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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 and subversives), he loved the country. Over the next four decades, he made numerous trips back, witnessing and reporting on Taiwan’s transformation from one party rule to an admirable democracy. The Island is not Mark’s first Taiwan book – earlier works include ones on Buddhist charity Tzu Chi and the National Palace Museum – so he brings both depth and breadth to his entertaining look at the country.
Cover: Images from Taiwan in the 1980s. Via DarkLiberator/Reddit
Below: the cover of The Island (2024) by Mark O'Neill
The 1980s were a time of significant change for Taiwan. A few examples?
1980: Hsinchu Science Park is founded
1985: Population of Taiwan grows to over 19.2 million
July 15, 1987: Martial law is lifted
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
