Taiwan Books

Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan

Jonathan Manthorpe

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Solid History 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan, by Jonathan Manthorpe, is an insightful study not only of a country, but the peculiar circumstances leading up to its peculiar contemporary existence. The author starts with a look at Taiwan's March 2004 election, examining the fallout from the assassination attempt on President Chen Shuibian. Chen's injury was a violent exclamation point to what had been a very contentious campaign. Perhaps the author chose to focus on this episode as a means of showing how passionate the Taiwanese are about politics. While an attempted assassination far exceeds the bounds of proper decorum when politicking, the act may have been emblematic of Taiwanese perceptions of what was at stake in their society. Add that pivotable moment to a host of others and what unfolds is a comprehensive history of strife, survival, prosperity and ambiguity. Manthorpe backtracks from the travails of present Taiwanese events, providing in subsequent chapters a history of the island from its prehistoric settlement by early humans to the 2004 elections.

In relating the history of Taiwan, Manthorpe shows how China's claim to the island holds as much substance as its claim (if it has one)to the officially recognized sovereign nations of Southeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula. What is clarified in the book is Taiwan's role as a convergence point for an intersecting host of people, interests and ideologies. Cold War imperatives produced a dichotomous world view among American policy makers. The world was split between Communist and the so-called Free World. That dichotomy extended to China and Taiwan, with the repressive and corrupt Kuomintang in Taiwan standing vigilant against the Totalitarian hordes of mainland China.

Manthorpe highlights the looming threat of an increasingly assertive China. However, he understands that the Kuomintang, dominated by mainlanders, was little more than a colonial master lording it over the native Taiwanese population. It is the native population that Manthorpe brings attention to, driving home the point that native Taiwanese were oppressed or threatened by all parties, Ming and Manchu dynasts, Japanese, Communist and Kuomintang. He also covers America's schizophrenic relations with the island; on one hand, supporting it with rhetoric and weapons, on the other, courting China at the expense of Taiwan's status as a UN recognized nation.

Very recently has Taiwan become a true democracy. However aggressive its politics may be, however many vestigial shackles from its martial law days it must shed, it will be a tragedy of monumental proportions if the shining light of Taiwan's democracy were to be blotted out beneath the shadow of mainland tyranny. Manthorpe presents the Chinese threat in stark relief. China's military buildup shows no sign of abating, niether will it likely soften its position on Taiwan, which it considers to be a wayward province.

For China, Taiwan's submission to its authority is non-negotiable. For Taiwan, unification is equally out of the question. For now, the United States is committed to protecting Taiwan. But, Manthorpe's view of U.S. protection is pessimistic. How long will that commitment remain in place? As long as it is in America's interest, he suggests. Manthorpe offers no prospects for a happy ending in Taiwan's ongoing saga. Of course, he does not does not offer a sad one either. Taiwan still has a rough road to travel as it navigates between an enemy that wishes it snuffed out of existence and "friends" that keep it from taking its place in the community of nations. Forbidden Nation is as much an indictment of Taiwan's treatment on the world stage as it is a well laid out history.

Editorial Review:

For over 400 years, Taiwan has suffered at the hands of multiple colonial powers, but it has now entered the decade when its independence will be won or lost. At the heart of Taiwan's story is the curse of geography that placed the island on the strategic cusp between the Far East and Southeast Asia and made it the guardian of some of the world's most lucrative trade routes. It is the story of the dogged determination of a courageous people to overcome every obstacle thrown in their path. Forbidden Nation tells the dramatic story of the island, its people, and what brought them to this moment when their future will be decided.

Chinese National Cinema (National Cinemas Series.)

Yingjin Zhang

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Chinese film history: nationalism not cultural or artistic traits 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Read the review by Sabrina Q. Yu, University of Nottingham, UK in
http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/bookreview.php?issue=6&id=162

Three excerpts:

"The book is divided into eight chapters according to historical periodization. Fully aware of the influence of an ideological viewpoint on Chinese film historiography, Zhang tries to give Chinese cinema a less politicized, but broader periodization. Starting with early cinema (1896-1929) in Chapter Two and the 'golden age' of Chinese cinema (1930-1949) in Chapter Three, the author moves to separately address the cinema of Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC before 1978 in Chapters Four, Five, Six, and then investigates new waves in the three Chinas (1979-1989), and concludes with a discussion of transnational imaginary in the three Chinas from 1990 to 2002. This scheme clearly shows Zhang's aim to balance complicated Chinese film history in different temporal and geopolitical locales. On the one hand, the films of the three Chinas are given similar attention, avoiding any priority. On the other hand, a roughly identical periodization is applied to the films in the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong."

