History

'The difference between the two tigers is hidden in their eyes; the obverse side has undilated pupils while the reverse has dilated ones. Researchers believe this contrast is a metaphor for day and night, symbolizing constant vigilance.'

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Today marks 66 years since the first group of political prisoners were taken to Taiwan’s Green Island.

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'His legacy ought to be studied and analyzed, if only to remember the horrors and agonies of the history of this island nation, and to educate ourselves on the importance of avoiding a backslide into totalitarianism.'

'Chiang Kai-shek was the greatest single fighter of the CCP, bar none. He also led China through one of the darkest periods of its history, including a brutal war with Japan and two periods of civil war, which wrapped together were a central part of the greatest conflict in human history.'

'For those who believe that this debate was laid to rest, recall that if there was severance with the past, there would be no need for a truth and reconciliation commission,' argues Matthew Geason.

Tomorrow marks the 107th anniversary of Chiang Ching-kuo’s birth. Jeremy Olivier questions whether the Generalissimo’s son was really the great initiator of democratic change so many politicians and academics like to say he was.

'Amazingly,' wrote Kaori Shoji, 'Taiwan is the one country where the Japanese imperialists managed to do more good than harm.'

The new 'hero law' could have a chilling effect on academic inquiry in China.

An international expert believes much more is to be uncovered about Taiwan’s past.

James Baron tours the life and times of Taiwan's Li Kuo-ting.

A look at how China's past affects its current stance on maritime disputes in the South China Sea.

In 1986 the Taiwan leader was granted his own effigy in Paraguay's capital. But what of Taiwan's expats in Paraguay today?

For many in Taiwan, February 28 is a day to reflect on the country’s brutal history, but the somber occasion has been marred by distractions this year.

Many felt the name was an insult to thousands who suffered during the Japanese occupation.

While the towers are unlikely to scoop an award for aesthetics, they provide a glimpse of a period of Taiwan's modern history that, like their embrasures, expands to offer a macroscopic view when probed.    

BOOK REVIEW: Joshua Kurlantzick's 'A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA' (New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017), reviewed by Hunter Marston.