Taiwan Baseball Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Dr. Chen Chien-jen 陳建仁 Former VP of Taiwan Reflects Upon his Life in Politics and as a Public Servant Ep 327

Felicia Lin — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 01:00:13 +0000

In July of 2024, we brought talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, east Coast at Westchester University, where I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Taiwan’s, former vice President, Dr. Chen Chen (陳建仁). We talked about how Dr. Chen was trained to be an epidemiologist and was initially reluctant to go into politics, but then fate intervened and changed his mind when SARS hit Taiwan in 2003, and his experience handling the SARS outbreak as Taiwan’s Minister of Health played an important role preparing him to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as Taiwan’s Vice President.

I asked Dr. Chen why it’s important for Taiwan to be a member of the WHO World Health Organization and about the challenges he’s faced as the Vice President and Premier of Taiwan. how he overcame them and why he decided not to run as Vice President with Tsai Ing-wen for a second term.

And finally, for some context, at the time of the interview, the Bluebird movement had emerged in Taiwan a month and a half earlier. I touched upon this with Dr. Chen briefly at the end of the interview.

At the time, more than a hundred thousand people in total had taken to the streets of Taiwan in a series of massive protests. It was a very public objection to controversial bills passed by Taiwan’s opposition controlled Legislative Yuan. After interviewing Dr. Chen, I was left thinking if only the world had more politicians like him with a public service mindset, the world would be a better place.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Meet Taiwanese YouTuber Ba Jiong 八炯 Ep 318

Felicia Lin — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 06:15:47 +0000

In late June, we met up with YouTuber Bā Jiǒng (八炯) when he was in New York. If you’re not familiar with Bā Jiǒng you might want to check out 2 of his most popular videos which expose China’s United Front’s tactics to target the Taiwanese and to recruit Taiwanese influencers to attack and spread disinformation about Taiwan. Then you’ll know why he’s had death threats.

Bā Jiǒng is among those spearheading the recall of Fu Kun-chi, the KMT legislator known as “The King of Hualien.” Fu Kun-chi is 1 of 24 Kuomintang KMT legislators who will be up for the mass recall vote in Taiwan on July 26th. To get up to speed on the Great Recall Effort that’s been happening in Taiwan checkout our past 2 episodes 316 and 317.

Talking Taiwan is getting ready to head back to Taiwan to cover this historic mass recall vote of 24 KMT legislators, in fact we might already be there by the time you hear this episode. We look forward to having Bā Jiǒng on Talking Taiwan to talk about the recall efforts in Hualien and his videos exposing how the United Front works with Taiwanese influencers

Special thanks to Winston Liao for connecting us with Bā Jiǒng.

Taiwan on the Margins of CSW 69: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress at Taiwan Main Stage Ep 307

Felicia Lin — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 10:48:23 +0000

If you’ve listened to our most recent episode of Talking Taiwan, you’ll know that the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women or CSW69 is now taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It began on March 10th and runs until March 21st.

On March 12th the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO-NY) hosted an event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69.” This smartly worded event title is undoubtedly a soft reference the fact that Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, and therefore on the margins of CSW69.

We were there at TECO-NY’s fully packed event on the 12th where we heard from Po-Chun Sophiyah Liu and Chia-Hui Lu. Sophiyah is Ambassador-at-Large for Sports Diplomacy of Taiwan, and she is Taiwan’s first female umpire. Chia-Hui Lu is a classical musician, cross disciplinary artist and an associate professor at National Taiwan University of Arts.

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

How Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations
Sophiyah Liu’s remarks at TECO-NY’s event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69”
How the Global Sports Mentoring Program that set Sophiyah on the path to sports diplomacy
How when Sophiyah won the IOC and UN Women: Women and Sport World trophy in 2019, a special arrangement was made for her to enter the UN building to receive the award
When Sophiyah was invited to attend the UN Global Sport Program working group which met in a conference room in the United Nations building but when it came time to attend the meeting, she was told she couldn’t enter the UN building because she has a passport from Taiwan
Sophiyah’s thoughts on the controversy over questions about the gender eligibility of female boxer Lin Yu-ting at the Paris Olympics
Sophiyah’s thoughts on gender eligibility testing in sports
Chia-Hui Lu’s remarks at TECO-NY’s event called “Taiwan Main Stage: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress on the margins of CSW 69”
The technology, AI training and experimentation involved in creating the real-time music recognition system that captures melodies from Chia-Hui’s piano playing and transforms it into a surreal visual story
The mission and past projects of the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation
How the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation’s cross art productions combine theater, music, dance, technology, culture, and history
How the Egret Cultural and Education Foundation was published books about Taiwan’s history, nature, music, and art

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.

