Jeff Fellow Stevenson Liu from Vanuatu takes in the
scale of Taiwan's Zhaishan Tunnel.

Jefferson Fellows explore Taiwan's many facets
It’s not often that one gets to visit a national parliament. Or a campus where most of the world’s most advanced microchips are made. Or a former underground supply tunnel for warships. Yet, this is exactly what the East West Center’s Jefferson Fellows experienced this week in Taiwan. The Jefferson Fellows are 12 journalists from the Asia Pacific Region on a study and reporting tour of Honolulu, Manila, and finally Taiwan. I am the Jeffs project coordinator for the East-West Center.

These visits stood out for me:

The Taiwan Fact Check Center hosted the fellows. It is the first fact checking organization operating in Chinese that has been certified by the International Fact Checking Network. Chief Executive Eva Chiu said Taiwan is the most-targeted country when it comes to disinformation. (My friends in Moldova might dispute this). Disinformation, deepfakes, and cheapfakes coming from mainland China threaten to destabilize and undermine Taiwan. That’s why the Fact Check Center promotes media literacy, and shares its fact checking tips with journalists.

The journalists toured Kinmen Island, which lies only 10km from mainland China. Kinmen is part of a group of Taiwan-governed islands, and was the site of intense fighting during the Chinese civil war and later in the 1950’s. We visited Zhaishan Tunnel, which allowed military and coast guard boats to load and unload cargo and personnel without being bombarded. It is no longer in use, but is open as an unusual museum.

 Another highlight was our visit to the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau, where a cluster of manufacturers supply 90% of the world’s most advanced microchips, and a 68% market share of all chip production (Wired). We heard an interesting presentation about the microchip industry, and took a tour of the enormous manufacturing and R&D zone that houses the chip makers and others.

Jeff Fellows at Taiwan's Legislative Yuan (parliament)

Our last official visit was to the Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, similar to  parliament. We met Johnny Chiang, the vice president of the Legislative Yuan, and several of his legislative colleagues. I made a short five minute speech about the Jefferson Fellows program and the East West Center that no doubt set back Taiwanese-U.S. relations by decades. The Jeff journalists then had a chance to pepper the politicians with probing questions about using immigrants in the Taiwanese armed forces; the chances of a Chinese invasion (“very low right now”); the upcoming Trump presidency; and whether Taiwan relies too much on the U.S. (“no.”) 

Other visits included stops at foreign policy think tanks; an organization that manages cross straits relations (the Straits Exchange Foundation); a civil defense organization (Kuma Academy), and the American Institute in Taiwan, the pseudo U.S. embassy in the country.

The week in Taiwan was fascinating, and delicious. I now know why Taipei is listed among the world’s best culinary cities.

Next week, I’ll wrap up my discussion of the Jefferson Fellowships with a few of my own observations.

Never a dull moment for the Jefferson Fellows,
not even on the bus