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.
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
Written by Meng Kit Tang. The article examines how Cheng Nan-jung, now commemorated as a martyr of free speech, was once violently rejected by the opposition movement that later claimed his ideals. It argues that this episode is a test of democratic credibility. By placing the 1987 incident alongside present-day political rhetoric, the piece highlights the risks of selective remembrance in a maturing democracy.
Written by Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley (蔡明燁). Drawing on Behind The Scenes’ reflections on Taiwan’s democratic development and the Tangwai movement, this article explores contemporary debates over peace, security, and the costs associated with preserving freedom and democracy. At its core, it asks readers to reflect on the meaning of peace and the risks societies may choose to acknowledge – or ignore – in pursuing it.
Written by Yu-Han Huang. Reflecting on formative undergraduate experiences, the author traces how studying Japanese colonial Taiwan and reading Leo Ching’s Becoming “Japanese” shaped his academic path. Ching’s analysis of colonial identity formation, despite criticisms, offered a framework to understand Taiwan’s complex identity and revealed how colonial legacies continue to influence Taiwanese self-consciousness.
Written by Charles R. Charrington. This article re-examines Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan by juxtaposing narratives of modernisation with documented violence. It traces military invasions, massacres, and coercive governance from the late nineteenth century to World War II, while situating them within broader imperial dynamics. Rather than advancing anti-Japanese sentiment, it foregrounds how colonial violence has been obscured despite its centrality to Taiwan’s historical formation.
