Taiwan Quarantine Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Does Taiwan Have the Will to Fight? Ep 333

Felicia Lin — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:51:25 +0000

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Does Taiwan have the Will to fight? I recently sat down with Dr. Raymond Kuo, Director of RAND’s Taiwan Policy Initiative and Catherine Kish, Research Assistant and Chinese Language Specialist at RAND to talk about their War on the Rocks article, “Taiwan’s Will to Fight Isn’t the Problem.” Later on in the interview we also talked about how Taiwan could leverage its diaspora.

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.

The Boba Guys: Andrew Chau and Bin Chen Bubble Tea Entrepreneurs Bridging Cultures for 11 Years Ep 288

Felicia Lin — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 12:05:39 +0000

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 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

Live Conversations with Our Past Guests at 4SC Crossfit in New Taipei City, Taiwan Ep 273

Felicia Lin — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 23:55:15 +0000

During the Talking Taiwan Election Tour we planned to host two in-person events for our guests, supporters and friends. The first event was held on January 19th at 4SC CrossFit’s Xindian branch in New Taipei, thanks to T.H. Schee who’s been a guest on Talking Taiwan several times. In fact episode 234 with T.H. is one of the Top 5 episodes of 2023. On January 19^th we had a chance to meet some of our past guests in-person for the first time in person. We started off talking to JD Chang from episode 80 about Crushing the Myth.

Next up was John Eastwood who talked about legal reforms needed in Taiwan in episode 203. We talked about the election results in Taiwan’s legislature that had the KMT with 52 seats, the DPP with 51 seats and the TPP with 8 seats and 2 seats going to Independents

We next spoke with Jerome Keating who talked about understanding the history of Taiwan in episode 97. Jerome explained why he wrote in his recent Taipei Times article that he doesn’t expect the TPP, the Taiwan People’s Party to survive to the next presidential election in 2028.

And finally at the end of the night Kaju and I talked to TH Schee who’s been on Talking Taiwan several times, and who’s one of the investors of 4SC Crossfit where we held our January 19th event.

Peilin Kuo On Indie Film Making and the Life of Anna May Wong Ep 241

Felicia Lin — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 13:27:12 +0000

In October of last year, Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program. Anna May Wong is one of the better known early Chinese American movie stars. She was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She received it in 1960, the inaugural year of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Anna May Wong was regarded as a fashion icon in the 1920s and 30s, and was also politically outspoken. In May, Barbie announced the release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

To talk about the life and times of Anna May Wong I’ve reached out to Peilin Kuo a Taiwanese filmmaker who’s made a few short films about Anna May Wong and has plans to work on a biopic about the actress. Peilin also talked about some of her recent film projects, her love of martial arts films and her next film project that will be set in Taiwan.

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 Anna May Wong became the only Asian American and fifth woman to appear on the U.S. quarter as a part of the U.S. Mint’s American Women Quarters Program in October 2022
Anna May Wong was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960
In May, Barbie announced release of an Anna May Wong Barbie doll for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Taiwanese filmmaker Peilin Kuo who’d made a few short films about Anna May Wong
Peilin’s interest and start in filmmaking
Peilin’s connection and upbringing in Taiwan
What made Peilin decide to move to New York City
How Peilin first learned about Anna May Wong and what impressed her about Anna May Wong
Peilin’s approach to in creating her short films about Anna May Wong
Peilin’s plans to make a biopic about Anna May Wong
What set Anna May Wong apart from other Chinese American actresses
Anna May Wong appeared in 50-60 films
The stereotypical characters that Anna May Wong portrayed and the discrimination and anti-miscegenation laws she had to deal with
How Anna May Wong was a fashion icon and politically outspoken
Chinese press and government were critical of Wong but, Peking University awarded the actress an honorary doctorate in 1932.
Later in life Anna May Wong was outspoken about better film roles for Chinese Americans
Anna May Wong was passed over for the character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl Buck’s book, The Good Earth; MGM cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface, later Rainer won an Oscar for her performance
Other stereotypically Asian character played by non-Asian actors in yellowface like Mickey Rooney’s character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Anna May Wong’s visit to China in 1936
How Anna May Wong passed away at the age of 56 before she was supposed appear in the film, Flower Drum Song
How there are no recordings of TV show Anna May Wong appeared in called the Gallery of Madam Liu Tsong
Liu Tsong was Anna May Wong’s birth name
Peilin’s next film project which will be set and shot in Taiwan
Peilin’s other film projects in the sci-fi and martial arts genre
Peilin’s love of martial arts films
How Peiln’s short film Once Upon A Time In The Bamboo was inspired by the film, A Touch of Zen (by director King Hu)
What Peilin loves about filmmaking
What she would be doing if she wasn’t a filmmaker
Peilin’s approach to filmmaking
Peilin’s advice for others who want to pursue filmmaking

