“We Will Save It Ourselves”: Pariah State Faces the World

We think about Taiwan's dignity in the face of possible war; author Shawna Yang Ryan responds to our piece about informers & transitional justice; plus book club updates

For the past year, the first thing people have asked us upon hearing that we were moving to Taiwan was: Aren’t you worried?

Over dinner, a beloved teacher gifted us 2034, a thriller written by two former American military officers. Spoiler: Taiwan sparks World War III, and multiple cities in the U.S. and China are nuked. Another friend, knowing Michelle’s tendencies, wished her luck with her inevitable hunger strikes. Even our most even-keeled friend sat us down and said, “I know I’ve been supportive of your decision to move, but I’m a bit worried. You guys are the type of people who’d probably get in trouble if the shit really hit the fan.”

It was a summer of troubled looks and furrowed brows, and it’s not hard to understand why. Over the past six months, Taiwan has gained an international visibility unprecedented in our lifetimes, with reports and op-eds on its impending war with China cropping up in most major news outlets. This past week, even John Oliver featured Taiwan in a long s…