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TAIWAN HISTORY - Formosa Files Episodes

Oct. 14, 2021

S1-E9 - The Empire's Last Soldier 李光輝

He was the last Pacific WWII holdout and a native Taiwanese from the Amis tribe... here's the remarkable story of a Japanese colonial soldier who didn't get home until the mid-1970s!

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Oct. 8, 2021

S1-E8 - POWs, Bombing Raids, and Kamikazes

Initially relatively spared, as WWII in the Pacific reaches a climax, Taiwan is hit hard by advancing Allied forces. POWs in camps across the island await liberation and in modern-day Tainan, a Japanese commander assembles the first kamikaze unit on …

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Sept. 30, 2021

S1-E7 - Luzon or Formosa? - Taiwan Dodges WWII Invasion

World War II in the Pacific is coming to a close... American military top brass meets with the President to pick the island from which to launch the final attack on Japan. Taiwan -- in particular, southern Taiwan -- is …

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Sept. 30, 2021

S1-E6 - Big Crises on Tiny Islands

The Korean War is over, and Mao turns again to the mission of invading Taiwan. To do that, his forces will need to first take some tiny islands just off the coast of China... which is easier said than done. …

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Sept. 25, 2021

S1-E5 - Rioters Ransack the Taipei U.S. Embassy (1957)

A U.S. officer shoots dead a 'Peeping Tom' allegedly spying on the officer's wife as she took a shower. The subsequent trial and verdict lead to the incredible -- yet little-known -- story of riots that ransacked the US embassy …

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Sept. 16, 2021

S1-E4 - Mao Really Wants Taiwan - and a Taiwanese Spy Almost Gave it …

Only one Taiwanese person is known to have survived the famed Long March of Chinese communists led by "Chairman" Mao. Hear the story of Cai Xiaoqian (蔡孝乾) from modern-day Changhua County, who became Mao's spymaster in Taiwan... and whose work …

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Sept. 11, 2021

S1-E3 - The Fall of Fort Zeelandia

The Dutch put up a good fight... but a traitor seals their fate. Here's the end of the story of how the Dutch lost Taiwan.

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Sept. 11, 2021

S1-E2 - Koxinga VS. The Dutch - Round One

Pirate Warlord Koxinga's successful invasion of Taiwan changed everything. Here's part one of the tale of an epic, nine-month struggle with the Dutch in Anping, modern-day Tainan.

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Sept. 6, 2021

S1-E1 - The White Formosan

How could a 'very white' European man get away with showing up in London in 1703 and claiming to be from Formosa? In this first episode of FORMOSA FILES, we look at this fascinating story of a French con-man, and …

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