Taiwan Insight

Reorienting Taiwan on Turtle Island: My Encounter with Emma Teng’s Taiwan’s Imagined Geography

21 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Jo-Tzu Huang. Emma Teng’s Taiwan’s Imagined Geography has inspired the author to rethink Taiwan through settler-colonial and imperial frameworks. Teng’s analysis of Qing travel writings reveals how geography and identity were constructed. It challenges Western-centric colonial theories and prompts reflection on Taiwan’s layered colonial histories within global human geography discourse.

Layers of the Law: My Reflection on An Introduction to Taiwan’s Legal History by Tay-sheng Wang

20 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Shih-An Wang. The author explains how Taiwanese legal scholarship has shifted from foreign-centred doctrines to contextual, historically grounded approaches emphasising Taiwan’s layered legal identity. Through Tay-sheng Wang’s influence, legal history reveals law as dynamic and contingent. This perspective informs constitutional studies, highlighting democracy’s fragility, authoritarian legacies, and Taiwan’s evolving legal system as an ongoing, multi-layered narrative.

An Old Book of Taiwan Studies: On Leo T.S. Ching, Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation

19 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Yu-Han Huang. Reflecting on formative undergraduate experiences, the author traces how studying Japanese colonial Taiwan and reading Leo Ching’s Becoming “Japanese” shaped his academic path. Ching’s analysis of colonial identity formation, despite criticisms, offered a framework to understand Taiwan’s complex identity and revealed how colonial legacies continue to influence Taiwanese self-consciousness.

Old Books in Taiwan Studies: Chou Wanyao’s “The kōminka movement: Taiwan under wartime Japan, 1937-1945”

18 May 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Catherine Tsai. This article examines Chou Wan-yao’s study of kōminka policies in colonial Taiwan. The author argues that Chou’s work on the relationships between assimilation, identity formation, and wartime mobilisation has served as foundational to Taiwan-centred historiography in both Sinophone and Anglophone contexts.

Bridging the Gap: How Walking, Healing, and Gardening Connect Universities with Migrants

15 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Tzu-Chi Ou. Traditional migration studies in Taiwan often treat migrants as mere statistics, leaving students feeling socially disconnected. To bridge this gap, a professor moved beyond the classroom through three hands-on experiments: student-led walking tours, art therapy to process emotional guilt, and a communal “immigrating garden.” These initiatives transform “the other” into a neighbour, fostering genuine empathy and mutual worth.

More than Education, Not Quite Foreign: The Politics of Taiwan’s Overseas Chinese Students

14 May 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Chiao-Yuan Jo Ko. Taiwan’s category of ‘overseas Chinese student’ may appear administrative, but it reflects a much longer political history. Tracing the system from the Cold War era to Taiwan’s democratisation, this article explores how education became tied to the ROC’s nation-building project, US geopolitical strategy, and shifting ideas of Chinese identity.

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