Talking Taiwan Felicia Lin

Last year I spoke with Robin, Jerry and Peng-Hsuan about the U.S. Taiwan Watch after they organized a hackathon at the Taiwanese American Conference- East Coast that’s held annually around July 4th.
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/us-taiwan-watch-think-tank-focused-on-the-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-taiwan-ep-283/
U.S. Taiwan Watch was founded in 2017 to synthesize data on Taiwan-related bills in Congress. Later, they expanded their work to include analysis on U.S. foreign policy and podcasts discussing U.S.-Taiwan relations.
Jerry Hsu is Co-founder and President of US Taiwan Watch
Robin Liao is Co-founder of US Taiwan Watch
Peng-Hsuan Chen is Project Manager of the Hackathon Project, Program and Policy Specialist of US Taiwan Watch
 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch got started
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch educates people in Taiwan about the U.S.’s Taiwan-related bills, U.S. Congress, how bills are passed
·       Taiwan’s ban of pork from the U.S. containing ractopamine
·       Taiwanese people’s perceptions of the U.S.
·       Misinformation from Chinese language media in Taiwan
·       Taiwan-related bills for messaging vs. passage
·       How they synthesize data on the U.S’s Taiwan-related bills
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch has changed over time
·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch’s connection to American Citizens for Taiwan
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch started as a civil tech project
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch deals with anti-American sentiments from their audience
·       U.S. Taiwan Watch publishes articles, and produces a podcast
·       How in 1979 the U.S. switched recognition from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China
·       U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to China in June 2023 and his statement that the U.S. does not support the independence of Taiwan
·       U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks on the U.S.’s willingness to help defend Taiwan
·       Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August of 2022
·       The controversy over expansion of the A.I.T office in Neihu, Taiwan
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch deals with disinformation
·       How the pro-China media in Taiwan is anti-American
·       U.S. Taiwan Watch’s podcast covers its articles. Taiwan-related bills and U.S. news
·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch’s most popular podcast episodes
·       How WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accused Taiwan of slandering him
·       The U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023 (Taiwanese American Conference- East Coast)
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch concept came out of a hackathon at the 2017 TAC-EC
·       Projects created at the U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023
·       How the U.S. Taiwan Watch hackathon at TAC-EC 2023 was run
·       What is so meaningful about the work that U.S. Taiwan Watch does
·       How people have volunteered to wok for U.S. Taiwan Watch
·       How Peng-Hsuan got involved with U.S. Taiwan Watch
·       How Jerry got involved with U.S. Taiwan Watch
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/us-taiwan-watch-think-tank-focused-on-the-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-taiwan-ep-283/

 Isa Ho is a photographer based in Taiwan. Last year I spoke with her about her photography and the Westbeth project, which consists of a series of photos and videos of artists who live at Westbeth Artists Housing, which is located in New York City’s West Village.
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/isa-ho-talks-about-her-career-as-a-photographer-and-her-westbeth-exhibit-in-nyc-ep-282/
 
Westbeth is so named because it sits at the corner of West and Bethune Streets, and was conceived in the 1960's as a partial solution to the acute need to provide affordable housing and studios for artists and their families.
 
The abandoned 13-building complex that was constructed between the 1860s and the 1930s, was formerly used by Bell Telephone Labs, and was turned into affordable permanent housing and workspace for hundreds of artists, as well as space for arts and cultural organizations. Westbeth was the first subsidized housing for artists in the United States. In 2009 it was added to the National Registrar of Historic Places. And in 2011 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously designated Westbeth Artists Housing a New York City landmark.
 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
·       Isa’s exhibit at the Westbeth gallery that features her photos and videos of artists who reside at Westbeth
·       How Isa is working on a documentary about the residents of Westbeth
·       How Isa arrived for a residency at Westbeth in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy
·       The residency project that brought Isa to Westbeth was initially about multicultural New York but as she got to know many of the people who lived at Westbeth, it became the Westbeth project
·       Isa’s connection to Taiwan
·       How Isa is fascinated by people
·       Isa has interviewed over 50 people and what was on display at the Westbeth gallery is only a third of her work
·       The personal stories of several of the artist who live at Westbeth
·       How the photos and videos were displayed at the Westbeth gallery
·       How the Westbeth project has been exhibited in Israel, Italy, Germany and Taiwan
·       How people have reacted to the Westbeth project
·       How one of the pieces of the Westbeth project won an award in Italy
·       How Isa got interested in photography
·       How Isa creates a collage of photos that serve to tell a person’s story
·       How Isa does her photography full-time
·       Isa’s advice to those interested in pursuing photography
·       Isa’s video comparing the movements of Kunqu opera dancer and K-POP dancer
·       Why Isa is planning to go to Ukraine
·       How Isa felt useless as an artist during the pandemic but realized that when facing tragedy or if feeling like there is nothing that we can do, art can connect us with humanity
·       How there aren’t many housing communities like Westbeth in the world
·       The wait list of people who want to live at Westbeth
·       How one of the Westbeth residents George Cominskie has advocated for artists
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/isa-ho-talks-about-her-career-as-a-photographer-and-her-westbeth-exhibit-in-nyc-ep-282/

