This new CSIS translation deserves a very careful read. Among other things, it proposes recruiting retired Taiwanese civil servants, soldiers, and teachers to help cadres simulate governing Taiwan in a special 'Taiwan Governance Experimental Zone'.
interpret.csis.org/translations/s… Unlike the author of an earlier translation in this series, these authors are well-informed about Taiwan. They understand that 'unification forces' in Taiwan are weak and disorganized. They recognize that China's constant military exercises do not intimidate the Taiwanese public.

Taiwan's national archives publishes Chiang Ching-kuo's diaries 1970-1979. They are silent about democratization and depict a hardworking paranoid, insomniac dictator plagued by nighmares. He disliked democracy and family problems troubled him.
udn.com/news/story/665… His attitude toward dissidents hardened after the 1977 Zhongli Incident, which he wrote made him want to commit suicide. After the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, he wrote that he was determined to eradicate dissidents because this was in the interests of the Party-State.

There is a pernicious myth that the benevolent Chiang Ching-kuo gifted democracy to the Taiwanese shortly before his death in 1988. Here he is announcing the end of martial law to Katharine Graham of the Washington Post. A young Ma Ying-jeou is in the background. The truth is that the Taiwanese suffered and fought for their freedom. Here are two relatives of 228 victims holding pictures of their murdered loved ones.

Professor pasuya poiconx of National Huadong University with a wise essay cataloging multiple recent incidents of bigotry in Taiwan against Indigenous Taiwanese, Hakka, women, and disabled people. He thinks an Anti-Discrimination Act is needed.
talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/… Recently, students at Taichung's most prestigious high school put up posters that punned on a common derogatory epithet for Indigenous Taiwanese and sold drinks that purported to have the 'flavor of headhunting expeditions.' Unreported in English media as far as I can tell.

Japanese lawmaker sheds tears as he pays respects to statue of assassinated Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Kaohsiung. The base of statue says ‘Taiwan’s eternal friend’.

news.ltn.com.tw/amp/news/polit… Private funds were raised for the statue, which is the first statue of a Japanese person erected in Taiwan since World War II. The white rock with red characters was donated by the Temple of Heaven in eastern Kaohsiung, which is modeled after the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Paiwan chieftan Bungekaic Garuljigulj (1854-1905). His mother was from the Cilasoaq tribe and his father was Hakka. The Japanese awarded him Order of the Sacred Treasure (瑞宝章).
Another remarkable photo from the Imaginary Taiwan exhibition at the Southern Palace Museum. The Southern Palace Museum also deserves a shout out for making its site available in Cambodian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese as well as the usual subjects. The fusty Northern Branch in Taipei only has English, Korean, and Japanese. Bravo!