Talking Taiwan’s 26 Notable Episodes Ep 240

Felicia Lin — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:21:18 +0000

We had a beautiful day on Sunday at the Passport to Taiwan in New York City’s Union Square Park. Congratulations to the Passport to Taiwan team for making the event a huge success! The park was packed and food lines were long. We were so glad to be invited to be a part of it. For us it was a welcome change of pace. It’s not often that we get to meet our listeners in person!

We want to thank everyone who stopped by the Talking Taiwan podcasting booth and those that tuned in to our livestream on Facebook. We did have some technical issues with the sound on our livestream and a very loud generator in the booth, so thank you for bearing with us. Kaju, our sound engineer and executive producer, is optimistic that he’ll be able to do some sound editing magic with the interviews we recorded that day.

Click on Photo to ENLARGE

Some of the people that stopped by that day included Tom Fifield of the Taiwan Employment Gold Card Office, author Ed Lin, multi-disciplinary artist Chin Chih Yang, singer and musician Jilliyeah, and Christine Su of TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation). We’ll be sharing those interviews as future episodes of Talking Taiwan.

We’d also like to give a huge shoutout to our volunteers Josh and Marcellus. The two of you were indispensable in helping us to get set up and breaking down at the end of the day. We really couldn’t have done it without you!

In preparation for Passport to Taiwan, we created a selection of audio clips from some of our most notable interviews to play in our booth and we thought we’d share them with you here. Whether you’re new to Talking Taiwan or one of our loyal listeners we hope that you enjoy it and maybe even discover an episode that interests you.

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

Ed Hill Talks About his Off Broadway Debut and Comedy Special “Candy and Smiley” Ep 226

Felicia Lin — Sun, 12 Feb 2023 08:22:37 +0000

Ed Hill is a Vancouver based Taiwanese Canadian comedian on his first national North American tour. We spoke about his early years in Canada, his connection to TAIWANfest and how his overachieving Asian tendencies came out when he first started doing comedy.

In 2021, Ed became the first comedian of Taiwanese-Canadian descent to release a full one-hour comedy special titled “Candy & Smiley.” The special was named “Top 15 Comedy Specials of 2021” by Paste Magazine and “Best of 2021” by NPR Radio. The special is currently streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

From March 30-April 2 Ed will be doing an off-Broadway show, “Stupid Ed” at the Tank in New York City.

Ed’s tweets have also been featured on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”, Buzzfeed, and The Huffington Post.

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:

Ed’s connection to TAIWANfest
Ed’s connection to Taiwan
The discrimination he’s experienced and how it became a part of his standup routine
How he got into doing standup comedy
How he handles it when he bombs as a comedian in front of an audience
How Ed’s training as a therapist informs his comedy
Ed’s comedic influences
Ed’s mentor the late comedian Louie Anderson
Ed’s tweets that have ended up on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and how he comes up with them
Ed’s first comedy special Candy and Smiley
How Ed’s first comedy special Candy and Smiley was affected by the pandemic
How Ed’s parents have reacted to his doing comedy
Ed’s upcoming off-Broadway show, Stupid Ed
Through his show Stupid Ed, Ed will be reflecting on his relationships with the female figures in his life
What Ed wants to do with his comedy
Ed’s story podcast, the Guide to Quarantine
Ed’s advice to others interested in doing standup comedy
What Ed gets out of doing standup comedy

Talking Taiwan 2022 Top 5 Award Winner End of Year Review Ep 221

Felicia Lin — Sun, 01 Jan 2023 04:08:48 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

It’s that time of year again… time to reveal the top 5 Talking Taiwan episodes of the year.

