They came, they conquered and they governed. Japanese rule had a profound impact on Taiwan’s economic development and infrastructure. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that, when it came to modernizing Taiwan, Tokyo did the heavy lifting.
Despite the demolition and repurposing of numerous temples in the late 1930s, and the building of Shinto shrines, few Taiwanese embraced Japanese religions. That doesn’t mean, however, that Japan left no imprint on local beliefs. In at least a dozen of the 15,216 religious places of worship registered with local governments, a divine being of Japanese origin is among those enshrined.
These immortals are neither
For those who’d like to know more about Taiwan’s history, but lack the time or inclination to crack open a book, Formosa Files might just be a godsend. Launched on Sept. 6, the podcast is intended to be a highly accessible yet in-depth look at key events over the past 400 years. So far, it’s picked up listeners in 20 countries.
Formosa Files kicked off with an episode devoted to George Psalmanazar, a wandering hoaxer who, despite his blond hair and never having left Europe, managed in the first decade of the 18th century to convince members of London’s elite that
In the past few months, Chinese People’s Liberation Army aircraft have frequently flown into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, and the numbers of aircraft have increased.
Within Taiwan, two diametrically opposed positions have formed over how to interpret the missions. One side views them as military provocation, while the other believes the flights do not amount to harassment.
Irrespective of which interpretation is adopted, Taiwanese should agree on one thing: It is an unchanging truth through the ages that those who wish for peace must continually prepare for war.
This involves maintaining a heightened sense of threat, or threat perception, so
National Taiwan University (NTU) has held on to 19th place for the second consecutive year in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings released on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s largest university and home to more than 32,000 students, NTU scored 90.8 out of 100 to rank first among Taiwanese universities on the list, which has been published annually by the London-based publisher Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd since 2009.
The number of the Taiwanese universities in the top 50 remains at five, with NTU joined by National Tsing Hua University (34th), National Cheng Kung University (41st), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (47th), and National Taiwan