History – Taiwan Insight

Taiwan Beer: Tradition, Trade, and Lager

23 September 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Jordan Laramore. This article explores how Taiwan Beer reflects the island’s turbulent political and economic history. Originating under Japanese colonial rule in 1919 and later shaped by ROC government agricultural policies, most notably incorporating local Ponlai rice, the brand evolved into a cultural icon. Today, Taiwan Beer faces market liberalisation, foreign competition, and cross-strait trade tensions, transforming from a state-managed monopoly into a powerful symbol of Taiwanese identity and resilience against economic coercion.

Taiwan and global heritage frameworks: Assessing ‘authenticity’ value at Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine

17 September 2026 Adrian Chiu

Written by Amelia Antolini. This article argues that Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine questions ‘authenticity’ as the universal standard for heritage conservation. Its successive layers of political and social meaning, accumulated through history, are themselves part of its heritage. Fieldwork further shows that visitors engage with the site in diverse ways, challenging rigid, material-based approaches to authenticity.

Taiwan’s Fascinating Military History: Legacies of the Past and Implications for the Future

11 September 2026 Adrian Chiu

Written by Eric Setzekorn. This article introduces a new book that explores Taiwan’s military history since 1949 and examines today’s security challenges. It argues that Taiwan’s armed forces have evolved from a conservative “party army” into a more adaptable and balanced institution. It highlights lessons and challenges of the Taiwan-US military relationship and the foundations for Taiwan’s defence resilience.

Evading the Eye in the Sky: Beginning from the Window of a Wartime Photo Studio

4 September 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Tsai Min-Ying. This article examines how wartime air defence shaped Taiwan’s visual culture through a logic of self-concealment. The author traces works by Peng Ruey-lin, Chiu Tzu-Yen, and Huang Tonghong. She argues that colonial practices of hiding from aerial surveillance persist in contemporary art as a collective memory of war, survival, and identity.

Ash and Sugar: A Material History of Taiwan’s Aerial-Warfare Logistics Base Part II

3 September 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Tsai Min-Ying. Following its first part, this article continues to explore the wartime mobilisation and the air war that did not only take place in the air through artists Hsu Chia-Wei and Lo Yi-Chun’s works.

Ash and Sugar: A Material History of Taiwan’s Aerial-Warfare Logistics Base Part I

2 September 2026 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Tsai Min-Ying. This article reframes Taiwan’s World War II air-war experience through the material logistics that sustained Japanese aviation. Tracing sugarcane, molasses, alcohol, and fuel production alongside works by Hsu Chia-Wei and Lo Yi-Chun, the author explores how aerial warfare was materially organised, remembered, and inscribed across Taiwan’s industrial and agricultural landscape.

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