On April 3, 2024 at 7:58am (in Taiwan) an earthquake that’s been reported as measuring 7.2 and 7.4 hit Hualien which is located on Taiwan’s east coast. The last major earthquake of similar magnitude was 25 years ago on September 21st, 1999 in Nantou, which is located in central Taiwan. The earthquake also referred to as the 921 earthquake killed over 2,400 people, and left over 100,000 people homeless.
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/th-schee-survivor-of-taiwans-most-powerful-earthquakes-gives-a-lesson-on-preparing-for-natural-disasters-ep-281/
In this episode I’m bringing back one of our previous guests onto this podcast, T.H. Schee, who I interviewed about civil defense in Taiwan. In that interview T.H. mentioned that it was his firsthand experience with the 921 earthquake that made him concerned about disaster preparedness and civil defense. I asked T.H. to share his recollection of the 921 earthquake and thoughts on how Taiwan’s disaster response has improved since then. By most reports the death toll from the Hualien earthquake was around 13 at the time of this interview.
 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
·       Where T.H. was during the Hualien earthquake on April 3, 2024 and during the earthquake on September 21, 1999 in Nantou
·       The situation in Puli, after the earthquake on September 21, 1999 in Nantou
·       How around 5,000 buildings collapsed and another 5,000 buildings were damaged in Nantou
·       How people in the mountainous area of Nantou were stuck there for a month
·       How a volunteer guard patrol group was formed to protect people who were camped outside
·       How the damage in Puli was so extensive that navigation assistance needed to be provided to volunteer assistance groups
·       How a state of emergency was declared on the fourth day of the earthquake
·       Most of the deaths from the Hualien earthquake have been due to landslides and rockfalls rather than building collapses whereas most of the deaths in 1999 were due to building collapses
·       How there were around 10,000 aftershocks within a month after the 921 earthquake
·       Why people needed to camp outside after the 1999 earthquake in Nantou
·       How police station and schools collapsed (in Nantou) and students had to relocate to another building as a temporary school
·       How T.H. witnessed the death of three of his neighbors in Nantou
·       How it took three years for buildings to be rebuild in Nantou
·       Lessons from the 921 earthquake included a change in building codes, changes in laws regarding disaster response
·       How businesses including TSMC in the Hsinchu Science park had to be shut down for five days in 1999
·       How the stock market had to be shut down in 1999
·       How Tai Power had to make improvements to the power grid to make it more resilient in case of natural disasters
·       How Taiwan has offered humanitarian assistance to others e.g. the earthquake in Turkey in 2023
·       How medics who went to Nantou were poorly prepared because they did plan on bringing enough food for themselves
·       How ATMs didn’t work in Nantou after the earthquake
·       The first response to the Hualien earthquake
·       How the train between Yilan and Hualien was repaired within a day
·       How notifications after the Hualien earthquake were not sent to people in New Taipei
·       How well prepared people in Taiwan are for earthquakes
·       How the Tzu Chi foundation has been providing support to those affected by the earthquake in Hualien
·       Do’s and don’ts after an earthquake
·       How it is important to get buildings checked after an earthquake
·       Ho

Earlier this year when we were in Taiwan, we traveled down to Kaohsiung where we met with Wan-jen Lin the architect who worked on Weiwuying (衛武營國家藝術文化中心), Kaohsiung’s performing arts center and the Echo Across the Harbor, which up to now is the largest public art project in Taiwan.
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/wan-jen-lin-architect-for-echo-across-the-harbor-largest-public-art-project-in-taiwan-ep-280/
She shared how the design of the Echo Across the Harbor was inspired by the history of Kaohsiung harbor. We will have Wan-jen back on for a more in-depth interview at a future date.
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/wan-jen-lin-architect-for-echo-across-the-harbor-largest-public-art-project-in-taiwan-ep-280/

Last September we had the pleasure of interviewing actor, writer and director Michelle Krusiec. Her IMDB page displays an impressive list of acting roles dating back to 1992.
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-krusiec-acclaimed-actor-writer-and-director-talks-about-dealing-with-institutional-racism-and-her-sources-of-inspiration-ep-279/
We talked about the different phases of her career starting with her one-woman show, Made in Taiwan, which earned her much critical acclaim. She wrote, directed and acted in it in her 20s. Then there was her first main character role in a feature film, Saving Face, a film that put her on my radar and so many others’ in 2004. In 2020 she portrayed the legendary Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood. Stepping into that role helped her to rethink the institutionalized racism that she’s experienced as an actor. Michelle also talked about her directorial projects, and expressed her thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike, and so much more.
March is Women’s History Month and so we thought this would be the perfect time to release the first episode of the Trailblazing Taiwanese Women’s series sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association, which was founded in 1988. To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com
 

