[中/EN] In solidarity with migrants facing ICE violence⁠

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As a Taiwanese American, I stand in solidarity with migrants and asylum seekers targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other violent apparatuses of detention and deportation. Our community’s presence in the United States is not incidental—it is the result of layered and often painful migrations shaped by militarism, colonial displacement, authoritarian repression, and aspirations of survival and self-determination. Whether arriving as international students denied…

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NOW CASTING: First-generation Taiwanese immigrants, 60+ years

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"Life Lessons from Ah-Ma and Ah-Gong" is a documentary about first generation Taiwanese immigrants passing on their wisdom, stories, and skills to their grandchildren and the next generation. Click here to see a teaser on the website. From cooking, fishing, and gardening to history, language, and Taiwanese etiquette, the subjects of these lessons will unlock personal histories and deep memories, providing an intimate lens into the early years of a diverse Taiwanese American community pushed and…

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Gathering Taiwanese American Writers at AWP 2024: “I wish I had this community growing up.”

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On Lunar New Year’s eve, we again gathered an expanding cohort of Taiwanese American changemakers in the literary world who’d convened in Kansas City for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference (AWP). Our Year of the Dragon dinner was hosted at Chewology, led by recently James Beard semifinalist nominated-chef Katie Liu-Sung. We were touched by Katie's vision to bring Taiwan to Kansas City, where there are relatively fewer Asian Americans compared to coastal enclaves.…

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Wendy Cheng’s “ISLAND X” is essential reading for Taiwanese Americans

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As editor-in-chief of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, I try to adhere to a level of curatorial prudence and precision of language -- because not every great book must be essential -- but I truly believe that Wendy Cheng's Island X is essential reading for Taiwanese Americans. It is an unprecedented origin story of Taiwanese Americans, lyrically charting not only where we come from but, crucially, why it matters.  In the final chapter, Becoming Taiwanese American, Cheng notes that her book captures…

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“Not in Our Name” – Understanding the Jewish Struggle for Palestine from a Taiwanese American Perspective

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="990"] Ten thousand gather in DC with Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now to Demand Gaza Ceasefire Wednesday October 18, 2023 (Photo from Jewish Voice for Peace Twitter)[/caption] “If they hadn’t taken us, where would we have gone?” I've heard this question, once posed by my uncle in Taiwan, echoed countless times by Jewish and Israeli friends over the years. “Where would we have gone?” “Who would have taken us?” In the wake of World…

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How she built this: sophomore Taliyah Huang invents a Taiwanese-English translation tool to bridge language gaps

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Taiwanese American Taliyah Huang is an engineering student who has built a suite of programs, including BobaWay, a web-based Taiwanese translator. We were excited to interview her about the project and her broader passions.  Hi Taliyah! Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?  My name is Taliyah Huang, and I am a sophomore student studying biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. My parents immigrated from Taiwan, but I was born and raised in…

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New on TaiwanPlus: “Kitchen Remix” presents Taiwanese Food… With a Twist

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Two Taiwanese Americans. 20+ recipes. Taiwanese food as never seen before. In a small kitchen in Taipei, Clarissa Wei and Brandon O’Neal set out to tell the tale of Taiwanese dishes. Equipped with extensive knowledge of culinary history, personal memories of each dish and a deep love for the flavors of Taiwan, the two Taiwanese American chefs are giving global audiences a whole new way to understand Taiwanese food. The format of “Kitchen Remix” is fairly simple: Clarissa leads the…

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Director’s Picks: Ten Taiwan Films that Imagine Taiwanese America

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Filmmakers in Taiwan have always had their sights on the world and not just the nation. For one, the concept of nation in Taiwan is tricky, especially through decades of colonization, American influence, and rapid globalization. When we think of the globalization of Taiwanese cinema, we typically think of the international film festival success of filmmakers like Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, and Tsai Ming-liang. But we can also observe that filmmakers in Taiwan have long travelled abroad to…

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The Roots of Disney’s “American Born Chinese”

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Maybe it's our vantage point from TaiwaneseAmerican.org that allows us to appreciate every product and project - especially a mainstream one like this - as a hard-won triumph, as a member of a lineage where people had doors opened for them, and in turn opened doors for others. As much as "representation" is a buzzy and flashy accomplishment, "opportunity" is its accompanying, more profound feat. We get to celebrate friends who have worked hard, who have overcome doubt and rejection, who have…

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