Taiwanese Overseas: In Case You Missed It
Taiwan boasts a sizable overseas community. From Thailand to Europe to the U.S., there are Taiwanese living in almost all corners of the world. Today on In Case You Missed It, we take a look at these communities.
Transcript
00:00 Hello and welcome.
00:17 I'm Lesley Leal with news from around Taiwan and the world, in case you missed it.
00:22 Ties between Taiwan and Lithuania are growing.
00:25 The warming relations made headlines in Taiwan, but does Lithuania feel the same way?
00:30 I spoke with two Taiwanese people living in Vilnius to get a first-hand impression.
00:36 Taiwan and Lithuania have been growing closer since 2020, when both countries committed
00:40 to establishing representative offices in each other's territory.
00:45 But for Lala Yeo and Julie Zhu, two Taiwanese women living in Lithuania, bridging the gap
00:50 between the two partners began long before that.
00:53 My husband is Lithuanian, so I met him more than 10 years ago back in Taiwan.
00:58 We were ex-colleagues.
01:00 And after we got married, we had our first baby, he decided that Lithuania is the better
01:04 place to live for longer time, so we moved back here.
01:09 I met my Lithuanian partner back in 2017, and eventually I found a job here and I decided
01:16 to move here.
01:17 A year turned into two, and I stayed on until now.
01:21 It's been five years.
01:22 Lala and Julie experienced first-hand the effects of Taiwan's growing ties with Lithuania.
01:29 And they've noticed changes in how the two countries perceive each other.
01:33 There's definitely better awareness now about Taiwan, and I think vice versa in Taiwan as
01:40 well.
01:41 We hear more about each other in general.
01:45 They got to think about the similarities perhaps in our history, in our political situation
01:50 with our neighbors, and things like that.
01:54 The two say news about Taiwan is important to Lithuanians.
01:58 Recently this semiconductor production corporation, I see it's really big news because for general
02:08 public they were waiting for that.
02:10 They know, okay, why we are pissing China off and what can we get?
02:14 So this news comes up and I see that people are reacting, yes, it's good and it's the
02:20 right thing to do.
02:22 Both women are optimistic about Taiwan and Lithuania's relationship moving forward.
02:28 I think it will just be better, and also I believe that Lithuania is just the first country
02:33 in Europe doing that.
02:35 Now you can see, like Latvia, Estonia, and also other European countries, they do that.
02:40 So I think it will just get better.
02:43 It's sort of taking off in a good way.
02:48 And of course I'm happy to see it go well, as a lasting and mutually beneficial, let's
02:55 say, friendship as such.
02:58 Laila recently received permanent residency in Lithuania, a process that required her
03:03 to learn the local language.
03:05 Julie is pursuing a PhD in Vilnius and often interacts with Lithuanian people.
03:11 Their positive experiences as Taiwanese in Lithuania show just how close the two countries
03:16 have become.
03:18 Also in Lithuania, a chain of stores has been fostering love for a uniquely Taiwanese treat.
03:26 Taiwan and Lithuania are over 8,000 kilometers apart.
03:30 And while ties between the two countries are improving, they're still in early development.
03:34 So you don't expect to see many Taiwanese things in Lithuania and vice versa.
03:38 But not 50 meters from the hotel we're staying at, Taiwan Plus was greeted with a very familiar
03:42 sight, Formosa Tea, a place that serves, you guessed it, Taiwan's national drink, bubble
03:47 tea.
03:48 Formosa Tea opened its first store in 2016 in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.
03:54 Since then, it's expanded to over a dozen stores in five cities.
03:58 Owners Avidis and Jeffrey met while studying in the United States.
04:02 I said, Jeffrey, why don't you come to Lithuania and we do bubble tea?
04:06 Because it's very popular in America, it's popular in the United Kingdom, in some other
04:11 European countries, and there is none in Lithuania.
04:13 So let's do it.
04:15 Jeffrey is the Taiwanese know-how behind the operation.
04:18 When Formosa Tea first started, he insisted on bringing customers an authentic Taiwanese
04:23 experience.
04:25 The store imported both equipment and ingredients from Taiwan.
04:29 But the product still needed to be adjusted to meet Lithuanian tastes.
04:32 At first, we wanted to provide authentic Taiwanese flavors to our local customers.
04:38 But after a while, we found that some customers were able to accept it, but most of them preferred
04:46 the flavor they liked.
04:47 One change they made was introducing alternatives to traditional tapioca pearls.
04:52 Locals found their chewiness a little strange at first.
