The Taiwan History Podcast: Formosa Files

Long before social media, Taiwan had an unlikely food influencer: Chiang Ching-kuo (CCK), son of President Chiang Kai-shek. During his frequent inspection tours around the island in the 1970s and 1980s (as premier and later president), CCK cultivated an everyman image by chatting with workers and farmers and stopping to sample ordinary local foods. Sometimes, a visit from CCK was enough to transform an obscure dish or shop into a national tourist attraction. Eryk and John hit the road to follow in his culinary footsteps: from taro ice in Dali, Taichung, to daikon radishes high in the forests of Taipingshan, and finally to Wanluan pork knuckles in Pingtung.

45 min video version also available.

NOTE: Shorter, audio only version also available
Long before social media, Taiwan had an unlikely food influencer: Chiang Ching-kuo (CCK), son of President Chiang Kai-shek. During his frequent inspection tours around the island in the 1970s and 1980s (as premier and later president), CCK cultivated an everyman image by chatting with workers and farmers and stopping to sample ordinary local foods. Sometimes, a visit from CCK was enough to transform an obscure dish or shop into a national tourist attraction. Eryk and John hit the road to follow in his culinary footsteps: from taro ice in Dali, Taichung, to daikon radishes high in the forests of Taipingshan, and finally to Wanluan pork knuckles in Pingtung.

In 1986, after more than six years behind bars, Chen Chu was released on parole. She immediately doubled down on Taiwan’s democratic struggle. In Part Two, we trace her rise from dissident to political heavyweight. We cover her role in founding the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the fallout from the Kaohsiung MRT migrant-worker scandal that cost her her job as labor chief, and her razor-thin victory in the 2006 mayoral race. She would go on to shape Kaohsiung for more than a decade, but her administration was not without controversy, most notably over the devastating 2014 gas explosions.

Cover image shows Chen Chu at a final 2014 mayoral campaign rally in Fongshan, Kaohsiung. (By Eryk Michael Smith)

In 1960s rural Taiwan, crossing a river could be deadly. After children drowned on their way to school, a small group of charity workers in Chiayi decided to act. They had previously provided rice and coffins to the poor. But now they turned to building bridges in rural, often remote mountain areas. Nicknamed the “Ant Army,” they worked in human chains, carrying rocks and pouring concrete by hand. Their raw physical effort was supported by the expertise and guidance of engineer Ho Ming-teh (何明德1922–1998) who would be internationally recognized for his contribution. By the time of his death, Ho and the Chiayi Philanthropy Group had built more than 200 bridges.

We’ve got a new “snack” for you on Sunday, but today we’re revisiting an episode from 2022. Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s two expeditions of 1852–1854 pried open Japan. Less well known is that one of the American ships visited Keelung in northeastern Taiwan to investigate the harbor and its coal resources. 

And completely forgotten is another American project, the North Pacific Exploring and Surveying Expedition of 1853 to 1856, which saw two visits to Taiwan. At that time, the United States was one of several Western powers that had an eye on establishing a foothold on Formosa’s wild East Coast.

The mysterious region lay outside of Chinese control and promised all sorts of possible utility, whether as a coaling station or a penal colony. In today’s podcast, we’re aboard the John Hancock in the company of Lt. Alexander Habersham, who wrote an account of the expedition.