 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
·       How she got on the path of acting
·       The stereotypical Asian roles she took on early in her career
·       The struggles she’s faced in her acting career
·       How playing the role of Anna May Wong helped her to rethink the institutional racism that she’s faced as an actor
·       Her first leading role in a feature film (Saving Face)
·       How she grew up she didn’t see many people who looked like her on television and longed to change that
·       How Michelle prepared for her role in Saving Face by going to Taiwan to learn Mandarin
·       How Michelle prepared for her role as Anna May Wong in the Netflix series Hollywood
·       Michelle’s directing projects
·       Michelle’s one woman show Made in Taiwan and how it opened doors for her and got her a deal with ABC TV
·       How anti-Asian hate became more prevalent during the pandemic but was around long before
·       Her upbringing and how it impacted her early career
·       Michelle’s Washington Post op ed piece
·       How a fortune teller impacted Michelle’s adoption
·       The connection between Made in Taiwan and Michelle’s short film, Bite
·       Michelle’s short film Nian
·       Michelle’s thoughts on motherhood and parenthood
·       The writing/directing projects that Michelle is working on
·       Michelle’s thoughts on the SAG-AFTRA strike
·       Michelle’s support for SB 805, a bill that supported funding for nonprofit theaters
·       How Michelle was affected by the BLM (Black Lives Matter) demonstrations that arose during the pandemic
·       Michelle’s advice to others who want to pursue acting or directing
·       Michelle’s connection to Taiwan
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/michelle-krusiec-acclaimed-actor-writer-and-director-talks-about-dealing-with-institutional-racism-and-her-sources-of-inspiration-ep-279/

Ten years ago, on the night of March 18, 2014 students and activists broke into
Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan in an effort to block the passage of the Cross-Strait Service
Trade Agreement, a trade agreement between Taiwan and China. The day before, on
March 17, the Kuomintang (KMT) had attempted to force through passage of the trade
agreement in the Legislative Yuan, without giving it a clause-by-clause review.
The occupation of the Legislative Yuan lasted over 20 days, until April 10 th and Fire
EX.’s song Island’s Sunrise became the anthem of the movement, which came to
known as the Sunflower Movement.
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/fireex-10th-anniversary-sunflower-movement-sam-yang-tells-how-island-sunrise-became-its-anthem-ep-278/

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, I sat down and
spoke with Sam Yang, the lead singer of the band Fire EX. about how the opportunity to
write the song Island’s Sunrise came about. As it turns out there’s a New York
connection to the story and an exhibit and event to commemorate the 10-year
anniversary of the Sunflower Movement be taking place in New York on March 15 and
running until April 15. Sam and I also spoke about where he gets his musical inspiration
and how the band nearly broke up in 2015, the same year that Island’s Sunrise was
named Song of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards.

Fire EX. now has its own music production company and since 2017 they have been
organizing something called Fireball Fest. The band is now on a North American tour
and most notably will be performing at this year’s South by Southwest in Austin Texas.
We’ll share their tour dates below.
This interview was a real treat for me because I happened to be in Taiwan in 2014 when
the Sunflower Movement happened. I remember all of the events that unfolded and
being so moved when I heard the song Island’s Sunrise. Special thanks to Katie Wei for
her translation and May Wu for her help in making this interview possible.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

 How Sam got interested in music
 How Fire EX. got started and where its name comes from
 Fire EX.’s musical influences
 Sam’s path to becoming a full-time musician
 Sam’s advice for young aspiring musicians
 How the opportunity for Fire EX. to write a song for the Sunflower Movement
happened
 The New York connection to the story of how Fire EX. was asked to write a
song for the Sunflower Movement
 How there will be a month-long exhibit in New York to commemorate the 10-
year anniversary of the Sunflower Movement from March 15-April 15 at the
Tenri Cultural Institute in New York City
 March 18, 2014 the night students and activists broke into and occupied the
Legislative Yuan
 The March 23, 2014 attempt to occupy the Executive Yuan
 The rallies that happened worldwide on March 30, 2014 in support of the
students and activists’ actions to block the Cross-Strait Service Trade
Agreement
 How students who occupied the Legislative Yuan often listened to Fire EX.’s
song Good Night Formosa before falling asleep
 Why students of the Taipei National University of the Arts approached Sam to
writ a song for the Sunflower Movement
 Sam’s approach to writing the song Island’s Sunrise
 How Sam decides to write songs in Holo Taiwanese or Mandarin Chinese
 Sam’s thoughts on the differences and challenges of the twenty-somethings
who were involved in the Sunflower Movement vs. the twenty-somethings
who just voted in Taiwan’s recent election (January 13, 2024)
 How Sam’s sense of social activism was influenced by his roommate Wu
Zhining (吳志寧) whose father Wu Sheng (吳晟) is a famous Taiwanese poet
 How Fire EX. almost broke up in 2015
 The Fireball Festival
 How Fire EX. will be touring in North American in March and performing at
South by Sout