04:55 Formosa Tea adapted to its surroundings and won over Lithuanian hearts and minds.
05:00 I like the flavors, it's nice, nice and sweet.
05:05 I already know what it is, I liked it last time, so I just bought.
05:11 Now we have loyalty card and come in here, we're open.
05:16 And for Taiwanese living in Lithuania like Laila Yao, Formosa Tea is a great way to share
05:21 their culture with local colleagues and friends.
05:25 So if people want to know what do you have, what kind of Taiwanese, what do Taiwanese
05:29 people eat?
05:30 If it's something like Chinese or something, I usually will say, "Do you know about bubble
05:33 tea?"
05:34 That's from Taiwan, that's the classic thing we have.
05:38 And there's a shop called Formosa, that's from Taiwan.
05:41 Bubble tea has made it big in Lithuania, though with a few tweaks to cater to local taste
05:45 buds.
05:46 But judging by how many Formosa Tea stores there are in the country, it's doing a good
05:49 job.
05:50 And for travelers like me who need a regular dose of bubble tea, it sure hits the spot.
05:57 Leon Lien and Leslie Liao in Vilnius, Lithuania for Taiwan Plus News.
06:02 When you think of a pageant, you may think of talent shows and flashy outfits.
06:07 But winning the Miss Taiwanese American Crown means acting as a cultural ambassador for
06:11 Taiwan in the U.S.
06:17 Not every 19-year-old gets the opportunity to shake hands and greet a head of state.
06:22 But for Tiffany Chang, it was one of her duties as Miss Taiwanese American 2022.
06:27 My name is Tiffany Chang, Zhang Fang Yu, and I currently attend Stanford University, majoring
06:33 in management science and engineering.
06:36 And this past year I served as the Miss Taiwanese American Queen of 2022.
06:40 Tiffany has lived in Los Angeles her entire life.
06:44 But because of her upbringing, she's very in touch with her Taiwanese roots, including
06:49 speaking Taiwanese Hokkien, commonly known as Taiwanese.
06:54 So growing up, I always spoke Taiwanese with my grandma, my grandparents, and I was very
06:59 just in touch with my Taiwanese heritage.
07:02 Being crowned Miss Taiwanese American helped Tiffany gain a deeper appreciation for her
07:08 background.
07:09 We were in the Huntington Beach Parade, seeing a lot of people on the side, like cheering
07:13 for us and being like, "Oh, go Taiwan!
07:15 Stay safe!"
07:16 That was really a testament to how far we've come.
07:19 Every year, the Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater Los Angeles puts on a pageant to select
07:24 the next Miss Taiwanese American.
07:27 The winner of the competition is expected to act as an ambassador for Taiwanese culture
07:32 throughout the year of their tenure.
07:34 The selection process is rigorous.
07:36 In my year, there are 10 finalists.
07:38 And so after that, you go through a seven to eight week training period, training both
07:44 on Saturday and Sunday for about six to eight hours.
07:48 And then you get those seven to eight weeks about, you know, of course, not only the normal
07:51 like things you would think about when you think about when you hear pageant, like catwalk,
07:55 you know, makeup lessons, but most importantly, Taiwanese culture.
07:59 You get history lessons and cultural lessons as well.
08:05 And in her bid to become Miss Taiwanese American, Tiffany built a robot which used infrared
08:10 and AI technology to do a catwalk alongside her.
08:15 But Tiffany's real responsibilities started only after she won the crown.
08:19 My favorite event by far was when President Tsai came to visit Los Angeles.
08:25 And I was able to not only meet her, but of course, be the emcee for her presidential
08:30 banquet.
08:31 And so that was a really once in a lifetime opportunity.
08:34 At a young age, Tiffany took it upon herself to represent Taiwan, a country she wasn't
08:40 even born in, but has come to appreciate and love because of her heritage.
08:45 Programs like the Miss Taiwanese American pageant help American-born Taiwanese not only
08:50 learn more about their roots, but also give them a chance to act as a bridge between the
08:55 two sides.
08:56 Lee Sun-sun and Leslie Liao in Burlingame, California for Taiwan Plus.
09:02 India's border tensions with China have allowed Taiwan to take over as India's main partner
09:07 for learning Mandarin.
09:08 After Beijing's messy withdrawal has created problems Taipei is struggling to solve.
09:13 Stash Butler went to India to find out more.
09:18 Cutting Chinese characters from paper in his New Delhi classroom, Agustya Bose is learning
09:23 Mandarin the hands-on way.
09:26 Study of the language in India has suffered ever since border tensions with China boiled
09:30 over three years ago.
