Highlights: Recent Episodes
Natalie Tso, Andrew Ryan, RTI
Highlights brings you the most compelling stories, interviews and content from RTI programs that week.
Taiwan beefs up its national defense and Natalie and Itamar discuss Taiwanese diplomacy on this week's Highlights.
Natalie speaks to Jessica Stone on her experience working in Chinese and US state media as well as a discussion over cultural competence.
Natalie speaks to the Belizian ambassador on International Women's Day on this week's Highlights.
Emma takes you to one of Taiwan's most traditional lantern shops on this week's Highlights.
Our own Chris Gorin speaks to Lithuanian Member of Parliament Dovile Sakaliene on this week's Highlights.
Itamar speaks to retired Admiral Lee Hsi-ming about Taiwan's plan to extend its mandatory military service on this week's Highlights.
We tell you about our favorite destinations in Taiwan and more on this week's Highlights.
Natalie talks to former ABC China Correspondent Bill Birtles about the reality of reporting in China on this week's Highlights.
Natalie speaks to an expert about microchips and their importance. This and more on this week's Highlights.
Natalie speaks to renowned Chinese protester Wuer Kaixi on the current protests in China. This and more on this week's Highlights.
Natalie speaks with Professor Lev Nachman about why the DPP lost in last weekend's election.
RTi goes to London for an international broadcasters award show. This and more on this week's Highlights.
Natalie talks to expert Michael Schuman about what Xi's speech at the 20th CPC Congress could tell us about Beijing's plans for Taiwan. This and more on this week's Highlights.
There's no place in the world where people's sense of identity is monitored so closely as Taiwan. The Taiwanese identity is especially strong among young people. To hear from young people themselves, we asked students at at Mingchuan university about how they see their own identity.
We’ve seen alot of global leaders move to deter China from attacking Taiwan lately. In a 60 Minutes interview, US President Joe Biden said the US would send troops to defend Taiwan if China attacked. Stanford University Political Scientist Kharis Templeman, who heads Stanford’s Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific, explains the significance of this remark. The EU Parliament also just passed a resolution expressing solidarity with Taiwan and condemning China’s recent military drills. To tell us about that and a recent meeting of global lawmakers at Taiwan’s estate in Washington DC is Lithuanian MP Dovilė Šakalienė.
Natalie discusses the importance of global support for Taiwan. This and other stories on this week's Highlights.
Stas reports on digital governance in Taiwan, plus other stories in this week's Highlights.
Police say as many as 5,000 Taiwanese people could have been trafficked to Cambodia. Stas spoke to human rights researchers and activists Lee Kaili and Mina Chiang to find out what the victims are suffering.
China conducted unprecedented military drills near Taiwan this past week. What is China trying to achieve through these drills? Natalie spoke with China watcher Bonnie Glaser, the director of the Asia Program at the US's German Marshall Fund.
The threat of war has been on people’s minds. Civil defense classes like those by the Forward Alliance and Spirit of America have been fully booked.
Media reports say US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to visit Taiwan in August. Today, we speak with White House correspondent Jessica Stone about what President Joe Biden’s recent remarks mean for the potential trip.
The word “diplomacy” brings to mind a lot of things: grand embassy buildings, international summits, the UN. But what about Instagram? Facebook? Twitter? These are the tools of modern statecraft. And one organization in Taiwan knows best how to use them.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated last Friday while giving a campaign speech in the city of Nara. People remember Abe fondly in Taiwan, and the country’s top politicians paid their respects at his memorial in Taipei.
Chain drink shops in Taiwan will be required to offer NT$5 discounts to anyone who brings their own cup. Leslie talks to some owners to see what that might mean. Then Stas asks Greenpeace Taiwan spokesperson Hung Sheng-bang if the government’s 2050 net-zero carbon emissions plan is good enough.
Our partners at Voice of America interviewed Americans to find out theirs views towards Taiwan and China. Also, take a trip to beautiful Maokong to learn about traditional Taiwanese tea.
The Grand Hotel is one of Taiwan's most iconic landmarks. No foreign tourists have stayed there for two years now, since Taiwan shut its borders. But this week, Taiwan cut quarantine to just three days. That raises the question: is the Grand Hotel about to welcome foreign tourists again?
Natalie speaks with Ian Easton, the author of "The Final Struggle - Inside China’s Global Strategy", to find out how big a threat to democracy China is.
Taiwan and the US are finally moving forward on a new trade agreement. A new framework was announced Wednesday night. Senior government officials announced a breakthrough in economic ties with Washington on Wednesday: the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade. Top trade negotiator John Deng says he has waited 30 years for this deal. He says he hopes the negotiating platform will help Taiwan and the US build even closer ties. This came after Taiwan’s disappointment however of not being included in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a regional framework led by the US. Stanford University Political Scientist Kharis Templeman tells us why Taiwan was left out.
