Written by Wu Chieh-Hsiang. This article discusses the potential consequences of budget cuts to Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. It explores concerns about censorship and repression due to these cuts, as well as the impact on cultural institutions and freedom of expression.
Written by Weixiang Wang. This article examines how nationalistic Chinese key opinion leaders and pro-Beijing Taiwanese influencers contribute to negative public perceptions of Taiwan in China. It highlights their role in shaping narratives that not only worsen opinions of Taiwan but also increase tolerance for hardline, possibly military, actions toward Taiwan.
Written by Mark Hsiang-Yu Feng. Busy as usual was Highway number eighty, but Mother’s Day made downtown San Jose unexpectedly quiet. However, in front of the California Theatre, lively chat sounded out of the silence, marking this celebratory moment for the twentieth anniversary of the Taiwanese American Center of Northern California during Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month. Families came to fill most of the seats, and three languages—Hoklo Taiwanese, Taiwanese Mandarin, and English—were spoken to express the identity of these participants. To honour the culture of Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans, the overall narrative of Taiwanese Reminiscence contextualises a mixture of stunts, acrobatic movements, and dance into a condensed representation of the twentieth history of Taiwan.
Written by Tommy Hall and Margaret Siu. Global discussions about Taiwan often focus on an invasion scenario, and many observers wonder if Taiwan is adequately preparing for war. These discussions often dissect Taiwan’s hard power—military and economic factors that may dissuade Beijing. However, soft power is crucial in conflicts between imbalanced parties. Current discussion would benefit from diversifying outside hard power calculations and examining Taiwan’s soft power. Taiwan should apply lessons from South Korea’s model to bolster its ability to co-opt global support. Describing Taiwan’s soft power vision and comparing both nations’ top-down cultural promotion efforts is helpful.
Written by Adina Zemanek. It can be argued that the above are examples of creativity driven by state-led ideological aspirations, which cannot find a wide readership in Taiwan. However, they are intensively promoted to international audiences and may shape their perception of Taiwanese comics. At the same time, the number of such works and the state-encouraged discussions may ultimately lead to a shift in local audiences’ expectations.
Written by Yu-peng Lin and Chang-de Liu. The development of over-the-top (OTT) media services is currently the main concern of Taiwan’s audiovisual industries. An OTT media service is an audiovisual streaming service provided directly to the audience by the Internet. The Taiwanese government wishes to strengthen this industry while also seeking balanced growth for international and local operators. For the latter, how to accelerate the production of their content in the face of global competition is the biggest concern. Furthermore, given the recent success of the Asian market, international operators are interested in co-producing content with Taiwanese companies.
Taiwan Insight 