+ Issues and Reforming Taiwan’s Military | Ep 350

Felicia Lin — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:48:09 +0000

Happy Pride month! Cony Hsieh is President of the Kaohsiung Pride Parade Association. We recently spoke with Cony about her experience as a lesbian woman serving in Taiwan’s military, and how she hopes her research on gender issues in the military can help push for reform in Taiwan’s military.

She’s also a podcaster and her podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot”) is about LGBTQ+ life experiences and gender issues in the military. She once created 28 days of podcast episodes covering a range of LGBTQ+ experiences for Pride Month!

Cony has a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Gender Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Related Links:

Get Exclusive Access to the REPLAY VIDEO of the 2026 Talking Taiwan Gala by making a contribution of $50 or more: https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2026-fundraising-gala

Cony Hsieh’s podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot): https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/%E5%BE%AE%E5%8F%9B%E9%80%86%C3%AA%E5%89%AF%E9%A7%95/id1547207923?l=en-GB

Kaohsiung Pride: https://www.instagram.com/khpride/

What Led to Taiwan’s Same Sex Marriage? Ep 83: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-led-to-taiwans-same-sex-marriage-ep-83/

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi (Episode 162): https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-hosts-worldpride-2025-our-conversation-with-darien-chen-and-amazin-lethi-ep-162/

What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu Ep 220: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-caused-the-cancellation-of-worldpride-taiwan-2025-our-discussion-with-david-yu-ep-220/

The post Cony Hsieh Kaohsiung Pride President Focuses on LGBTQ+ Issues and Reforming Taiwan’s Military | Ep 350 appeared first on Talking Taiwan Podcast.

Nymphia Wind Brings Taiwan’s Betel Nut Beauty Culture to the New York Pride March | Ep 349

Felicia Lin — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 06:57:10 +0000

This year’s Taiwan Pride Float at the New York City Pride March was inspired by Taiwan’s Betel Nut Beauty culture. The concept and design was conceived by Nymphia Wind, who was already an established drag queen in Taiwan when she won RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16 in 2024.

Nymphia dedicated her win to Taiwan and that same year Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen congratulated Nymphia and invited her to perform at the presidential office. In 2024 Nymphia also appeared on the Taiwan Pride Float at the New York City Pride March. In 2025 Nymphia performed at the Paris Cultural Olympiad.

Right before the New York City Pride March on Sunday, June 28th, we were invited to an event where Nymphia shared her creative vision behind this year’s Taiwan Pride float. We also had a chance to meet the other betel nut beauties Yolanda Mesula and Tina Banana, who would be joining Nymphia on the float. After Nymphia’s initial comments, I did have a chance to ask her a question and to get some other soundbites.

Jotham Hung: Ceramic Artist and Educator on Finding Meaning and Fulfillment in Living a Creative Life – TUF Part 3 | Ep 348

Felicia Lin — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 06:35:29 +0000

Jotham Hung is a ceramic artist and educator based in Southern California reflecting on his early experiences with art. Late last year I sat down to speak with Jotham about his evolution and journey to becoming a full-time educator artist and he shared the dark moment that led to his creative process which has resulted in pieces that reflect the themes of deconstruction & reconstruction, damage & repair.

If you think you’re not creative, don’t write yourself off. Jotham believes everyone is an artist and has the potential to be creative.

This episode is sponsored by the Taiwanese United Fund (TUF). TUF is an arts and culture foundation that celebrates the cultural heritages of Taiwanese Americans. Established in 1986, the foundation’s mission is to facilitate cultural exchange between the Taiwanese American community and other American cultural communities, hoping to enrich and expand our cultural experiences.

John Enger Cheng: On his Creative Process and How Inspiration Finds You Working TUF Part 2 | Ep 347

Felicia Lin — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:49:27 +0000

Late last year, I sat down to speak with John Enger Cheng about the early roots of his creativity in childhood, his creative process as an artist, what it means to him to be Taiwanese American and how that shows up in his art. We also talked about how he maintains a creative practice and believes that inspiration finds you working.