"As a mainland Chinese critic, it is heartening to see that Zhang, a film scholar from mainland China, pursues an ideological neutrality in his writing of Chinese film history."

and

"The significance of Zhang's Chinese National Cinema results from its groundbreaking endeavour to establish a less biased history of Chinese cinema, and to "conduct primary research and complete the constructive phase of film historiography before we can proceed with deconstruction and reconstruction in any confident, meaningful way" (12)."

Editorial Review:

What does it mean to be "Chinese?" This controversial question has sparked off a never-ending process of image-making in Chinese and Chinese-speaking communities throughout the twentieth century. This introduction to Chinese national cinema, written by a leading scholar, covers three "Chinas": mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It traces the formation, negotiation and problematization of the national on the Chinese screen over ninety years. Historical and comparative perspectives bring out the parallel developments in the three Chinas, while critical analysis explores thematic and stylistic changes over time.

As well as exploring artistic achievements and ideological debates, Chinese National Cinema also emphasizes industry research and market analysis. The author concludes that despite the rigid censorship systems and the pressures on film makers, Chinese national cinema has never succeeded in projecting a single unified picture, but rather portrays many Chinas.

Taiwan: A Political History

Denny Roy

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For centuries, various great powers have both exploited and benefited Taiwan, their designs for this island frequently clashing with the desire of local inhabitants to control their own destiny. Such conflicts have shaped Taiwan’s multiple, and frequently contradictory, identities. Denny Roy contends that Taiwan’s political history is best understood as a continuous struggle for security. Eschewing the usual emphasis on the high politics of the recent era, he offers a comprehensive narrative of the island’s political history from the first Chinese settlements to the Chen Shui-bian presidency. Roy covers the political system constructed by the KMT during the Cold War, the opposition breakthrough, the presidency of Lee Teng-hui, and the DPP presidential victory in March 2000.

Roy’s approach allows him to integrate his understanding of Taiwan’s domestic politics with its foreign affairs—particularly the relations with mainland China. He reveals how the interplay between political forces within and the influence of foreign countries from without has shaped Taiwan. His is a balanced account, incorporating up-to-date coverage and presenting many indigenous voices. Taiwan: A Political History illuminates the origins of the island’s often-troubled domestic and international political situation.

Is Taiwan Chinese?: The Impact of Culture, Power, and Migration on Changing Identities (Interdisciplinary Studies of China, 2)

Melissa J. Brown

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Been Waiting For This! 5 out of 5 stars.
42 of 51 people found this review helpful.

At last, a book that covers an aspect of Taiwanese history and culture not often discussed until recent years: the Taiwanese people are a hybrid people. Many have some Plains Aborigine blood (traced on the maternal side). But, with cultural stigma, many Plains Aborigines and part Plains Aborigines forfeited their identity and were absorbed by "Han" identity. I've been waiting for a book in English to discuss this area and am glad Melissa Brown published this book.

Editorial Review:

The "one China" policy officially supported by the People's Republic of China, the United States, and other countries asserts that there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of it. The debate over whether the people of Taiwan are Chinese or independently Taiwanese is, Melissa J. Brown argues, a matter of identity: Han ethnic identity, Chinese national identity, and the relationship of both of these to the new Taiwanese identity forged in the 1990s. In a unique comparison of ethnographic and historical case studies drawn from both Taiwan and China, Brown's book shows how identity is shaped by social experience--not culture and ancestry, as is commonly claimed in political rhetoric.

Lee Mingwei: The Living Room

Lewis Hyde

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Editorial Review:

A contemporary artist uses ordinary human interactions to create thought-provoking art.

A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America

Richard C. Bush, Michael E. O'Hanlon

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Nobody approaches the objectivity and precision of Bush and O'Hanlon when it comes to analysis of the military and political dimensions of the Taiwan issue. This is one challenge that U.S. policymakers and military strategists cannot afford to get wrong, and scholars cannot afford to ignore."
- Michael Green, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs National Security Council

The Showdown to Come

In 1995, during a heated discussion about that year's Taiwan crisis, a Chinese general remarked to a U.S. diplomat, "In the end, you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei." In a single sentence, he both questioned the level of America's commitment to a longtime ally and threatened massive, perhaps nuclear, retaliation should the United States intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf. In the end, President Clinton sent two aircraft carriers to the region, and China ceased its military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. A decade later, however, China is much stronger, both economically and militarily, and it holds a significant amount of America's national debt. If another Taiwan crisis should occur-as it almost certainly will-would China back down?