As we were preparing for this last episode of the year I reflected on this past year and, I realize that there is a lot to be grateful for. Talking Taiwan has had 3 different sponsors throughout the year: The Taiwan Elite Alliance, The Taiwanese United Fund, and NATWA the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association. We are grateful for our many individual donors and the generosity of Guy Gilchrist who donated 10 of his drawings that helped to raise money for Talking Taiwan.

And we’re also grateful to all of our amazing guests. We want to thank each and every one of you for being a part of the Talking Taiwan podcast.

Our New Year’s wish is for there to be more peace, love and happiness in the world.

We’re really excited about the guests we’ve lined up to interview and topics to cover. We look forward to continuing to break new ground in the new year. For links to the top 5 episodes of 2022 visit our website TalkingTaiwan.com. Wishing you a wonderful rest of 2022 and a Happy New 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

Dr. Mark Chen Talks About His Years of Service in Taiwan Ep 218

Felicia Lin — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 08:23:55 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In the second half of my interview with Dr. Mark Chen, we talk about his years of service in Taiwan as an elected official and public servant. He became a member of the Legislative Yuan in 1992. That year was the first time that elections were held for all 161 seats of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan. Dr. Chen has also been elected Magistrate of Tainan County, and served in that position from 1993–2001. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2004–2006, the Secretary General in the Office of the President from 2006–2007, the Secretary General of the National Security Council from 2007–2008 and a Legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan from 2001–2004 and 2012–2016. Currently he is the chairman of the Prospect Foundation.

In part one of my interview with Dr. Mark Chen (episode 212) we talked about advocacy work for Taiwan in the U.S. and the impact of the Kaohsiung Incident on Taiwan’s democratization. Several of the people who were tried and sentenced in connection with the Kaohsiung Incident later became prominent leaders in Taiwan’s first opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party. The incident happened 43 years ago in 1979 on December 10th, which just passed, making it a good time to share part two of my interview with Dr. Chen.

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:

1992 was the first time that elections were held for all 161 seats of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan
Dr. Chen was born in Tainan, Taiwan
In 1992 Dr. Chen resigned from his job at the Department of Commerce to return to Taiwan and served as a congressman at large
Dr. Chen ran for County Governor of Tainan in 1992, and he made history as first Democratic Progressive Party candidate (and non-Kuomintang candidate) County Governor of Tainan ever elected to the position
He was rated the top County Governor in Taiwan and served as Country Governor of Tainan for two terms (eight years in total)
Dr. Chen was a member of the Legislative Yuan but gave up his position when President Chen Shui-bian invited him to serve as the Minister of Foreign Affairs
How Taiwan’s transition to democracy has been relatively peaceful
The importance of Taiwan having the support of like-minded democratic nations
Challenges that Dr. Chen had to deal with as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Taiwan
Dr. Chen’s work as a legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan
ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) and the Sunflower Movement
What happened during the 2014 occupation of the Legislative Yuan by activists and students during the Sunflower Movement
Dr. Chen’s thoughts on his work as an elected official vs. a public servant at the highest levels of the government in Taiwan
How Dr. Chen was inspired by the words of Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy
The work of the Prospect Foundation, of which Dr. Chen is the chairman
Dr. Chen’s thoughts on Robert Tsao, founder of UMC’s (United Microelectronics Corp) pledge of 100 million U.S. dollars to help Taiwan defend itself
What overseas Taiwanese can do to advocate for Taiwan

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

Felicia Lin — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 06:48:34 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

David Kilgour recently wrote an article that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, Winter Olympics — here’s why we’re calling them the China Genocide Olympics.