US President Joe Biden has made global headlines for his remarks on the US defending Taiwan. Biden also elaborated on the US’s one China policy and determination to deter China from attacking Taiwan. Does that mean the US would send troops if China attacked? Stas Butler speaks with Stanford political scientist Kharis Templeman and asks him first if he thinks Biden has been saying YES deliberately.
Taiwan is learning to live with COVID. Now how concerned should we be about the surge in domestic cases? Natalie speaks with National Taiwan University Public Health Professor Chan Chang-chuan (詹長權). He tells us what we can expect in the coming months and why he thinks Taiwan should loosen its quarantine policies.
The Swedish Parliament has approved the name change of their trade office in Taipei to the House of Sweden. What does that mean? The House of Sweden is the iconic building in Washington DC that’s home to the Swedish embassy. Natalie speaks with Boriana Aberg, who recently led a delegation of Swedish parliamentarians to Taiwan. She tells us about the significance of the parliament’s passing of the House of Sweden proposal.
Daily COVID-19 cases have been hitting record highs and that has a lot of people worried. Doctors, though, are telling us not to panic and Taiwan has just begun a rapid test rationing system through pharmacies and public health centers. Now one of our own, Stas Butler, has COVID and is recovering at home.
International travel has taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving parts of the tourism industry time to reflect on how to cut their carbon footprint. Hotels in Taiwan are showing the rest of the world how it’s done.
Sweden sent their first parliamentary delegation to Taiwan this week. One of the leaders of the delegation is MEP Charlie Weimers who authored the EU Parliament’s EU Taiwan Report, which calls for closer ties with Taiwan. Stas Butler spoke with Weimers about their landmark visit.
RTI’s Russian service has expanded its shortwave broadcasts to Ukraine and Russia. Natalie speaks with the head of RTI’s Russian service, Masha Lee. Later, Tomasz Koper speaks with Ukranian Oleg Nevenglovskiy who left his job at the Taipei European School to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
RTI surveys foreigners and locals in Taiwan to see if they'd join an urban defense force for Taiwan. Natalie speaks with a military expert at George Mason University, Professor Michael Hunzeker, who along with a former commander of Taiwan’s armed forces, wrote an article in War on the Rocks calling for a territorial defense force in Taiwan. Tune in to hear why he believes a territorial defense force is what Taiwan needs.
The climate crisis is here. Every corner of the planet is experiencing extraordinary weather patterns. They're causing flooding and cold snaps in some places, and droughts and heat waves in others. How is the climate crisis affecting Taiwan? Stas spoke to two members of the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition, Han-wei Chang and Yen-chi Chen, to find out.
On this episode of Highlights, learn more about the spread of disinformation in relation to the war in Ukraine and also vaccines in Taiwan. Later, you can hear more about the current threat of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan's contribution to supporting Ukrainian refugees.
In honor of International Women's Day, Natalie speaks with Fiona Roan, the first woman to win the Best New Director Award at the Golden Horse Awards, the Oscars for Chinese language films. Later, RTI takes a look into the issues of period poverty and obstacles that women still face in the workplace and beyond.
To find out how people in Ukraine are doing, Natalie speaks with award-winning Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych, who is in Ivano-Frankivsk, where many are taking refuge. Later, Stas and Leslie look at how people in Taiwan are responding to the war.
Natalie speaks with two prominent experts about the Ukraine conflict’s implications for Taiwan. The first guest is Dan Blumenthal, who is the author of The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State and recently wrote in Foreign Policy that Beijing could use Russia’s tactics on Ukraine against Taiwan. Next up is Kharis Templeman, a politicial scientist at Stanford University, who recently wrote an article about why Taiwan is not Ukraine.
On this week's highlights we take you to Taiwan’s indigenous roots and indigineous people tell us about the challenges of preserving their unique identities and culture. Later on, you'll hear more about how Taiwan plans to shorten its quarantine period.
This week's highlights: Taiwan is ending a 10-year-long ban on food imports from Fukushima, Japan, the site of a nuclear meltdown in 2011. Staś speaks with nuclear energy professor Lee Min to better understand the science behind the decision.
Happy Year of the Tiger! In these highlights, we take you to a Year of the Tiger exhibit at Taipei’s famous Dihua St. Later, we hear from people in the US about how they celebrate the Lunar New Year, and also host a blind taste test of Taiwan’s unique Lunar New Year snacks!
Today, we look at a revolutionary trend in farming - vertical farming. Stas Butler visited YesHealth, the company behind Taiwan’s largest vertical farm.
