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Ep 298 | An Oral History of TAC-EC: Conversations with Three Past Conference Organizers: Talking with Terry Tsao, Su-Mei Kao, and Powen Wang

Talking Taiwan

Release Date: 11/27/2024

Ep 322 | Day After Analysis of the Great Recall with Dr Linda Gail Arrigo

Talking Taiwan

On July 27th the day after Taiwan’s island wide historic recall vote of 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) legislators, I sat down with Linda Gail Arrigo, Ai Linda (艾琳達) to reflect on the results of the recall vote, and the impact of the civic mobilization behind the recall effort. Related Links:

Ep 321 | The Day of Taiwan's Historic Recall Vote

Talking Taiwan

On July 26th the day of the historic vote to recall 24 Kuomintang (KMT) legislators we were with the Shān chú wēi hài (山除薇害) recall group in Taipei at Rongxing Garden (榮星花園) Rongxing garden, which is more like a park, for a sort of watch party with about a hundred volunteer recall campaigners. The recall vote results were being televised live on a series of oversized screens that had been set up in the park. When we finally learned the results of the recall vote It was a shock. 0 of 24 legislators had been recalled. What a sad, disappointing day. I could see it...

Ep 320 | First Day in Taiwan, Day Before The Great Recall

Talking Taiwan

On our first day in Taiwan July 25th we went into the streets of Taipei where recall campaigners from the the Shān chú wēi hài (山除薇害) recall group were doing a last minute push asking people to get out and vote for the recall of 24 KMT legislators on July 26th. Related Links: We previously interviewed 3 recall campaigners from this group- Carol, Eric and Acho in episode 316. Eric explaining the meaning behind the recall group’s name. Later that day we sat down to interview A-Mei the recall group’s spokesperson who was doxed by the Kuomintang. ...

Ep 319 | Taiwanese Waves 2025 is Back

Talking Taiwan

Summer is upon us and I’m sure that a lot of our listeners especially those in New York will be happy to know that Taiwanese Waves will be returning to Central Park’s Summer Stage on August 3 at the Rumsey Playfield. Doors open at 5:00pm Since 2016 Taiwanese Waves has introduced Taiwanese music to audiences at Central Park’s Summer Stage. If you’re not familiar with Taiwanese Waves you’re in for a treat. In this episode I sat down with Mia, the main organizer of Taiwanese Waves and we are about to walk through and give you a taste of all of the acts that have performed at...

Ep 318 | Meet Taiwanese YouTuber Ba Jiong 八炯

Talking Taiwan

In late June, we met up with YouTuber Bā Jiǒng (八炯) when he was in New York. If you’re not familiar with Bā Jiǒng you might want to check out 2 of his most popular videos which expose China’s United Front’s tactics to target the Taiwanese and to recruit Taiwanese influencers to attack and spread disinformation about Taiwan. Then you’ll know why he’s had death threats. Related Links: Bā Jiǒng is among those spearheading the recall of Fu Kun-chi, the KMT legislator known as “The King of Hualien.” Fu Kun-chi is 1 of 24 Kuomintang KMT legislators who will be...

Ep 317 | The Great Recall Explained by Courtney Donovan Smith

Talking Taiwan

In Taiwan recall bids have been filed against 35 of the 39 Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang or KMT lawmakers who were directly elected to the legislative yuan in January, 2024. Recall campaigners have said that they want to restore order to Taiwan’s legislative yuan, by removing pro-China KMT legislators who have passed amendments to expand the legislature’s powers, undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order by paralyzing the constitutional court, cut budgets and made Taiwan vulnerable to infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party. Related Links: Just a few days...

Ep 316 | The Great Recall Movement in Taiwan: A Historic Unprecedented Boots on the Ground Exercise in Democracy

Talking Taiwan

Have you heard about the great recall movement that’s happening in Taiwan? What’s it all about? Related Links: 24 lawmakers, or legislators from the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang KMT party are being put up for a recall vote. I don’t think the world has ever seen anything like this happen on a national level in a democracy- 24 lawmakers being recalled from office, and that number is likely to be even higher at the time that this episode gets released. It’s truly unprecedented! This recall vote certainly didn’t happen overnight. It was through dedicated grassroots efforts, of...

Ep 315 | Julien Oeuillet The Voice of South Taiwan Shines a Spotlight on Kaohsiung

Talking Taiwan

Julien Oeuillet is an independent journalist, who has produced content for Radio Taiwan International and TaiwanPlus. He is the Founding Editor of IPON the Indo-Pacific Open News. Related Links: Back in November of 2024 we interviewed Julien about a broad number of topics including: How he is very much at home in Kaohsiung How he got his start in broadcasting and media What he thinks makes a good and bad journalist especially in Taiwan How he focuses on putting a spotlight on Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan through his Radio Taiwan International show, The Voice of South Taiwan...

