The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

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Eryk and John look back at Taiwan’s first direct presidential election: the protests and constitutional reforms that made it possible, Lee Teng-hui’s controversial visit to Cornell University, and the Chinese missile tests that turned an election campaign into the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.

On March 23, 1996, with two US carrier groups sent to the region and ROC soldiers on alert, more than ten million Taiwanese went to the polls. The leading candidates were incumbent KMT president Lee Teng-hui and the DPP’s Peng Ming-min, a veteran democracy activist and former political exile.

Held in the shadow of PLA missiles, the election was a landmark in Taiwan’s democratization.

Eryk and John look back at Taiwan’s first direct presidential election: the protests and constitutional reforms that made it possible, Lee Teng-hui’s controversial visit to Cornell University, and the Chinese missile tests that turned an election campaign into the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.

On March 23, 1996, with two US carrier groups sent to the region and ROC soldiers on alert, more than ten million Taiwanese went to the polls. The leading candidates were incumbent KMT president Lee Teng-hui and the DPP’s Peng Ming-min, a veteran democracy activist and former political exile.

Held in the shadow of PLA missiles, the election was a landmark in Taiwan’s democratization.

John is joined by writer, artist and comics enthusiast Ray Hecht for a journey through Taiwan’s manga history. This story is sometimes reduced to Japanese comics and their Taiwanese spinoffs. Ray and John, however, get into the forgotten influence of Shanghai liánhuán túhuà – “linked-picture” storybooks – in the post-WWII years.

Also, central to today’s episode is the humble neighborhood rental bookstore, which put cheap popular reading into the hands of generations of Taiwanese. These books and shops were too popular at times for the government. Censorship and crackdowns were needed to protect the citizens. Enter the Comics Cleansing Movement. And listen and learn why the censors once objected to illustrations of talking animals.

We wrap up with a mention of Ray’s anthology Memories of Taiwan: 37 stories about life in Taiwan by 19 artists from around the world. It’s being released with support from a Kickstarter campaign. To learn more about Ray Hecht, visit his Linktree profile.

The main source for today was the excellent Taiwan Comics: History, Status, and Manga Influx 1930s-1990s by Lee I-Yun (translated by Timeea Cosobea).

We travel back to 1920s Taiwan, first in the company of Terry’s Guide to the Japanese Empire and then follow a Tokyo travel bureau itinerary for Japanese tourists to the island. Ride the rails with us as we visit Shinto shrines, sugar factories, former “savages,” and scenic spots (not just any scenic spots but the official “Eight Views of Taiwan”). And we look at perhaps the most interesting aspect of colonial sightseeing: free guided trips to Japan for Indigenous Taiwanese leaders. These propaganda trips were meant to demonstrate why resistance to the Empire was futile, but they were not always home runs.

We generally don't discuss politics very much on this podcast, but, when one of the world's most well-established international experts on politics in Taiwan is gracious enough to be willing to chat – we're gonna talk politics. While this might be perhaps too 'deep' for some, if you've spent some time in Taiwan and are interested in the political scene here, this short chat provides an interesting look at groups beyond the big party players. For more info on SOAS University of London, and Dr. Dafydd Fell's books, visit www.soas.ac.uk