Talking Taiwan Felicia Lin

Vanessa Hope is the director of Invisible Nation, a documentary film that takes a look at the presidency of Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president and events that happened during her tenure. We talked about what first brought Vanessa to Taiwan which meant that she was there in 1996 during the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s first directly elected president. Then in 2016 after Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen, she came up with the idea for a film about Tsai Ing-wen’s presidency.
 
Related Links:
https://talkingtaiwan.com/invisible-nation-director-vanessa-hope-discusses-her-documentary-about-tsai-ing-wens-presidency-ep-284/
 
Vanessa’s first feature length documentary, All Eyes And Ears examined relations between the U.S. and China through the stories of U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, his adopted Chinese daughter Gracie Mei, and blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng.
 
When I asked Vanessa about her experience making a documentary film in China, she recounted a story that explained why she personally related to the backlash and pressure from China that Chou Tzu-yu, a Taiwanese member of a K-pop band has faced.
 
We also talked about the challenges in making Invisible Nation over a seven year period, Vanessa’s personal motivations for making the film and where Invisible Nation is going to be screened in the near future.
 
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
·       What brought Vanessa to Taiwan and got her interested in Taiwan
·       What Vanessa observed when she was in Taiwan for the inauguration of Lee Teng-hui, the first directly elected president of Taiwan
·       The first time she dabbled in filmmaking
·       How Vanessa wrote and recorded the podcast, Love Is a Crime, which tells the story of her family’s connection to film
·       The state of the film industry which Vanessa’s husband Ted Hope writes about on Substack
·       How Vanessa came up with the idea for the film, Invisible Nation
·       Vanessa worked at the Council on Foreign Relations
·       Vanessa came to Taiwan with an international delegation to observe Taiwan’s presidential elections in 2016 and witnessed the election of Tsai Ing-wen
·       How Vanessa secured a grant focused on women, peace and security
·       How film producer Sylvia Feng helped Vanessa with submitting a proposal to President Tsai’s office regarding her idea for a documentary film
·       How they filmed an interview with Chen Chu before hearing an answer from President Tsai’s office about the documentary film proposal
·       How Vanessa originally envisioned working a film about Taiwan’s first female president
·       The backlash President Tsai received from China initially
·       The discrimination that Taiwan faces internationally
·       How Taiwan has been excluded from international organizations like the WHO, the United Nations, the Olympics and others
·       How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted concerns about the threat Taiwan faces from China
·       How Xi Jinping has said that he will not renounce the use of force against Taiwan
·       Where the name of the film, Invisible Nation came from
·       The film Vanessa produced, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, about
·       If President Tsai had any say in the film Invisible Nation
·       What personally motivated Vanessa to make the film, Invisible Nation
·       How the interview and scene with Chen Chu in the film came about
·       How Chen Chu wrote her will when she was in prison and dedicated her life to the people of Taiwan
·       What it was like meeting for

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/