A gripping, vital account of one man's imprisonment by Taiwan's police state early in the Cold War. In 1954 Tehpen Tsai was arrested by the Kuomintang regime on suspicion of being a Chinese communist agent. After initial weeks-long interrogation near his home he was transferred to a detention facility in Taipei specifically for seditionists and enemy operatives. The evidence against him: two books, one on his shelves at home, and one that another arrestee told police he had seen at Tsai's house. Tsai was not a communist. But in the febrile atmosphere of the early White Terror era in Taiwan that scarcely mattered; the secret police were commonly thought to operate by a rule to "never miss one true criminal, even if a hundred are killed mistakenly." He had just one thing counting in his favour: he had recently returned from a scholarship in the USA, and the Chiang Kai-shek government at the time was sensitive to American attitudes and pressure. In prison he met genuine communists, anti-government activists, intellectuals, and others like him, unlucky people swept up by a tenuous accusation or a chance encounter. One by one his cellmates disappeared, some to the execution grounds, others to Green Island, the notorious political prison off Taiwan's east coast. Tsai was more fortunate. Sentenced to a term of "re-education", he was released in November 1955. Elegy of Sweet Potatoes is a thinly-fictionalized version of Tsai Tehpen's experiences as a political prisoner. Names are changed, dates are fudged, but the narrative here is true to life. A compelling story full of rich description, pathos, and odd moments of humor, it is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the realities of martial law in "Free China".

A gripping, vital account of one man's imprisonment by Taiwan's police state early in the Cold War. In 1954 Tehpen Tsai was arrested by the Kuomintang regime on suspicion of being a Chinese communist agent. After initial weeks-long interrogation near his home he was transferred to a detention facility in Taipei specifically for seditionists and enemy operatives. The evidence against him: two books, one on his shelves at home, and one that another arrestee told police he had seen at Tsai's house. Tsai was not a communist. But in the febrile atmosphere of the early White Terror era in Taiwan that scarcely mattered; the secret police were commonly thought to operate by a rule to "never miss one true criminal, even if a hundred are killed mistakenly." He had just one thing counting in his favour: he had recently returned from a scholarship in the USA, and the Chiang Kai-shek government at the time was sensitive to American attitudes and pressure. In prison he met genuine communists, anti-government activists, intellectuals, and others like him, unlucky people swept up by a tenuous accusation or a chance encounter. One by one his cellmates disappeared, some to the execution grounds, others to Green Island, the notorious political prison off Taiwan's east coast. Tsai was more fortunate. Sentenced to a term of "re-education", he was released in November 1955. Elegy of Sweet Potatoes is a thinly-fictionalized version of Tsai Tehpen's experiences as a political prisoner. Names are changed, dates are fudged, but the narrative here is true to life. A compelling story full of rich description, pathos, and odd moments of humor, it is essential reading for anyone looking to understand the realities of martial law in "Free China".

The United States, the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan have danced on the knife’s edge of war for more than seventy years. A work of sweeping historical vision, A World of Turmoil offers case studies of five critical moments: the end of World War II and the start of the Long Cold War; the almost-nuclear war over the Quemoy Islands in 1954–1955; the détente, deceptions, and denials surrounding the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué; the Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1995–1996; and the rise of postcolonial nationalism in contemporary Taiwan. Diagnosing the communication dispositions that structured these events reveals that leaders in all three nations have fallen back on crippling stereotypes and self-serving denials in their diplomacy. The first communication-based study of its kind, this book merges history, rhetorical criticism, and advocacy in a tour de force of international scholarship. By mapping the history of miscommunication between the United States, China, and Taiwan, this provocative study shows where and how our entwined relationships have gone wrong, clearing the way for renewed dialogue, enhanced trust, and new understandings.

Taiwan—together with India, Japan and South Korea—is one of only four consolidated Asian democracies. Democratizing Taiwan provides the most comprehensive analysis of Taiwan's peaceful democratization including its past violent authoritarian experiences, leadership both within and outside government, popular protest and elections, and constitutional interpretation and amendments. Using extensive field research including the conduct of many interviews with government and party leaders, journalists, academics and a wide variety of citizens over many years as well as substantial research into documents, newspapers and academic research, Professor Jacobs provides many new insights into Taiwan's democratization. He also analyses areas in which Taiwan continues to face difficulties.

Stephen Lee's grandchildren knew him as a humble grocer. Beneath his humble exterior, however, lay one of the most extraordinary stories of the twentieth century. Lee was born in Canton, China in 1902. As a teenager he was sent to live with relatives in San Francisco. He attended college at Iowa State and later transferred to UC Berkeley where he was one of the first Chinese-Americans to receive a degree. The widespread racism of the time prevented Lee from landing a job in his chosen field of finance, so he burned his papers and returned home to China. With the clouds of war gathering, Lee, an anti-communist, found work in the accounting and logistics office of the Cantonese Air Force where he quickly rose to Colonel and comptroller. In 1929, after securing his position, he married a local beauty named Belle and in 1930, his first child, Amy, was born. When the Japanese pushed south from Manchuria in 1936, the Cantonese Air Force was merged with that of Chiang Kai-shek's and Lee was forced to flee with his wife and four children to Hong Kong. There Lee took a job with the Canton Trust Company. On the eve of the bombings at Pearl Harbor, the board of the Canton Trust made the fateful decision to send Lee to Kwelin to set up a new office. After Hong Kong fell to the Japanese, Belle and the children were force to flee on foot to Kwelin, which became a three hundred mile, six-week ordeal of hunger and hardship. In 1943, Kwelin was evacuated and the Lees were once again on the move. Forced to play the part of refugees, the Lees moved up river, eventually landing in the small village of Foo-Luke outside of Chungking. There Stephen was invited to teach accounting at the local university. But tragedy soon struck again when a sudden flood nearly washed the family down the Yangtze River. After the war, the Lees returned to Canton where they found that their home had been converted into an auto repair shop by the Japanese. Undaunted, Belle set about rebuilding it while Stephen helped return the city to civilian rule. By 1948, however, the Communists were bearing down on Canton and Lees were compelled to relocate again. In 1955, the Lees fled for a final time--to America. Back in San Francisco, Lee found that attitudes towards Chinese immigrants had not changed much since he first left there 30 years before. Canton Elegy is a love story, an adventure, and an intimate portrait of one family's struggle to survive. Stephen Jin-Nom Lee, his beautiful wife, Belle, and their four young children, braved famine, flood, corruption, and the devastation of war, on their journey to America. Written so that his grandchildren might one day understand the quiet man who ran the local grocery store, Canton Elegy has all the action of a Hollywood blockbuster. From the 300-mile journey Belle and the children take on foot, to the night when Stephen stands at his window watching Canton burn, Canton Elegy describes events with an artist's sensibility and a poet's heart.

Review There's more wisdom in these pages than in an airlift or convoy of Chinese fortune cookies. John's take on late-night comedians and the news is alone worth the modest price he's charging for opening our eyes and ears to some good 'ol truths from the school of hard knocks. I just wish he'd written this sooner; it might have saved my life. --Bill Moyers --Wipf and Stock Publishers This book is proof that John Hayes is far more interested in saying something true than in saying something agreeable. If you have ever worried about the way your toenails look as you get older-or about how to live with integrity in a world full of scoundrels and a few good friends-you will find companionship in this volume. What sets it apart from others in its genre is Hayes's aversion to sentiment and cliché. Every page of this book is as tart as a pickle. --Barbara Brown Taylor author of Leaving Church and An Altar in the World --Wipf and Stock Publishers I am recommending this slim volume, but with qualifiers. Do not read rapidly. This book consists of only fifty-two pieces, but they are not pieces; each one is whole and complete. I recommend one a day. But fast or slow, you'll be seduced. Like philosophy? Plato is here but he often sounds like an Alabama farmer. Like poetry? Some of these lines soar, but be prepared to land in the old cat's litter box. Like old maxims? They are here, but John may play the flip side, which is also true. As C. H. Dodd said of Jesus' parables, these musings will 'tease your mind into active thought.' Enjoy. --Fred Craddock Bandy Professor Emeritus, Emory University --Wipf and Stock Publishers About the Author John H. Hayes is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at Emory University's Candler School of Theology. He is also the author of Understanding the Psalms and coauthor of A History of Ancient Israel and Judah, 2nd ed., and A New Chronology for the Kings of Israel and Judah.

A young woman born as her father goes missing during the 1947 uprising in Taipei describes his homecoming a decade later and how he unwittingly drew her into the uneasy and dangerous political atmosphere of the times.

" How Taiwan can overcome internal stresses and the threat from China Taiwan was a poster child for the “third wave” of global democratization in the 1980s. It was the first Chinese society to make the transition todemocracy, and it did so gradually and peacefully. But Taiwan today faces a host of internal issues, starting with the aging of society and the resulting intergenerational conflicts over spending priorities. China's long-term threat to incorporate the island on terms similar to those used for Hong Kong exacerbates the island's home-grown problems. Taiwan remains heavily dependent on the United States for its security, but it must use its own resources to cope with Beijing's constant intimidation and pressure. How Taiwan responds to the internal and external challenges it faces—and what the United States and other outside powers do to help—will determine whether it is able to stand its ground against China's ambitions. The book explores the broad range of issues and policy choices Taiwan confronts and offers suggestions both for what Taiwan can do to help itself and what the United States should do to improve Taiwan's chances of success. "