Asian International Affairs Archives | Talking Taiwan Podcast

Why the Surge in Taiwan’s Coronavirus Cases? An Interview with Courtney Donovan Smith Ep 134

Felicia Lin — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 13:00:08 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

There has been a surge in Taiwan’s coronavirus cases since about mid-May, and Taiwan is now on COVID alert level 3, one level before full lockdown. I’ve invited Courtney Donovan Smith on to Talking Taiwan to talk about what led to the increase in COVID cases, the current situation and what’s happening with Taiwan’s efforts to acquire COVID vaccines. Courtney Donovan Smith is the central Taiwan correspondent for ICRT News, and one of the co-founders of the Taiwan Report, which I highly recommend as a really great news resource for what’s happening in Taiwan.

Since Courtney and I spoke on June 3rd, Taiwan remains at COVID alert level 3, on Friday, Japan sent over one million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Taiwan, and the U.S. has promised to donate 750,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

The current situation and atmosphere in Taiwan since COVID cases started to spike
How the increase in COVID cases were linked to commercial airline pilots who stayed at the Novotel airport hotel
Taiwan is currently at COVID alert level 3
What does COVID alert level 3 entail
What’s happened since Taiwan has been at COVID alert level 3
How the increase in COVID cases in Taiwan are due to the more virulent UK variant of COVID
How one of the factors to determine whether Taiwan will go to level 4 (full lockdown), is the number of cases with unknown origin and what constitutes a case of known or unknown origin
Taiwan is tentatively going to remain at level 3 until June 14
Reasons for the low COVID vaccination rate in Taiwan
Why Taiwan has not been able to procure Pfizer vaccines from German firm BioNTech and what happened to the deal
What China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (which claims to handle the Greater China market which includes Taiwan) has to do with Taiwan’s efforts to access COVID vaccines
The Chinese made COVID vaccine
China’s interference in Taiwan’s efforts to secure COVID vaccines
China’s reaction to the Japan’s offer to donate vaccines to Taiwan
How China interfered with relief efforts during the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan
The most well-known cases of COVID outbreaks in Taiwan involving the Taipei Wanhua district teahouses and “Grape Mother”

Richard Chen: The History of Social Injustice and Discrimination Toward Asian Americans Ep 130

Felicia Lin — Mon, 17 May 2021 11:36:10 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

The wave of Anti-Asian hate crimes over the past year have largely been attributed to blaming the Chinese for the spread of the Coronavirus. However, Asian Americans have experienced hate, social injustice and discrimination since they started immigrating to the U.S. I’ve invited Richard Chen on to the podcast to talk about the history of discrimination toward Asian Americans, and some of the major events that have galvanized Asian Americans in the past. Richard is Creator of StopAAPIHate.us, Board member of Asian American Action Fund.

Founding moderator of the FB group Asians Now a FB group of Asian diaspora for social awareness.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What motivated Richard to create StopAAPIHate.us
Why the model minority myth is problematic
Asiatic exclusion league
Yellow Peril
Page Act
Chinese Exclusion Act
Geary Act
Tydings–McDuffie Act
Asiatic Barred Zone Act
Immigration Act of 1924
Burning of Santa Ana Chinatown
Japanese internment camps
The Murder of Vincent Chin
Rodney King Incident and the 1992 LA Riots

Eric Chang on China’s Breach of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone: Threat or Bluff? Ep 127

Felicia Lin — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 10:51:09 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

My guest on this episode of Talking Taiwan is Eric Chang, a writer for Taiwan News. On April 18^th we spoke about China’s April 12^th incursion into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the largest one to date at the time. We also spoke about the longstanding military threat that China poses for Taiwan and the Asia Pacific region, what this means for Taiwan, how Taiwan has responded, the U.S.’s response and why it matters, and how the support and cooperation from neighboring countries is essential to keeping peace in the region.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

The difference between a country’s airspace and ADIZ (air defense identification zone)
When Taiwan’s ADIZ was set up
When China’s ADIZ was set up
How China’s air intrusions increased during the last year of Trump’s presidency
What prompted China’s April 12^thincursion into Taiwan’s ADIZ
The Taiwan Relations Act
What the median line is
When Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense started to publicly report China’s incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ
How many incursions there have been this year by China to Taiwan’s ADIZ
Alex Azar and Keith Krach’s visits to Taiwan
Taiwan’s response to China’s incursions
What damage China can do to Taiwan with their fighter planes
The strategy/motivation behind China’s incursions
The war of attrition
Gray zone tactics
How willing China is to attack Taiwan?
How concerned people in Taiwan are about the China’s military threat
China’s increasing military aggression in the Asia region
Taiwan’s defense abilities
The new multimission amphibious ships that Taiwan recently launched
Asymmetric warfare capabilities and how Taiwan can defend itself
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
How the Biden administration has reacted to China’s April 12^thincursion
China’s
Good sources to learn about Taiwan’s military situation

Photo of a U.S. Captain on a destroyer sailing right alongside a Chinese aircraft carrier.

