TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

Lonely Planet travel guidebooks provided some of best info on a new destination in the pre-internet era, and the late Robert Storey (1954-2017) wrote quite a few of them... including the first four editions for Taiwan. Robert Storey’s Lonely Planet Taiwan editions are funny, sarcastic, and insightf…

Did you know that all the water buffalo in Taiwan are the descendants of a group of these bovines from Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies)? These poor water buffalo were put on a sailing ship by the Dutch in 1648 and sent to Taiwan! Who knew? Well, former Dutch diplomat and current George M…

John chats with veteran Hong Kong-based journalist and author of The Island (2024) Mark O'Neill, who tells us what Taiwan was like in the early 1980s, when he first came to study Chinese. Despite a mysterious knife attack and various authoritarian elements (such as “mail boxes” for reporting spies …

In this short segment, John and Eryk first make the stunning observation that summer in subtropical Taiwan is hot. They then reflect on the "Pacific Story," an NBC radio docu-drama from 1944, an episode that was a hit with listeners. Moving along, they talk about a new podcast for book lovers: Book…

A horrific murder of an American teenager by two other American teenagers in 1985 led to some serious soul-searching: How could the international community in Taiwan (some of whom don't speak Chinese well enough to get help from local sources) aid those going through mental health crises, are in ne…

Not so long ago, talking about Taiwan independence could earn you a lengthy prison term. That changed in the late 1990s as Taiwan embraced democracy. Taiwan independence advocates in the United States have always enjoyed more freedom of speech, but pro-independence organizations that pulled stunts …

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter only served one term, but those four years were rough: oil embargos, inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and the decision to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was an unpopular move, especially in Taiwan. President Carter asked his deputy secretary…

Taiwan is in mourning for those lost or injured by the huge earthquake that happened on the morning of April 3rd, 2024. In this short special episode, we hear John Ross' feelings about the earthquake which this latest one is being compared to: 921, or, the quake of September 21st, 1999, which claim…

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) PhD candidate Angel B. Menéndez came to Taiwan from his native Guatemala on a full scholarship provided by the Taiwan government. For Taiwan, this was a wise financial choice as Menéndez first studied mechanical engineering, then Mandarin, and then became invol…

Taiwan is a food-lover's paradise, with tasty treats, delicious dishes, scrumptious suppers, marvelous morsels... a versatile, vast variety of fabulous foods. John and Eryk aren't really down with the whole clichéd, “let's make stuff about foreigners eating stinky tofu” phenomenon, but we decided t…

Mark Crilley is one of the top 10 American manga artists, and he has a new graphic novel out called LOST IN TAIWAN (2023). Formosa Files caught up with Mark, who spilled the beans on why he was here in the late 1980s and early 1990s, what he loved (and what he loved a bit less) about Taiwan. After …

John chats with photographer Chris Stowers. In 1988, Chris sailed a traditional Indonesian boat on an epic sea voyage (a trip described alongside the three-part series on the Free China junk, S3-Ep23-25). This led to his first story and photos being published, and the beginning of his career in pho…

We continue the amazing tale of six men who set sail from Keelung in 1955 aboard the Free China junk to join a trans-Atlantic yacht race. They were attempting to show that an old-fashioned Chinese vessel could compete against some of the world's best boats. But first they need to cross the Pacific …

In 1954, a man living in Keelung 基隆 asked himself, “Could an old-fashioned Chinese junk beat modern yachts in a race on the high seas?” The answer? -- An almost unbelievable tale involving a boat that would become world-famous: the “Free China” junk (自由中國號) This week, John Ross and Chris Stowers (S…

Tamsui (Danshui) native John Groot and Formosa Files' John Ross continue their walk and talk around the old town. They’re on the trail of the 1884 Battle of Tamsui between French and Taiwanese forces, a battle which was a rare victory for the beleaguered Qing dynasty. As well as military matters, t…