For nearly 20 years, he has been outspoken about the human rights abuses and organ trafficking in China. When he and David Matas were asked in 2006 to investigate allegations that the organs of Falun Gong practitioners were being harvested, the disturbing truth was revealed. Following the investigation, Kilgour and Matas co-wrote, Bloody Harvest-The Killing of Falun Gong for their Organs.

Mr. Kilgour is a former Member of Canada’s Parliament, having served in the House of Commons for nearly 27 years, Secretary of State for Latin America & Africa from 1997-2002, and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific from 2002-2003. Prior to his political career he was a prosecutor.

In this interview Mr. Kilgour reflected on his career in politics and as a prosecutor, and shared his thoughts on Taiwan.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by the Taiwan Elite Alliance 優社 which was established in 2000 to promote Taiwanese and Taiwanese American arts and literature, and to protect and enhance the human rights, freedom and democracy of the people in Taiwan.

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

Why he’s calling the 2022 Winter Olympic Games the Genocide Games
The protest held in Ottawa of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
How he became aware of persecution of the Falun Gong and the harvesting of their organs for involuntary transplants
The International Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of the Falun Gong approached David Kilgour and David Matas about looking into the allegations of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners
The book that he wrote with David Matas, Bloody Harvest
Ethan Gutmann who also wrote a book about organ harvesting in China
The update on organ harvesting done by David Kilgour, David Matas and Ethan Gutmann
The China Tribunal in London chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice
The Uyghur Tribunal
How there are 9-10 countries that have banned organ tourism
Mr. Kilgour’s efforts to lobby the Canadian Parliament to enact legislation against organ trafficking
Accounts from doctors who performed surgeries for involuntary organ transplants
How Uyghurs have been persecuted in China
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China
How Mr. Kilgour is a voluntary advisor to two Uyghur organizations
Mr. Kilgour’s recollection of his first visit to China
His work to get goods produced by slave labor banned internationally
How the U.S. has strengthened laws on importing goods produced by slave labor
Volkswagen’s plants in Xinjiang with parts being made by forced labor in China
The diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
Why the International Olympic Committee would award the Olympics to Beijing a second time
Taiwan’s early response to COVID-19
The last time Mr. Kilgour visited China on a trade mission under Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
The Chinese surgeon who removed the cornea of thousands of Falun Gong
Who is profiting from the organ harvesting and transplant business in China
Comparing the 2022 Olympics in Beijing to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin
What the average person can do about the human rights abuses in China
What Mr. Kilgour enjoyed about his political career
Where his sense of social justice and activism came from
Mr. Kilgour’s position as State Secretary of Asia Pacific
Taiwan has laws banning organ trafficking
Ryszard Paszkowski, a Soviet-trained spy that Mr. Kilgour wrote a book about
Mr. Kilgour’s past visits to Taiwan
The trucker protests and Freedom Convoy in Ottawa
The Taiwanese politicians that he’s met
His work with the Ottawa Mission
How the National People’s Congress of China has 91 billionaires
Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya’s comments about the Uyghurs
The hate email that Mr. Kilgour has received

Taiwan Quarantine Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Does Taiwan Have the Will to Fight? Ep 333

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

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The Boba Guys: Andrew Chau and Bin Chen Bubble Tea Entrepreneurs Bridging Cultures for 11 Years Ep 288

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

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Live Conversations with Our Past Guests at 4SC Crossfit in New Taipei City, Taiwan Ep 273

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Peilin Kuo On Indie Film Making and the Life of Anna May Wong Ep 241

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

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Talking Taiwan’s 26 Notable Episodes Ep 240

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Ed Hill Talks About his Off Broadway Debut and Comedy Special “Candy and Smiley” Ep 226

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

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Talking Taiwan 2022 Top 5 Award Winner End of Year Review Ep 221

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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Dr. Mark Chen Talks About His Years of Service in Taiwan Ep 218

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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

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

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

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

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