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.

Teaching Maritime Culture and History in Eastern Taiwan

21 August 2026 NGA Shi Yeu

Written by Eric Siu-kei Cheng. This article explores how maritime education in Taitung turns Taiwan’s eastern coastline into a living classroom. Drawing on fieldwork, community collaboration, fisheries, food education, and Green Island’s White Terror heritage, the author shows how students engage with environmental sustainability, Indigenous knowledge, local livelihoods, cultural preservation, and democratic memory through the ocean.

Taiwan’s Transition to Democracy and the Taiwanese Identity

29 July 2026 Adrian Chiu

Written by Nikhil Sharma. This article analyses the historical contexts that underpinned eventual reforms and the reimagining of Taiwanese identity resulting from Taiwan’s democratic transition. It argues that Taiwan’s nationalism is unique because it is not rooted in ethnicity but in a shared experience of historical repression and a shared struggle to chart its own path.

The Place That Remembers: Taiwan, Healing, and the Cartography of the Body

21 July 2026 Drmarkm

Taiwan is too often reduced to a geopolitical abstraction, but this essay reads the island as a body — one that carries the trauma of colonisation, the 228 massacre, and the White Terror in its very flesh. Through memorials, indigenous counter-mapping, and the Mazu pilgrimage, Taiwan heals by inscribing its wounds back onto the map: re-membering, in the flesh, as another name for healing

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