The Coming Collapse of China: Gordon Chang Discusses His Books Ep 86

Felicia Lin — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 11:37:26 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

In 2015, I spoke with Gordon Chang, author and political commentator about his views on China and his books, The Coming Collapse of China, and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World. I recently invited him back on Talking Taiwan, to listen to that episode, check out episode 85.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How Gordon went from practicing law to writing The Coming Collapse of China and becoming a political commentator who focuses on news about China
How Gordon’s views of China changed after he worked and lived there from 1996-2001
How the Chinese Communist Party is going in the wrong direction
What kind of reactions Gordon’s book, The Coming Collapse of China received
What’s going to happen if China does collapse?
China’s predatory trade policies
How China’s ban of certain websites and social media platforms delegitimizes the Chinese Communist Party
Gordon’s impressions of Taiwan
How Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement was inspired by Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement
Dissent in Hong Kong, Tibet and the Uighurs in Xinjiang
Gordon’s book Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World
How Gordon believes that the U.S. should be calling out China on North Korea
Gordon’s thoughts on the premise of the film The Interview and the cyber hacks on Sony
If Gordon has another book in the works

We recently invited Gordon back to Talking Taiwan to talk about the Hong Kong Security Law in Episode 85.

Hong Kong Security Law: An Interview with Political Commentator Gordon Chang Ep 85

Felicia Lin — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 07:32:49 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Gordon Chang is an author and political commentator. I first learned of him when I heard about his book The Coming Collapse of China. Then in 2015, I met and interviewed him for the Talking Taiwan podcast. We will re-share that episode at a later time. Recently, I invited Gordon back on to share his thoughts on the Hong Kong Security Law, India’s ban of TikTok, Zoom’s ties with China and the confirmed case of bubonic plague in China’s Inner Mongolia. Will the U.S. ban Tiktok? At the time this interview was recorded that question was unanswered.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

What is the Hong Kong Security Law?
What does the Hong Kong Security Law mean for Hong Kong and its democracy movement?
What has happened since the law was enacted?
What has been the reaction to the law by people in Hong Kong and around the world?
China’s violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed on December 19, 1984
How can the international community hold China accountable for what’s happening to Hong Kong?
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s offer to give British citizenship to up 3 million people from Hong Kong
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen’s offer to provide refuge to the people of Hong Kong
What the Hong Kong Security Law means for Taiwan
How willing and able is China to take Taiwan by force?
India’s ban of 59 different Chinese apps including Tiktok and WeChat
Why the concern over Chinese apps?
The Chinese Communist Party’s 2017 National Intelligence Law
How Tiktok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company which is subject to the National Intelligence Law
How Zoom has sent information back to China, and canceled the accounts of activists who used Zoom to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
The confirmed case of bubonic plague in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the G4 Swine Flu
China’s handling of COVID-19

Taiwan Presidential Election of 2020: A Discussion with Chieh-Ting Yeh Ep 61

Felicia Lin — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 07:20:45 +0000

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

With the Taiwan Presidential Election of 2020 coming up in Taiwan on January 11th, I thought it would be a good idea to do a podcast about this particular topic. Recently I spoke with Chieh-Ting Yeh, the Editor-in-Chief of Ketagalan Media, Vice-chairman of the Global Taiwan Institute and longtime watcher of Taiwan politics.

This episode should give you some interesting perspectives if you aren’t up on what’s going on with the upcoming presidential election in Taiwan.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

How the presidential elections in Taiwan work
The three presidential candidates: Tsai Ing-wen, Han Kuo-yu, James Soong
What’s been the theme of Taiwan’s presidential election?
China’s influence on Taiwan’s presidential election
Domestic issues being overshadowed by the China issue during the presidential election
The influence of Hong Kong’s protests on Taiwan’s presidential election
The province of Taiwan under the Republic of China
Taiwan’s first peaceful transition of power from the Kuomintang to the Democratic Progressive Party
Why the presidential election in Taiwan was moved from March to January
How Taiwan’s presidential elections have changed or not over the years
What it’s like on presidential election day in Taiwan

Asian International Affairs Archives | Talking Taiwan Podcast

Why the Surge in Taiwan’s Coronavirus Cases? An Interview with Courtney Donovan Smith Ep 134

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Richard Chen: The History of Social Injustice and Discrimination Toward Asian Americans Ep 130

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Eric Chang on China’s Breach of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone: Threat or Bluff? Ep 127

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

The Coming Collapse of China: Gordon Chang Discusses His Books Ep 86

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Hong Kong Security Law: An Interview with Political Commentator Gordon Chang Ep 85

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links:

Taiwan Presidential Election of 2020: A Discussion with Chieh-Ting Yeh Ep 61

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

Related Links: