Beyond the Headlines: Experiencing Taiwan

On a bus ride to the coast of Kinmen Island, Taiwan, second-year graduate student Kobe Young asked the driver the million dollar question: how do you feel about those who live in mainland China?

Kinmen Island was at the center of armed conflict between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan in 1954 and 1958, when the PRC bombarded the island. Kobe and the rest of his 18-student cohort studying Taiwan’s resilience in the face of growing coercion from China’s military, also learned that the island would be a major target in Chinese invasion of Taiwan, given its proximity to the mainland.

Kobe said he was surprised when the bus driver made it seem like “they are almost friends.”

“A lot of them will go to hospitals on the mainland, or mainlanders will come to Kinmen to live, do commerce and go back,” Kobe said. “So they are very interdependent, even though in classes we hear that these are two mortal enemies that will never have any feelings of friendship between each other.”

Kobe, who studied Chinese language and culture in his undergrad and is exploring the international security implications of China-Taiwan relations during his graduate studies, said while his classes promoted an idea of mutual animosity between the Chinese and Taiwanese, his experiences in Taiwan reflected the opposite.

He said while people in Taipei may be concerned about China’s military presence, people in other parts of Taiwan have a closer relationship with mainland China due to personal and economic ties.

“They regularly talk about having families in China and vice versa,” Kobe said. “It’s really refreshing to hear that even though we hear in class that these two countries will never be friends or have a good relationship, they kind of already do.”

Kobe said representatives of the CSBC Corporation, a shipbuilding company in Kaohsiung, spoke about how they had to balance both Taiwan’s military and economic needs when building ships by the STAP cohort met them as a part of their program. He said the representatives explained that the CSBC Corporation builds both military and commercial ships, but most of their work focuses on trade.

“It was really refreshing to hear a diverse set of perspectives across the island,” Kobe said.

For people reading this blog and considering a STAP, Kobe said one thing: “Do it!”

He said students don’t have to worry about being a “master of foreign travel” to get the most out of the experience, as the program organizers handle the planning for you. He also said in addition to meeting new people, making new friends and the academic experience, STAPs allow you to broaden your perspective on pressing issues in international affairs.