Political History Episodes

Han Cheung, the man behind Taiwan in Time, the long-running history column in the Taipei Times, returns to tell the story of Taiwan’s first pop star. Liu Ching-hsiang 劉清香  was singing Taiwanese opera in the late 1920s. A few years later, under the stage name Chun-Chun 純純, she became Japanese Formosa’s first recording star — the voice behind dozens of hits and the breakout anthem “Longing for the Spring Breeze.” Hear how Columbia Records and a savvy movie tie-in made her a household name, and learn more about the 1930s, which, when it comes to music, was perhaps the most “progressive” decade of the 50 years of colonial rule.

Bo Yang 柏楊 (1920-2008)  was a Chinese historian, author, dissident, provocateur, and one of Taiwan’s most controversial commentators. After arriving in Taiwan in 1949 with the fleeing KMT, he almost immediately got into trouble with the island’s new one-party regime for everything from listening to the wrong radio station to critiquing Chinese culture. His most famous work was the incendiary book, “The Ugly Chinaman.” However, surprisingly, the crime for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison on Green Island was translating a “Popeye” cartoon strip!

In 1963, a 32-year-old American grad student in Taipei wrote a newspaper editorial complaining that Taiwanese people were great at treating friends kindly, but kind of awful in public. Within days, he had unintentionally launched a nationwide student movement for civility, morality, and self-awareness. But this student-led push for better manners would also lead to arrests, prison time, and even psychiatric detention. In this episode, we tell the strange true story of the “Self-Awareness Movement,” how it exploded from one opinion piece, and explain how it contributed (or didn’t) to Taiwan’s public behavior transformation. Listen as we go from the sharp-elbowed chaos at bank counters and bus stops of the 1960s to today’s orderly lines and the quiet pride of the MRT.

This week, Formosa Files digs into two wild and almost totally forgotten killings from Taiwan’s Cold War years. First up: a soldier named Li Wei, a former POW, sets his army barracks on fire in the middle of the night and opens fire on his fellow soldiers. The whole thing gets swept under the rug. No local news coverage. It’s been basically erased from memory. Then there’s Taiwan’s deadliest school shooting: the Lixing High School Massacre. A fired sports coach shows up at school with a pistol and a grudge. He kills the principal, teachers, and even goes after the principal’s family. This one made the headlines at the time, but somehow, almost nobody talks about it today. Both happened in 1962, when Taiwan was still under martial law and the government kept a very tight lid on the media. With help from researcher and Formosa Files Chinese version co-host  Eric Hsu, we dug through old court records and tracked down as much truth as we could find.

Your name carries history, identity, and sometimes in Taiwan, salmon? In this episode, we explore Taiwanese/Chinese naming traditions: family names, generational names, courtesy names, and how colonization, politics, and even sushi promotions have shaped them. From the chaos of post-war name changes to the viral “Salmon Naming Incident” of 2021, join Formosa Files for a fascinating and funny audio journey into what our names say about us.

Often called “China’s Titanic,” the 1949 sinking of the Taiping claimed over 1,000 lives as desperate refugees fled Shanghai for Taiwan. Forty-five years later, another tragedy struck: 24 Taiwanese tourists were brutally murdered during a pleasure cruise on China’s Qiandao Lake. The deaths and the clumsy, heartless Chinese cover-up caused outrage in Taiwan. In this episode, Formosa Files is revisiting two haunting shipping disasters that reveal the human cost of war, exile, and political mistrust across the Taiwan Strait.

This early part of the twentieth century was filled with revolutions and wars (including the First World War). Formosa, however, was a relatively stable Japanese colony. But not entirely stable. We’ll tell you about Chinese revolutionary Luó Fúxīng (羅福星), who was executed in Taiwan for trying to rid this island of the Japanese. And we’ve got some good info on the often-overlooked Tapani Incident – the largest Han Chinese (with Indigenous allies) revolt against Japan… and it happened two decades into Japanese rule!

1962年，在當時的臺北縣永和鎮發生了一件轟動全臺的連續殺人案。一位（被）退休的老師持槍進入勵行中學，造成七死三傷的慘案。然而這件案件最引人注目的，卻反而是兇手的身分以及他在案發後的詭異行徑。這集的 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast，就讓兩位主持人來跟大家聊聊這起喧騰一時的殺人事件。 主持人簡介： Eryk Michael Smith－ICRT南臺灣特派員，長期從事記者採編工作、聲音編輯，也會客串DJ。現居高雄，在臺灣已經居住了接近30年，認為臺灣是自己的家。 Eric Hsu（徐葆權）－彰化北斗人，從大學南漂高雄以來，人生的大部分時間都在高雄渡過。關心臺灣文史與地方文化發展，尤其是自己的兩個家鄉：北斗與高雄。

After the “execution-style” murder of Taoyuan Magistrate Liu Pang-yu and half a dozen others at Liu’s official residence in November 1996 by assassins deemed connected to the underworld, Taiwan’s authorities began getting serious about trying to rid its ranks of those with ties to organized crime – but it’s no easy task. A report from that same year found that at least a third of elected officials were part of a system termed “Black Gold,” or put simply: gangsters in government.