In this candid conversation, John talks about his artwork that has been inducted into the permanent collection of Taiwanese Art Treasures Preserved Overseas – The Homecoming Exhibition of the Sun Ten Collection at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, which is located in Taichung

John Enger Cheng is Designer, Co-founder, and Creative Director of the design practice Winnow+Glean, and a visual artist known as @madebyenger on Instagram. You can find his work on madebyenger.com

We will be releasing a YouTube video of my interview with John for listeners who’d like to see some of the visuals referred to in this episode. You can find it soon on Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel.

George Yin: Arts Advocacy Can Be a Lifelong Passion – TUF Part 1 | Ep 346

Felicia Lin — Sat, 30 May 2026 12:26:28 +0000

We sat down to speak with George Yin, Board Chair of the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation & Political Law Attorney about his interest in supporting the arts, why he thinks it’s important to do so, and how so-called “non-artists” can support the arts and more specifically artists in their community.

This episode is sponsored by the Taiwanese United Fund (TUF). TUF is an arts and culture foundation that celebrates the cultural heritages of Taiwanese Americans. Established in 1986, the foundation’s mission is to facilitate cultural exchange between the Taiwanese American community and other American cultural communities, hoping to enrich and expand our cultural experiences.

In the spirit of supporting artists in their community, we also spoke with two Taiwanese American artists based in Southern California John Cheng and Jotham Hung. Stay tuned for my interviews with John and Jotham.

Passport to Taiwan 2026: Making Our Rounds with Taiwanese Community Organizations FAPA, TCCNY & NATMA | Ep 345

Felicia Lin — Wed, 27 May 2026 04:18:58 +0000

We stepped out in the drizzling rain for this year’s Passport to Taiwan 2026 on Sunday, May 24th in New York City’s Union Square Park, and were happy to see that the weather hadn’t put much of a damper on the number people that came out for this annual tradition.

We made our rounds and spoke to people at some of the booths representing different Taiwanese American community organizations including the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce New York, (TCCNY) and the North American Taiwanese Medical Association (NATMA). And if doing a deep dive into historical facts related to Taiwan is your thing, we recommend you check out @formosa.forever on Instagram.

Vickie Wang (王宇平) On Who Gets to Be Taiwanese and Stand-Up Comedy Part 2 | Ep 344

Felicia Lin — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:51:28 +0000

In part two of our interview with Vickie Wang (王宇平), she talked about how the COVID lockdown of 2022 in Shanghai affected her mental health, her thoughts on the Great Recall movement in Taiwan last year, how she questions her Taiwanese-ness i.e. if she’s Taiwanese enough, generative propaganda, and how she got into stand-up comedy.

Vickie Wang a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. Now based in New City York she co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang’s World Comedy.

Vickie will be emceeing this year’s Talking Taiwan Fundraising Gala on Friday, May 1.

As our emcee Vickie will bring her signature wit and energy to the evening. Purchase tickets to the Talking Taiwan

Fundraising Gala or to make a contribution visit: https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2026-fundraising-gala/tickets

Vickie Wang (王宇平) Surviving the Shanghai COVID Lockdown of 2022 and Attitudes and Perceptions between Taiwanese and Chinese Part 1 | Ep 343

Felicia Lin — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 18:16:17 +0000

Vickie Wang (王宇平) is a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. She’s lived in Shanghai, China for nearly a decade, where she started doing stand-up comedy under censorship. Last year I sat down to interview Vickie. in part one of my interview with Vickie, we talked about the perceptions and attitudes that many Taiwanese have about the Chinese, and on the other end how the Chinese she met in China perceived the Taiwanese and Taiwan.

We also talked what it was like for her to go through the strict COVID lockdown in Shanghai in 2022. Now based in New City York Vickie co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang’s World Comedy (pronounced WAYNE) and writes a Substack called Happy Medium. Stay tuned for the second part of my interview with Vickie.

She has published two Taiwan op-eds in The New York Times, one on the metoo movement, and one on what another Trump term means for Taiwan’s future. She is currently working on a nonfiction book about her experience of COVID and comedy in China.