Ep 314 | A Conversation With Wen-Jen Deng Taiwanese Fiber Artist and Curator Ming Turner

Talking Taiwan

We recently sat down with Wen-Jen Deng one of the artists in residence at the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s House 17 on Governors Island and Ming Turner, curator of Wen-Jen’s art exhibit :The Embedded Stitch- Contemporary Fiber Art, which is currently showing at Tenri Cultural Institute until June 28th Related Links: According to Deng’s curator Ming Turner, “Deng is a core member of the influential Taiwanese artist collective, Hantoo Art Group. Her early works were primarily oil paintings which incorporated embroidery and collage using traditional Taiwanese floral fabrics....

Ep 313 | Passport to Taiwan 2025: Ben Hedges A Laowai's View of China, Ambassador Lee of TECO, and TAAC

Talking Taiwan

This past Sunday, May 26th we stopped by the annual Passport to Taiwan that’s held in New York City’s Union Square Park. The first Passport to Taiwan was held in 2002 and it’s become the largest outdoor Taiwanese American event in the entire United States. Related Links: While there I spoke with the Taiwanese American Arts Council’s (TAAC’s) Executive Director Luchia Meihua Lee, Ambassador Tom Lee of TECO-NY, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, and Ben Hedges, host of Lao Wai Kan Zhongguo also known as the A Laowai's View of China & Taiwan YouTube channel....

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In July we brought Talking Taiwan to the 53rd annual Taiwanese American Conference, East Coast (aka TAC-EC) at West Chester University where we set up an on-location podcast studio and I interviewed 12 people in 3 days. It was pretty nonstop but it was well worth it. One thing we strive to do with Talking Taiwan is to record oral histories, so it was my pleasure to sit down with several of TAC-EC’s past organizers to talk about the conference’s history.

First, I spoke with Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文), who told me about how TAC started out as a summer retreat for Christian families in 1970 and later evolved into a conference for the entire Taiwanese American community. At the time Taiwan was under Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalists authoritarian regime, and Pok-wen recounts how the Chinese Nationalists (KMT) tried to interfere with TAC in those early years.

I also spoke with past TAC organizers Su-Mei Kao, and Shih-Chieh or Terry Tsao.

TAC is a conference with a 50 year plus long history and its programs have covered diverse issues impacting Taiwanese Americans, including human rights in Taiwan, and momentous social, historical, political events related to Taiwan and their implications.

About TAC-EC:

The first Taiwanese American Conference East Coast (TACEC) was held in 1970 in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. It was a summer retreat for the area's Christian families but has turned into an event for the entire Taiwanese American community. Over the years, the conference has expanded its programs to encompass diverse issues impacting Taiwanese Americans, including human rights in Taiwan, and momentous social, historical, political events and their implications. TACEC invites Taiwanese and Taiwanese Americans from diverse professional backgrounds to share their experiences. The number of participants has steadily grown, numbering over 2,000 in the late 80s and 90s.

TAC-EC is hosted by Taiwanese Communities in four different regions: New York, New Jersey, Washington and Philadelphia (including south Jersey and Delaware). Each region is currently on a four-year rotation and takes turns chairing the TACEC board that oversees the operation of TAC-EC.

The conference today draws about 600 - 800 participants annually, with the majority being first generation Taiwanese Americans. Many second generation Taiwanese Americans who now have children have eagerly expressed interests in developing TAC-EC programs for their children and re-engage their peers who were past participants.

TAC-EC’s MISSION:

To stimulate public interest in the cultural, religious, educational, socioeconomic and other activities of Taiwanese/Taiwanese Americans
To pass down Taiwanese cultural and religious heritage in the Taiwanese Americans community
To facilitate exchanges among Taiwanese Americans organizations, and to foster exchange, mutual support and collaboration between Taiwanese American organizations and Taiwanese or other ethnic groups’ organizations
To organize an annual conference or workshops of various topics about current affairs and future development of the United States and Taiwan

This episode is sponsored in part by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文), an early participant and organizer of TAC-EC talks about how he got involved in TAC-EC, the formation of TAC-EC, and its early years
How the conference started as a Christian summer camp and then the Formosan Club (aka Taiwanese Association) joined
What caused a split between the Christians and Formosan Club
The year Powen Wang aka Ong Po-bun (王博文) organized the conference (1989)
How TAC-EC has evolved from the 1970s to 2013
The formation of TANG (Taiwanese American Next Generation)
Su-Mei Kao, organizer of TAC-EC in 2015 talked about her experiences organizing the conferences and how changes were made to create more interaction and shared events between TAC-EC and TANG attendees
The speakers and topics covered at TAC-EC 2015
How Su-Mei Kao had attended TAC in the southern region before TAC on the East Coast and how the conferences in these regions differ
Shih-Chieh (Terry) Tsao, organizer of TAC-EC 2023 talked about how he got involved in TAC-EC
Shih-Chieh (Terry) talked about the theme of TAC-EC
How China reacted to Nancy Pelosi’s (former speaker of the United States House of Representatives) visit to Taiwan in August of 2022
Some of the most memorable speakers that were invited to speak at TAC-EC 2023
How FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs and GTI (Global Taiwan Institute) and WUFI (World United Formosans for Independence) were instrumental in helping to organize TAC-EC 2023
How Shih-Chieh (Terry) hopes that TAC-EC can welcome more participants with a wider spectrum of political leanings on Taiwan

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