過去的臺灣，似乎並不是一個非常平靜的地方。在1960年代，對外有持續發生小規模衝突的共產中國，對內則有軍隊紀律、匪諜滲透、省籍情節等問題。雖然實施了戒嚴，但社會的治安依然不甚穩定。而在1962年，民國51年，就發生了兩件駭人聽聞的連續殺人案。這集的 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast，就讓兩位主持人來跟大家聊聊當年其中一件發生在軍營，罕為人知的殺人事件。 主持人簡介： Eryk Michael Smith－ICRT南臺灣特派員，長期從事記者採編工作、聲音編輯，也會客串DJ。現居高雄，在臺灣已經居住了接近30年，認為臺灣是自己的家。 Eric Hsu（徐葆權）－彰化北斗人，從大學南漂高雄以來，人生的大部分時間都在高雄渡過。關心臺灣文史與地方文化發展，尤其是自己的兩個家鄉：北斗與高雄。

臺灣在戰後很快的成為「復興基地」，接收了百萬播遷來臺的中國軍民，但仍需儲備「反攻大陸」所需的兵力；再加上農業社會需要大量人力，政府於是鼓勵生育，臺灣人口也隨之快速增加。然而在八十年後的今日，臺灣的生育率卻是世界倒數，人口也開始節節下降。這集的 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast，就讓兩位主持人來跟大家聊聊，臺灣人口的故事與挑戰。

Taiwan is enjoying a four-day break for Qing Ming Jie, usually called Tomb Sweeping Festival (or Day) in English. Formosa Files is taking a bit of a break as well, but Eryk thought you might be interested in a short history of communist parties in Taiwan, so he recorded a mini episode on that topic. After seeing red, stay with the episode for a re-release of the (or at least one of the) origin story of the Tomb Sweeping Festival - an edit from (Not So) "Happy Holidays - S2-E28."

臺灣自從1971年退出聯合國以來，在國際上逐漸面臨被孤立的困境。無獨有偶的，此時在非洲也有另一個被國際孤立的國家：南非。雖然非常具有爭議性，但兩個國家確實攜手合作了很長的一段時間，臺灣人當時在南非甚至還被授與「榮譽白人」，直到曼德拉上台後轉與中國建交為止。而就在兩國關係還相當密切的1987年，在印度洋上發生了一起空難，卻引發外界無限的陰謀論遐想。這集的 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast，就讓兩位主持人來跟大家聊聊，「榮譽白人」與這起空難的故事。

在第二次世界大戰期間，日本曾經從臺灣募集原住民，編成「高砂義勇隊」開赴南洋作戰。然而在戰場上，卻有一位來自臺東的阿美族族人與軍隊離散，獨自一個人在印尼小島的叢林裡存活了30年才被發現。這集的 Formosa Files 中文版，就讓兩位主持人來一起聊聊這位應該是一代傳奇，卻無論在臺灣或日本都沒有得到尊重的人物。 主持人簡介： Eryk Michael Smith－ICRT南臺灣特派員，長期從事記者採編工作、聲音編輯，也會客串DJ。現居高雄，在臺灣已經居住了接近30年，認為臺灣是自己的家。 Eric Hsu（徐葆權）－彰化北斗人，從大學南漂高雄以來，人生的大部分時間都在高雄渡過。關心臺灣文史與地方文化發展，尤其是自己的兩個家鄉：北斗與高雄。

上陽明山的仰德大道，由於彎道視線不良，過去時常發生重大車禍。但絕大多數的人也許不知道，蔣介石自己也曾經在陽明山發生過非常嚴重的車禍，嚴重損害了他的健康，甚至讓他自認因此「折壽二十年」。到底是怎麼一回事呢？這集的 Formosa Files 中文版，就讓兩位主持人來一起聊聊這場一度被懷疑是意圖暗殺國家元首的（不）單純車禍。 主持人簡介： Eryk Michael Smith－ICRT南臺灣特派員，長期從事記者採編工作、聲音編輯，也會客串DJ。現居高雄，在臺灣已經居住了接近30年，認為臺灣是自己的家。 Eric Hsu（徐葆權）－彰化北斗人，從大學南漂高雄以來，人生的大部分時間都在高雄渡過。關心臺灣文史與地方文化發展，尤其是自己的兩個家鄉：北斗與高雄。

The press called her a “two-pistol-packing” grandma. She witnessed and participated in the chaos of warlord China, World War II, and the CCP-KMT civil war. For a time, she was a criminal. Later she became a household name for her bravery in fighting the Japanese and then the Communists, resisting right up to the evacuation of Dachen Islands in 1955. Huang Bamei died in Taipei in 1982 (age 76) after devoting the last decades of her long and action-packed life to caring for children orphaned by the Chinese Civil War; an amazing life that, quite honestly John and Eryk would rather talk about than have lived through.

