Written by Meng Kit Tang. The piece examines how two recent Taiwanese comics: White Prison Shadows 2 (2025), grounded in Ye Shitao’s White Terror experiences, and White Rebellion 1 (2024), a speculative thriller; reveal the White Terror’s most enduring legacy: not the prison cell itself, but a “prison outside the prison” sustained through surveillance, social stigma, and internalized self-censorship.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. This article examines how Taiwan, under mounting pressure from Beijing, risks drifting toward legal and administrative overreach at home. Drawing on recent high-profile detentions, national security legislation, and institutional gridlock, it argues that while today’s Taiwan bears no resemblance in scale to the White Terror, it increasingly echoes its methods: vague laws, procedural shortcuts, and media-driven stigma.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. This article examines Taiwan’s diplomacy in late 2025, including Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s recent Brussels appearance. It argues that overstated narratives risk creating misaligned expectations at home and misunderstanding abroad. The commentary highlights how Taiwan can pursue a more resilient, results-oriented diplomatic strategy.
This article examines whether Taiwan’s record NT$1.25 trillion defence package in 2025 strengthens deterrence or unintentionally accelerates strategic and demographic risk. The piece argues that both major parties rely on the same unspoken assumption that the United States will intervene decisively. It proposes a viable third path that balances readiness with societal resilience.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. This article explores the evolving debate over Taiwanese identity, contrasting two models: the rejectionist approach and the redefinition model. It examines the implications of each model for domestic cohesion, diplomacy, and national resilience, arguing that a redefinition approach provides Taiwan with a stronger foundation to navigate internal polarisation and external pressures.
Written by Meng Kit Tang. This article explores Taiwan’s debate over the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall — a site that embodies both national survival and authoritarian trauma. It calls for transforming the hall into a civic classroom that contextualises Chiang’s achievements and abuses, draws lessons from Germany and South Africa, and contrasts Taiwan’s openness with Beijing’s censorship.
