Ep. 321 | The History of Taiwan (Part 12)

Another barnburner of an episode here in Part 12. The 1960s and 70s witnessed a lot of turbulence in Taiwan. Following the Sino-Soviet Split, Chiang Kai-shek had a funny feeling his U.S. ally was going to try to make hay of this opportunity. Facing an uncertain future Chiang front-burner'd economic reform. As things gather steam throughout the 1970s, a middle class emerges and grows. Taiwan was moving full speed ahead in the direction of becoming one of the Four Asian Tiger economies. Chiang knew the knock on the door was coming sooner or later.

December 1969 he is told by the US ambassador the US will end things with the ROC in favor of recognizing the PRC. That created a very complicated and sensitive situation. The KMT starts grooming more native Taiwanese and carries out aggressive outreach. And we'll close off with the death of Chiang in April 1975.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Chén Chéng	陈诚	1898-1965, ROC military leader and one of the main army commanders during the Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. Alsio served as governor of Taiwan, vice-president of the ROC from 1954-1965 and premier from 1958-1963
Jiǎng Jīngguó	蒋经国	1910-1988, Mostly written as Chiang Ching-kuo, he was the son of Chiang Kai-shek and served as president of the ROC from 1978-1988 and premier from 1972-1978
Yán Jiāgàn	严家淦	C.K. Yen
Qīng	清朝	China's fibal imperial dynasty which lasted 1644-1912
Liú Míngchuán	刘铭传	Taiwan's first governor during the Qing. He served from 1884-1891. Besides his past military service, Liu is remembered for his efforts in modernizing Taiwan during his tenure as governor, and several institutions have been given his name, including Ming Chuan University in Taipei.
Léi Zhèn	雷震	1897-1979, Chinese politician and dissident who pioneered the cause for democracy in Taiwan
Zhèjiāng	浙江	Coastal province in China. Hangzhou is the capital
Hú Shì	胡适	1891-1962, diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician
Zìyóu Zhōngguó Bànyuèkān	自由中国半月刊	Free China Fortnightly
Zhōngguó Mínzhǔ Dǎng	中国民主党	China Democratic Party
Yǐ Dǎng Zhì Guó	以党治国	One Party rules the state
Bó Yáng / Guō Dìngshēng	柏杨 / 郭定生	He was another mainlander from Kāifēng who escaped to Taiwan after 1949. In academic and intellectual circles Bó Yáng had achieved great renown as a historian, philosopher, and literary figure throughout the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s.
Zhōnghuá Rìbào	中國日報	The China Daily
Quánguó Jūnmín Tóngbāomén	全国军民同胞们	Fellow soldiers and countrymen
Chǒulòu de Zhōngguórén	丑陋的中国人	The Ugly Chinaman
Dǎngwài	党外	a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s.
Dèng Xiǎopíng	邓小平	1904-1997, revolutionary leader, military commander, statesman, reformer who served as parampount leader in China from December 1978-November 1989. He is revered by many as "The Architect of Modern China"
Shēnzhēn, Zhūhǎi and Xiàmén	深圳，珠海，厦门	The three Special Economic Zones of Shenzhen, Zhuhai (in Guangdong) and Xiamen (Fujian)
Táiwān Qíjī	台湾奇迹	Taiwan Miracle.
Zhōu Ēnlái	周恩来	1898-1976, Chinese statesman, diplomat, revolutionary and Premier of the PRC from the nation's founding till his death in 1976
Táiwān Wèntǐ	台湾问题	The "Taiwan Problem" of how to handle the matter of Taiwan's political fugure
Prime Minister Tanaka	田中 角栄	Tanaka Kakuei, 1918-1993, Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan from 1972-1974
Péng Míngmǐn	彭明敏	1923-2022, noted democracy activist, advocate of Taiwan Independence.
Roger Xiè Cōngmǐn	谢聪敏	Roger Hsieh, 1934-2019, Taiwanese politician and colleague of Peng Mingmin
Diàoyú / Diàoyútái Islands	钓鱼/钓鱼台	Also known as the Senkaku Islands, an island Chain in the East China Sea
Shí Dà Jiànshè	十大建設	The Ten Major Construction Projects
Qīngmíng	清明节	The Gravesweeping or Qingming Holiday. It falls on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either April 4, 5 or 6 in any given year

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