On January 16, hundreds of people marched in central Taipei in support of migrant workers’ rights. The protesters say they want Taiwan’s government to relax its strict rules on switching employers. They say the rules are “exploitative”, and that they’re responsible for creating a form of “modern slave labor.” Staś Butler spoke to one of the organizers of the march, Wu Jing-ru (吳靜如) from the Taiwan International Workers’ Association, to find out more.
Will Taiwan's goal of being a bilingual country by 2030 be possible with more global, bilingual schools in the nation? Find out what some schools are doing to give their students a compettive edge to achieve this standard.
There was a time when it seemed like Han Kuo-yu was always on the news - whether it was when he won the position of Kaohsiung mayor, subsequently won and lost his run for presidency, and later was removed from his Kaohsiung office. Since all that drama, he's been under the radar, but has recently resurfaced with the release of his new book. If you missed all his earlier news, you can't miss this episode of Highlights!
Wang Leehom's personal scandal managed to overtake even the referendum votes as the biggest story of the weekend - so what in the world happened?
On this Highlights episode, Stas Butler speaks with pro and anti nuclear activists about if Taiwan should operate its fourth nuclear power plant. Next, Emma Benack examines an exhibit at the National Theater about the female criminal mind.
Emma Benack visits the National Theater and interviews an artist, Huang Yu-ching, who's presenting an exhibit called "Two Rooms of One's Own" that deals with the #MeToo movement and the pressures that women face in everyday life.
Emma Benack sits down with Director Wang Shi-wei to talk about his latest work, "Masses", a physical performance about the inner psyche of individuals during social movements being performed at Cloud Gate theater. The program "Masses" is one of the programs in the "ARTQUAKE in Autumn" festival of the National Theater and Concert Hall.
Stas Butler speaks with Stanford political scientist Kharis Templeman and NTU Professor Tao Yi-fen about tensions in US-China ties.
Stas Butler talks with Stanford political scientist Kharis Templeman about where President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are going with their Taiwan policies.
Stas Butler spoke with Dr. Ivana Karaskova from the Association for International Affairs to get her perspective on the EU Parliament delagation's visit to Taiwan.
When will Taiwan open up its borders? Well, that's a big question with a lot of potential answers, depending on how you define "open" and also who those borders might be open to.
How do you stop viral rumors, deepfakes and propaganda from ruining a democracy? Ask Taiwan. Staś Butler speaks to Wu Min-hsuan, the co-founder and CEO of Doublethink Lab, to find out what Taiwan does differently.
Last week, Taiwan's labor officials announced that they were raising the country's minimum wage by about 5%. That adjustment is great news for workers in the food and beverage industry, but others say it won't really affect them too much. Staś Butler spoke with NGO worker and activist Roy Ngerng to put the latest wage hike in context.
Staś Butler speaks with political scientist Sung Wen-ti about what Eric Chu's election as the new KMT chair, the party's strengths and weaknesses and what they need to do to win over the public.
It’s the culmination of years of training: three Taiwanese fighter jets performed a safe landing and takeoff on a highway in rural Pingtung County, with none other than President Tsai Ing-wen watching on. Wednesday’s drill is the highlight of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang war games. But behind the carefully rehearsed photo ops, how ready is the military to defend Taiwan? Staś Butler speaks to military analyst Ian Easton to find out.
Stas Butler speaks with Professor Chia C. Wang about the latest discoveries about why dividers may be doing more harm than good in the fight against COVID-19.
Staś Butler speaks with two people, including an American, who were the first to get the local Medigen vaccine.
Why did Team Taiwan win more than twice the Olympic medals than ever before? Find out as the head of Taiwan's Olympic sports scientists, NTNU Professor Shiang Tzyy-yuang, shares his insights.
Find out why China is pulling its ambassador from Lithuania, and why the Baltic country's support for Taiwan's new Taiwanese Representative Office is so bold.
Sports scientist Professor Ho Wei-hua of Taipei University's Sports Intelligence Lab shares why he thinks Taiwan is doing so well at the Olympics and how he trains stars like Kuo Hsing-chun to perfect her form.
Hear about the joys, challenges and sacrifices of modern moms in Taiwan in this speacial Mother's Day segment honoring mothers in Taiwan.
Washington insider Derek Mitchell was a top Pentagon official on Asia policy in the Obama administration. He gives insight into how the Biden administration will deal with China and Taiwan. As president of the National Democratic Institute, he also shares how Taiwan’s democracy and fight against disinformation inspired them to produce the documentary Canary in a Digital Coal Mine.
As China has been making unprecedented military maneuvers in Taiwan’s air space and waters, is China preparing to attack Taiwan? Defense expert at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research in Taipei Dr. Lee Che-chuan explains why he doesn’t think China is ready for war.