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

The History of Mets Taiwan Day with Diana Lee of Hello Taiwan Ep 202

Felicia Lin — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 06:49:32 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

On this episode of Talking Taiwan I’m speaking with Diana Lee, one of the founders and organizers of Hello Taiwan about Mets Taiwan Day which is in its 17^th year. It’s coming up soon on August 28th. We talked about how the event got started, some of the celebrities and notable people who have appeared at Mets Taiwan Day in the past and what sorts of activities and things people will experience at the event. Among the most exciting news for Taiwanese baseball fans is who will be throwing the first pitch of the game, and how to get a limited edition MetsTaiwan No. 1 jersey. Hello Taiwan also sponsors other sporting and cultural events throughout the year.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity,
to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,
to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,
to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,
to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

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

How and when Mets Taiwan Day started
How the NY Mets have several celebration of different culture events in the month of August
Activities at Mets Taiwan Day include the Formosan Black Bear mascot, Third Prince, diabolo performance
Peng Cheng-min (aka Chia Chia) former Taiwanese baseball player and coach will be throwing the first pitch at this year’s Mets Taiwan Day
The Mets Taiwan No. 1 jersey and how to get one
How the Mets Taiwan No. 1 jersey will be available in kids sizes for the first time this year
Celebrities and famous, notable Taiwanese who have made appearances or thrown the first pitch at past Mets Taiwan Day events
Other sports events sponsored by Hello Taiwan include: Rhode Island Dragon Boat Festival, Hello Taiwan Night at Dodgers’ Stadium, Hello Taiwan Night Lunar New Year event with the Long Island Nets
Other events that Hello Taiwan has planned throughout the year for Halloween, a Taiwanese night market, Easter, Christmas

Professor Andrew Morris: The Relationship Between Taiwan Baseball and its History Ep 96

Felicia Lin — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:21:44 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

With major league baseball playoffs soon upon us, we thought that this episode might appeal to our baseball fans. It seems like a distant memory now, when about a month into the Coronavirus pandemic, Taiwan was the only place on the planet where live professional baseball was being played. My guest on this episode is Professor Andrew Morris whose research on baseball in Taiwan presents a fascinating new angle and way of seeing Taiwan’s history. I came across his writings and research when I was doing some research for my interview (episode 77) with Richard Wang the English-speaking broadcaster of CPBL games in Taiwan.

How important is baseball to Taiwan? Did you know that there’s a baseball related image featured on Taiwan’s currency or that Taiwan’s little league baseball team won 17 times from 1979 to 1996?

Interestingly, Professor Morris began our interview by sharing his own mistaken assumption of baseball as a symbol of American culture in Taiwan. He went on to explain that baseball was introduced to Taiwan by Japan, while it was a colony of Japan from 1895-1945. We covered a broad range of topics including how baseball survived the arrival of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, the rise of Taiwan’s little league team, the establishment of a professional baseball league in Taiwan (CPBL) which has had its ups and downs, and the short-lived Taiwan Major League.