As you likely know, Chinese writing comes in two main forms: traditional (fántǐzì) and simplified (jiǎntǐzì). Taiwan uses traditional characters and China uses simplified characters. Taiwan is a peace-loving democracy and China is an authoritarian state; ergo – traditional characters are better! But no, logic doesn’t care about politics and as John and Eryk debate this sometimes-controversial topic, you may come to agree with us that there are pluses and minuses for both systems. Eryk likes writing his wife’s surname as 刘, not 劉… but John has a point about beauty – did they really need to do this 东 to “east”? Was the original, 東, really oh, sooo hard? Enjoy a friendly argument or two, and learn a bit of the history of characters and the people who simplified them. PS: if you want to know more about Hanyu Pinyin, listen to our Bookish Asia podcast episode where John chats with an author of a book on Zhou Youguang (周有光).

臺灣從1987年解嚴（金馬地區為1992年），以及1992年修正刑法100條之後，開始逐步邁向民主自由的社會，至今已是東亞民主自由成果最耀眼的國家之一。然而臺灣的民主自由絕非誰人給予，也絕非一蹴可幾。這集的Formosa Files中文版，就由兩位主持人來與大家聊聊臺灣民主自由的一位重要先驅：施明德先生。

After serving eight months behind bars for libel, Chen Shui-bian is released in February 1987, and enters the fray of a newly-liberalized political landscape. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party became Taiwan’s first real opposition party, and Chen’s wife is elected to Parliament. Mr. Chen bides his time, and then pounces – first becoming a lawmaker, beating Frank Hsieh to become DPP caucus chief, and then setting his sights on the nation’s capital city. In 1994, direct elections for Taipei mayor are held for the first time, and Chen overcomes Frank Hsieh again to become the DPP nominee.  But Chen has a few issues: he isn’t a great speaker and he doesn’t like smiling. Will this plucky lad from a dirt-poor home in Tainan overcome the odds? Find out in this week’s exciting Formosa Files Taiwan history story.

With a new intro and ending, this is a rerelease of one of our more popular episodes: the story of the decision by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter (1924-2024) to follow through with previous administration commitments to recognize the People’s Republic of China. The switch from the ROC to the PRC was a massive change that would slowly lead to the complicated de facto status the Republic of China has today: not technically recognized as a country, not thought to represent “China” anymore, but – at least for a huge number of nations – in reality, now a thriving, democratic, independent island nation known best by the name “Taiwan.”

Harold and Alice Focht. He was an educator, she came along to keep him away from the geishas (well, some said). Hear how two middle-aged Americans saw Taiwan at, arguably, the peak of the Japanese colonial era.  Lots of civilizing was on display – Asia’s longest bridge and the aboriginal show village of Kappanzan (beautiful modern-day Jiaobanshan). But happily, some local charms were also seen, including the unhealthy but persistent habit of chewing betel nuts, some minor disregarding of cleanliness, and local throngs gawking at big-footed Americans. As a bonus, Eryk and John give away two brilliant ideas for modern-day tourism related to rail pushcarts.

近期臺灣在國際上逐漸有許多亮眼的表現，尤其是各式運動競賽方面。然而臺灣一直都是以「中華臺北」的名稱出賽，甚至連「國旗」與「國歌」都不一樣。然而在1950年代，臺灣在奧會上真的是名為「臺灣」。究竟是何時改成「中華臺北」呢？中間又有什麼曲折呢？這集 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast 就由兩位主持人來與大家一起聊聊，「臺灣」與「中華臺北」的歷史故事。

Today, the small island roughly 13 kilometers off the coast of Pingtung County is called Xiaoliuqiu 琉球嶼. Some 400 years ago, however, many called it Lamay Island. Shipwrecks in the seas around Formosa were common, and survivors who made it ashore often found the native peoples tolerated no incursions. After a few such incidents involving the killing of people from Dutch ships by Lamay Islanders, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) HQ in Batavia (Jakarta) gave the Dutch colonists in Taiwan an order: Completely depopulate Lamay Island. The Dutch in Taiwan - not without reservations - followed this order, and committed the worst atrocity against the indigenous people during the Dutch colonial period in Formosa.  Note: This episode was originally published on 22 March, 2022

你知道嗎？臺灣的梅花鹿其實野外的族群已經滅絕。現在在墾丁看到的梅花鹿，都是後來復育的成果。然而臺灣還遺留有非常多以「鹿」命名的地方，間接展現臺灣過去應該是一個遍地鹿群的地方。究竟臺灣是怎麼從鹿群的天堂，變得需要復育梅花鹿呢？復育的成果又如何呢？這集 Formosa Files 中文版 Podcast 就由兩位主持人來跟大家聊聊，臺灣梅花鹿的一些故事。