FORMOSA FILES PODCAST S4-E23: Taiwan’s President in Exile – Thomas Liao
This forgotten father of Taiwan democracy sacrificed his comfortable life (he came from a rich family and had a PhD from the US in Chemical Engineering) to fight for Taiwanese independence in the post-WW2 decades.
In 1956 he was elected president of the Japan-based Republic of Taiwan Provisional Government. In some ways, he also sacrificed his Chinese-American wife and children. So, when his American granddaughter Kim Liao was growing up, Thomas Liao was almost never mentioned.
In this episode, John talks to Kim about uncovering her mysterious family history, the subject of her recent outstanding book: Where Every Ghost Has a Name: A Memoir of Taiwanese Independence.
(Note: John also recorded another episode with Kim focusing on her book – see Episode 6 of Bookish Asia with Plum Rain Press)
Cover shows (left) the flag of the Provisional Government of Taiwan, (right) Thomas Liao, the first elected president of this government-in-exile (based in Japan). All images via Wikimedia Commons.
#formosafiles #podcasts #taiwan #history #formosa
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The Formosa Files podcast is sponsored by the FRANK CHEN FOUNDATION (陳啟川先生文教基金會)
Website: https://www.frank-chen.org.tw/
This top-rated history podcast tells stories from the history of Formosa (Taiwan) from circa 1600 C.E. - 2000 C.E., via interesting, lesser-known short stories presented in a non-chronological order.
HOSTS: John Ross is an author and co-founder of publisher Camphor Press, which specializes in books on Taiwan and China in English, while Eryk Michael Smith has worked as a writer and journalist for multiple media outlets in Taiwan, including the island's only English-language radio station ICRT (FM 100.7). Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for well over 20 years and call the island home.