09:31 But with help from his Taiwanese teacher and the app Duolingo, Agustya says he's found
09:36 a passion.
09:37 "I picked up a little from Duolingo and I really enjoyed it, but then Duolingo crashed
09:43 and I couldn't use it for some reason, so I decided to learn Chinese as a third language.
09:51 I enjoy it a lot."
09:53 Agustya's school is at the centre of a country-wide transition.
09:57 As Chinese companies and learning institutes have pulled out of India, Taiwan has moved
10:01 in, offering teachers and resources to schools like this one.
10:05 Facing diplomatic isolation because of China's claim over its territory, Taiwan is using
10:10 soft power tactics like these to build ties with the global power.
10:15 About 65 students at Blue Bell School International learn Mandarin either through textbook or
10:20 hands-on activities.
10:21 They are one of only two schools in New Delhi to be taught by a native Mandarin speaker
10:26 from Taiwan.
10:33 That number does not include private teachers from Taiwan, like Nancy Xiao, who runs the
10:37 Meiyu Chinese Language Centre in the north of Delhi.
10:42 China's withdrawal has allowed her to start using Taiwanese textbooks and offer Taiwan-certified
10:47 tests.
10:48 But with fewer companies in India looking for Mandarin ability, demand for her lessons
10:53 has collapsed.
10:54 "Now it's like online and offline together will be like 50 or 60 students now.
11:00 It's pretty less, like three times lesser than before the pandemic."
11:07 At Blue Bell, students face a different challenge.
11:10 India has dropped Mandarin from the secondary school national curriculum, meaning students
11:14 here won't get a qualification when they graduate, a concern for Taiwanese firms, which rely
11:19 on locals fluent in Mandarin to do business.
11:22 "Without this in between, it's very hard for our people to come to India in large numbers."
11:29 It's a sign of the mixed opportunities India's tensions with China have brought.
11:33 Taiwan has seized the opening to fund Mandarin teaching and build cultural ties.
11:39 But Beijing's withdrawal has disrupted learning for all students, both in public schools and
11:43 private.
11:44 And Taiwan faces a tough task putting together the pieces for its language and trade to thrive.
11:51 Leon Lien, Shivam Pal and Stash Butler in New Delhi for Taiwan Plus.
11:57 Students of Western Classical Opera in East Asia can now go to Thailand to get their fix.
12:02 Joy Sung meets a Taiwan-born opera singer who's been coaching talent in Bangkok to become
12:07 world-class vocalists.
12:11 "Hearing this, you'd think you're in Vienna or Milan.
12:27 But these singers are in fact in Bangkok, Thailand, at Heavenly Voice Nancy's studio,
12:32 run by Taiwanese-born American vocalist Nancy Tsoi-Ping Wei.
12:38 She's been teaching classical voice for almost 30 years at one of Asia's premier music schools,
12:44 Mahidol's College of Music, about an hour from Thailand's capital.
12:48 Her students have gone on to perform in Austria, Japan, France, the U.S. and Italy, just to
12:55 name a few places.
13:00 Nancy was born and raised in Taiwan's central Nantou County, at a time she says when classical
13:06 music wasn't super popular.
13:09 "I grew up in central Taiwan.
13:12 And during that time, in school, if you ask around, not many really studied pursuing classical
13:19 music.
13:20 I learned singing from my father in the car.
13:24 Every driving trip, we were singing through from the first minute until we arrived at
13:28 the destination."
13:30 After completing her bachelor's and master's degrees in the U.S., Nancy moved to Thailand
13:35 with her husband.
13:37 That's where she found her calling, teaching classical voice.
13:40 "This responsibility suddenly hit me.
13:43 I have to do well.
13:45 Many young singers are in my hand."
13:50 Nancy also came to realize that the Thai language actually gave her students a special advantage
13:56 in learning classical western opera.
13:59 "The vowels can go above the letters, below, on the right, on the left.
14:05 And so this interesting sound of Thai language make it very easy to teach German, French,
14:14 Italian, English."
14:16 Nancy's proteges, like these university students, hope to perform on stages around the world
14:22 one day, and perhaps even teach students of their own.
14:26 And nothing would make Nancy prouder than to see her students achieving their dreams
14:31 and sharing their heavenly voices.
14:34 Alex Chen and Joy Sun in Bangkok for Taiwan Plus.
14:44 Thank you for watching In Case You Missed It.
14:46 I'm Leslie Lau.
14:47 Take care and see you next time.
14:48 [MUSIC PLAYING]