Taiwan Studies Center Siena - TSCS

27/08/2026

On the Ghost Day, 普渡, don't forget to add to your reading list "Ghost Town" (鬼地方) by Kevin Chen, 陳思宏, winner of the 2020 Taiwan Literature Award, and now available in the Italian translation. An intriguing story which explores traditions, prejudice, cultural clashes, s*xual identity, family secrets, in an attempt to understand what a ghost is.

27/08/2026

A few pics from yesterday's opening of the exhibition "L'anima dell'inchiostro", 墨魂, an exhibition of Taiwanese traditional art and calligraphy running until September 26 at
Chiachi Wu (Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning) and Natsumi Chen Yu Ling have organized the event and Amb. Vincent Tsai gave a warm welcome to us all (check the comments).

22/08/2026

A concise and yet compelling article about Taiwan’s evolving identity as a defining feature of its politics and cultural expression.
Have a look ⤵️⤵️

Annabel Simpson | Indo-Pacific Fellow Image sourced from Jimmy Liao via PexelsIn recent years, people have come to associate Taiwan with one of two things: bubble tea and military tensions. For years, media coverage has focused on the Taiwan Strait as a military flashpoint and the threats to Taiwan....

20/08/2026

19/08/2026

Ang Lee’s "The Wedding Banquet" (1993) is a romantic comedy about a marriage of convenience gone wrong. In addition to its remarkable commercial success, the film received widespread critical acclaim. At the Berlin International Film Festival, it won the Golden Bear for Best Film, while at the Locarno Film Festival it received the Audience Award. At the Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwan’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, the film won awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director. Finally, at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, "The Wedding Banquet" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Despite being the first Taiwanese film to feature a kiss between two men, it can hardly be described as a “gay-themed movie.” Instead, Ang Lee created a unique comedy about conflicts among national, cultural, individual, and family identities. Perhaps more importantly, the film’s international critical acclaim helped generate government support and incentives for Taiwan’s filmmaking industry.

Enjoy it for free by following the link in the first comment ⤵️⤵️

06/08/2026

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝑨𝒇𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔 (𝑴𝑶𝑭𝑨) 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝑶𝑪 (𝑻𝒂𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒏), 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒊𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑬𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉, 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 10𝒕𝒉 𝑲𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒖𝒎: 2026 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒐-𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒚𝒂𝒕𝒕 𝑻𝒂𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒊 𝒐𝒏 4 𝑨𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕 2026.

The opening remarks were addressed by Foreign 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒂-𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒈, who welcomed distinguished participants Gen Nakatani (IPAC Japan Co-chair), Prime Minister Russell Dlamini of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Michael McCaul, Chairman Emeritus of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Sanna Marin, former Prime Minister of Finland, Chrystia Freeland, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, and 12 other prominent political leaders, parliamentarians, scholars, and experts from nine countries across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, and Latin America.

In his keynote address, 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑳𝒂𝒊 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆 emphasized that Taiwan's security is inseparable from the security of the Indo-Pacific. Referring to China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, he thanked the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China for condemning the legislation and urged democratic partners to work together against transnational repression and to strengthen regional peace and resilience.

Compared with earlier Ketagalan Forums, the 2026 edition moved beyond Taiwan's own security to a broader agenda of democratic resilience. Discussions emphasized stronger 𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 to counter economic coercion, cyber threats, and transnational repression, while promoting 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 and that Taiwan should be viewed not only as a security concern but as an active contributor to 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒐-𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 through technology, economic cooperation, and democratic partnerships.
https://www.ketagalanforum.tw/

𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕

外交部與「財團法人兩岸交流遠景基金會」合辦第9屆「凱達格蘭論壇：2025印太安全對話」已於本（8）月5日傍晚圓滿閉幕，成果豐碩。  本屆論壇由賴清德總統蒞臨開幕式致詞，並邀請英國前首相強生（Boris Johnson）及法國國民....

22/07/2026

Untold Herstory 流麻溝十五號, dir. Zero Chou 周美玲 (2022)

Based on the non-fiction book by Tsao Chin-jung (曹欽榮), Liumagou No. 15: Green Island Girls Team and Others (流麻溝十五號：綠島女生分隊及其他), Zero Chou’s "Untold Herstory" is set in the early 1950s, when the White Terror was in full swing. The film tells the story of the often-overlooked female prisoners who were sent to Green Island’s reform centre, where they performed hard labour and underwent re-education classes.
The film was shot on sets built inside and around Green Island White Terror Memorial Park, i.e. on sites where dissidents were actually held. The attention to detail is impressive, from the reconstructed camps and barracks, to the costuming, to the varying, heavy accents of the prisoners and guards.
Untold Herstory is a veritable cinematic achievement that deserves to be seen: it is accessible to stream globally via TaiwanPlus (link in the first comment).

21/07/2026

We have been spotted on Taiwan's Public Television Service 公共電視 PTS 🫰🏻
Link to the full video in the first comment ⤵️⤵️

13/07/2026

FORMOSA FILES is the most extensive and high-rated Taiwan history podcast. Its hosts, John Ross, an author and publisher, and Eryk Michael Smith, a journalist for international media outlets, use an engaging storytelling and offer a new adventure every week, covering the most diverse topics, from Koxinga to the first s*x change in Taiwan.
Listen and enjoy ⤵️⤵️

Podcast · John Ross and Eryk Michael Smith · Formosa Files is the world's biggest and highest-rated Taiwan history podcast. We use an engaging storytelling format and are non-chronological, meaning every week is a new adventure - and, you can just find a topic that interests you and check out that...

11/07/2026

Donald Trump's First Island Chain doctrine is concentrated, transactional, military-centric, and revives Cold War thinking. But, curiously, Taiwan's role is being de-emphasized. ⤵️⤵️

USPACOM's rebranding marks a new strategy, along with the rise of the “Squad” — the US, Japan, Australia, and the Philippines — to check China's power