In A War Like No Other, you'll discover how little it would take to transform the close cooperation and friendly rivalry between the United States and the People's Republic of China into the first-ever shooting war between two nuclear powers. This chilling look into one possible future offers thoughtful advice to both governments on how to reduce the chances of such a nightmare actually occurring. Two Brookings Institution scholars offer specific prescriptions on how the two nations can improve communications, especially in times of crisis; avoid risky behavior, even when provoked; and, above all, remember which buttons not to push.

The Four Little Dragons: The Spread of Industrialization in East Asia (The Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures)

Ezra F. Vogel

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Editorial Review:

Japan and the four little dragons--Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore--constitute less than 1 percent of the world's land mass and less than 4 percent of the world's population. Yet in the last four decades they have become, with Europe and North America, one of the three great pillars of the modern industrial world order. How did they achieve such a rapid industrial transformation? Why did the four little dragons, dots on the East Asian periphery, gain such Promethean energy at this particular time in history?

Ezra F. Vogel, one of the most widely read scholars on Asian affairs, provides a comprehensive explanation of East Asia's industrial breakthrough. While others have attributed this success to tradition or to national economic policy, Vogel's penetrating analysis illuminates how cultural background interacted with politics, strategy, and situational factors to ignite the greatest burst of sustained economic growth the world has yet seen.

Vogel describes how each of the four little dragons acquired the political stability needed to take advantage of the special opportunities available to would-be industrializers after World War II. He traces how each little dragon devised a structure and a strategy to hasten industrialization and how firms acquired the entrepreneurial skill, capital, and technology to produce internationally competitive goods. Vogel brings masterly insight to the underlying question of why Japan and the little dragons have been so extraordinarily successful in industrializing while other developing countries have not. No other work has pinpointed with such clarity how institutions and cultural practices rooted in the Confucian tradition were adapted to the needs of an industrial society, enabling East Asia to use its special situational advantages to respond to global opportunities.

This is a book that all scholars and lay readers with an interest in Asia will want to read and ponder.

Doctors within Borders: Profession, Ethnicity, and Modernity in Colonial Taiwan

Ming-cheng M. Lo

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Editorial Review:

This book explores Japan's "scientific colonialism" through a careful study of the changing roles of Taiwanese doctors under Japanese colonial rule. By integrating individual stories based on interviews and archival materials with discussions of political and social theories, Ming-cheng Lo unearths the points of convergence for medicine and politics in colonial Taiwan.

Chiang Kai-Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost

Jonathan Fenby

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With a narrative as briskly paced and vividly detailed as an international thriller, this definitive new biography of Chiang Kai-shek masterfully maps the tumultuous political career of nationalist China's Generalissimo as it reevaluates his brave but unfulfilled life. Chiang Kai-shek was one of the most influential world figures of the twentieth century. The leader of the Kuomintang, the nationalist movement in China, by 1928 he had established himself as head of the government in Nanking. While he managed to survive the political storms of the 1930s, and although he was the only Chinese statesman of sufficient stature to attend the Cairo conference with Churchill and Roosevelt during World War II, Chiang's power was continually being undermined by the Japanese on one side and the Chinese Communists on the other. Once Japan met its unequivocal defeat in 1945, civil war again erupted in China, and four years later Mao Zedong claimed victory for the Communists. Featuring pages of photographs, and drawing extensively upon original Chinese sources and accounts by contemporaneous journalists, Jonathan Fenby unfolds a story as fascinating in its conspiratorial intrigues as it is remarkable for its psychological insights.

The Colonial Engineering of Taiwan (Academia Sinica on East Asia)

Hui-yu Car Tsai

Amazon Price: $129.65 List Price: $140.00 Not yet published By: Routledge

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Editorial Review:

This book is concerned with the nature of Japan's colonial administration in Taiwan - developing the concept of "colonial engineering", that is, how Japanese colonial governance restructured the local space of the island, thus contributing to the shaping of an imposed discipline of order in Taiwan. Working from primary sources, the author looks at how a combination of governance technology and social and political grafting was able to shape the Japanese bureaucracy in Taiwan into a disciplined tool for social control. The initial chapters discuss the baojia or hoko system. During the years of Japanese rule in Taiwan, the hoko was fundamental to Japanese control over rural Taiwan.The author explores how the hoko first evolved into the basic infrastructure of colonial local administration and, in the second part of the book, details how the hoko became a vehicle for Japan's wartime mobilization after 1932. Part III examines Japan's wartime administrative reforms, taking wartime Taiwan as a case study for understanding how Japan's colonial engineering functioned during war. The final section of the book looks at how Japanese rule has been framed historically in narrations of wartime experience and how it has come to affect the cultural and political identity of the modern Taiwanese.