Written by J. Michael Cole. A long time in the making and after many challenges, a major politico-historical TV drama about Taiwan’s democratization will finally hit TV sets nationwide on 20 January. Based on political developments and figures from the 1990s, “Island Nation” (國際橋牌社) follows the hopes, fears and travails of a wide set of fictional characters in the dramatic years of Taiwan’s transition from an authoritarian state to a democracy.
Written by Mark Wenyi Lai. Young Taiwanese have every right to distance with China and to protect Taiwan’s achievement of democracy, independence, and prosperity. But they do need to figure out what great vision they are pursuing, what change they seek after this predictable and over-praised election.
Written by Milo Hsieh. As the protests in Hong Kong continue, Hong Kongers and Taiwanese around the world have demonstrated a surprising level of solidarity. Taiwanese have mobilised to send protest gear to Hong Kong, and coordinate activists to speak at events, organise protest support rallies and create “Lennon Walls” to raise awareness. But just what explains such spontaneous, global demonstrations of Hong Konger-Taiwanese solidarity?
Written by Tzu-Ming Liu. The traditional culture of the local aboriginal Tao tribe on Lanyu Island has a very strong cultural taboo regarding the Green Sea Turtles. Their habitat is close to the local population’s traditional cemetery and the area is regarded as the living space of evil spirits. The organisms living in these areas, such as green sea turtles, are believed to have devil spirits.
Written by Kuan-Wei Chen. In Taiwan, which experienced authoritarian rule after World War II, the pursuit of human rights protection was an important task in the process of democratization. The first political party rotation took place in 2000, and during the inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he declared the important policy guidelines of ‘a nation founded upon the principles of human rights as a goal.
Written by Ya-chen Chen. Although there are many English-language academic books about Taiwan, those exclusively focusing on Taiwanese gender issues could probably be counted on the fingers of one’s hand. This is most likely due to the tendency for many feminists or gender scholars to frequently place Taiwanese gender issues under the huge umbrella of Mainland Chinese, Communist Chinese or PRC women’s and gender studies.
As Taiwan’s LGBT community reels from the result of the referendum, they can find solace in the rich collection of Taiwan’s LGBT music cannon. Those songs that saw the community fight against discrimination, against inequality, and espouse the values of freedom, individuality and defying the status quo have an even more important meaning now than they did before.
Written by Chung-Wei Lin Mindfulness originated from the early Buddhist classics referred to as “Samyukta-Agama” and “Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta”. Mindfulness are those teachings of the Buddha that were handed to the disciples, and which Buddhists believe are the direct path to realization. Mindfulness has four steps: mindfulness of the body
Written by Pei-Hsin Li “About a third of my cases are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their
Written by Edward Friedman. Recent threats by the CCP Supreme Leader Xi Jinping to use force in order to annex Taiwan have focused attention on
Written by June Teufel Dreyer. No Taiwan president has an easy job balancing pressure from China on unification with domestic pressures from those who advocate
Written by Chang Bin Lee In 2002, the Central Government of Taiwan (CGT) initiated the Challenge 2008: National Development Plan focusing on administrative policies toward cultural and creative industries. Cultural policy arose