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

How Professor Morris got interested in the topic of baseball and the history of Taiwan
How baseball in Taiwan is not as it seems on the surface, a symbol of American culture in Taiwan
What were some of the most surprising and interesting things that Professor Morris has learned about baseball in Taiwan over the course of his research
The role of Taiwan’s Indigenous people in the game of baseball in Taiwan
What baseball tells us about Taiwan’s Japanese colonial era
How Chiayi (嘉義) is known as the spiritual home of baseball and how that was captured in the film Kano
How “Kano,” is the nickname of the old Chiayi Agricultural and Forestry Vocational High School, which comes from the two Japanese words “Ka-gi No-rin”
The Kano baseball team became the best team in Taiwan and is remembered by the Japanese
How Kano is remembered as an example of the success of Japan’s colonialism in Taiwan
Baseball as a pathway for Indigenous peoples during Taiwan’s Japanese colonial period
Professor Morris’ thoughts about the film Kano and its historical accuracy
The Japanese influence that we still see in Taiwanese baseball today
How after the Kuomintang arrived in Taiwan, around 1946, they tried to remove and erase Japanese culture, but baseball was allowed to remain
What happened to baseball after the Kuomintang arrived in Taiwan
How baseball games were played in the aftermath of the 228 massacre and a famous baseball coach was killed in the 228 massacre
Taiwan’s little league baseball team and how it served to bolster Republic of China (ROC) nationalism
The 1968 legend of what led Taiwan creating a little league team and participating in the little league world series
How in 1969, the Taiwanese little league team played in the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA for the first time and won
Between 1969-1996 the Taiwanese little league team won the Little League World Series 17 times and became a source of pride for the Taiwanese who watched the games late at night
The story (from the 70s) of how a coach of a little league team comprised mostly of Black players sensed the anti-Chinese and anti-Taiwanese sentiment against the Taiwanese little league team
How the Taiwanese little league team became a source of Taiwanese pride (different from ROC pride)
How the KMT hired Chinatown thugs to beat up the pro-Taiwanese little league fans and fights would break out between them after little league games
What happened to Taiwan’s little league team
The legacy of Taiwan’s little league team
How the American little league teams that were able to beat Taiwan’s little league team were celebrated an ESPN made a 30 for 30 film about this
The story behind the image of the youth baseball team that appears on Taiwan’s 500 dollar bill
The establishment of the CPBL and its game throwing and gambling scandals
The short-lived Taiwan Major League (TML) and how it differed from the CPBL
How baseball has been tied to Taiwan’s national identity in the past but that has changed as Taiwan has become more democratic
The research that Professor Morris is working on now
Professor Morris’ recommendations of other books on the subject of baseball in Taiwan

Richard Wang Announcer of Taiwan Baseball Games: First Pro Sports Since Covid-19 Pandemic Ep 77

Felicia Lin — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 11:53:15 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

The exceptional way in which Taiwan has handled and contained the Coronavirus has thrust it into the international spotlight once again, but for a different reason. On April 11^th, Taiwan’s professional baseball league (CPBL) became the world’s first professional sports league to open in 2020. And then it became the first to have spectators at their games on May 8^th.

When I realized that Taiwan had become the only place on the planet where professional baseball was being played, and I knew there was a story there. I learned that Richard Wang had become the English broadcaster for CPBL games, so I reached out to him hoping that he’d agree to an interview for Talking Taiwan.

Richard kindly agreed to do the interview, and you’ll see how just how kind, gracious and patient he was when our interview got off to a bit of a rocky start. Just watch the blooper video of our Zoom call, which shows that strange things can happen when using a virtual background. Look for that video below in the related links section.

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

What happened when Taiwan’s baseball league (CPBL) realized that they were going to be the first sports league in the world to open in 2020
The Eleven Sports Network’s role in bringing English commentary to Taiwan’s baseball league
Richard’s baseball broadcasting partner Wayne McNeil
What it was like having live baseball games with no spectators
What it was like when fans were allowed to attend baseball games
The comparison between baseball games played in the U.S. and Taiwan
How Richard became a Red Sox fan
How Richard got the nickname Boston
How Richard got interested in baseball
How Richard became a baseball announcer in Taiwan
How aspects of Taiwanese culture and traditions are introduced during the broadcasting of games
A viral video of a home run call from 2013, when Manny Ramirez hit another home run for the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan
How baseball was introduced to Taiwan
The history of baseball in Taiwan
Taiwan’s Little League and its participation in the Little League World Series
How baseball has boosted Taiwan’s international image
Why Taiwan’s baseball league is called the Chinese Professional Baseball League
The Taiwan Major League (TML)
Parallels between the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the Coronavirus in 2020
The precautions taken at the baseball stadiums in Taiwan
Will there be a major league baseball season in the U.S.
Where you can watch the CPBL games
What baseball has to do with the New Taiwan Dollar 500 dollar bill

Richard Wang and Wayne McNeil (Photo courtesy of Richard Wang)

Taiwan Baseball Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Dr. Chen Chien-jen 陳建仁 Former VP of Taiwan Reflects Upon his Life in Politics and as a Public Servant Ep 327

Related Links:

Meet Taiwanese YouTuber Ba Jiong 八炯 Ep 318

Related Links:

Taiwan on the Margins of CSW 69: Celebrating Women’s Resilience & Progress at Taiwan Main Stage Ep 307

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

Related Links:

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

Related Links:

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

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

Related Links:

The History of Mets Taiwan Day with Diana Lee of Hello Taiwan Ep 202

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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

Related Links:

Professor Andrew Morris: The Relationship Between Taiwan Baseball and its History Ep 96

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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

Related Links:

Richard Wang Announcer of Taiwan Baseball Games: First Pro Sports Since Covid-19 Pandemic Ep 77

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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

Related Links: