Customer Reviews

Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan

5 star:		(4)
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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Forbidden Nation offers a right-sized introduction to the ill-known and often tortuous history of Formosa, or Taiwan. Plagued by a geographical location that for centuries put the small island at the intersection of big powers, Taiwan is the quasi-perfect laboratory experiment in colonialism, nationhood, and independence. For readers who are interested in getting the seeds of understanding of how Taiwan became what it is today, this is a book to be recommended. The first section, which deals with the pre-1900 years, is quite informative, as is the section on the Japanese colonialism of the island and the impact that this had on social and agricultural development. The same could be said about the author's treatment of the Chiang Kai-shek era. The book, however, could have benefited from added attention to the "White Terror," which is briefly mentioned, and the suffering that the Taiwanese people went through under Chiang's authoritarian rule.

There is no doubt as to the author's political allegiance, and throughout the book the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is painted under a far more favorable light than the Nationalist Party (KMT), the party that Chiang exported to Taiwan after he "lost" to the Communists in China in 1949 and which, until 2000, had ruled the island. The author's treatment of the transition from the ironfisted KMT rule towards democracy and liberalization, though condensed, is effective. There is no question, either, of the author's love for Taiwan and its people, or of his fascination with his subject.

Where the book is weaker is in its description of the Sino-Taiwanese political complexities, which always loom in the background but are never tackled directly. This gives the impression that somehow contemporary Taiwan can be observed in isolation of its giant, and at times belligerent, neighbor. As a consequence, while Forbidden Nation does an apt job of explaining Taiwan up to the defeat of the KMT at the hands of the DPP in 2000, readers who are interested in learning more about the dynamics that currently define the island and the concept of nationhood (in Taiwan and elsewhere), will have to look elsewhere. For this, former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui's memoir, The Road to Democracy (Tokyo: PHP, 1999), and Richard Bush's Untying the Knot (Washington: Brookings, 2005), are strongly recommended readings.

As an initial map to understanding this reviewer's newly-adopted country, Forbidden Nation was unquestionably a welcome read.

This review came from the Taipei Times
5 Feb 2006
By Bradley Winterton

A warm welcome is due to a particularly fine book on our island home. It's subtitled A History of Taiwan, and its central chapters do indeed survey the island's paradoxical history in the accustomed manner, though with exceptional clarity. But the greatest strength of Forbidden Nation lies in its treatment of Taiwan's current situation, both internally and as seen from an international perspective.

The book opens with an account of the shooting incident in Tainan on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, and Jonathan Manthorpe's qualities are immediately apparent. He's meticulous but clear-headed, with both the wood and the trees presented in sharp focus. On the one hand Taiwan's media showed itself "scandal and rumor-obsessed," on the other, US forensic expert Henry Lee was "unable to say conclusively that the assassination attempt had not been staged." Few could fault his presentation of the facts, but at the same time he manages to offer a very balanced and fair-minded assessment of this much-analyzed affair.

Then comes the island story, and again the sanity and fairness of the account leaps at you from the page. Everywhere you find the same virtues, displayed in careful yet concise analysis of the pheno-mena, whether it's China's Taiping rebellion or the case of the 18th century impostor George Psalman-azar, who claimed to come from "Formosa."

Most readers of this news-paper will probably be familiar with much of what Manthorpe has to say, with interest inevitably centering on which side he is going to come down on when it comes to the big question of "renegade province" or "de facto independence." Here this author doesn't disappoint. It can be fairly stated that he is a firm opponent of China's claims to hegemony. But nevertheless he is also at pains to point out that Taiwan's very geographical position makes it unavoidably and inextricably vulnerable to the claims of neighboring powers.

A good example of this author's combination of detail and balance comes with the treatment of the life of Chiang Ching-kuo (½±¸g°ê). You know at once that this will be a test case because Manthorpe opens by saying some Taiwanese loathe his name whereas others fete him to the skies. This, you sense, is just the kind of situation the author relishes. So he proceeds with his account, and the result is that you see Chiang as if in a full-length portrait of some Renaissance prince -- opportunistic and Machiavellian on the one hand, but the man who nevertheless shepherded Taiwan into the democratic fold, from whatever personal motives, on the other.

When it comes to the historical basis for China's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, Manthorpe does not dodge giving his opinion. There's no question that China ever truly ruled the island, he asserts. It's true that prior to the Japanese takeover in 1895 the Qing Dynasty did operate rule of a kind, but this was sporadic, contested, and -- here Manthorpe plays one of his trump cards -- in essence only over the western coastal plain. This is undoubtedly the case. You only have to look at the main map in John Davidson's magisterial tome The Island of Formosa Past and Present, published in 1903, to see that even under Japanese rule the east coast, and the mountains that drop down to it, are labeled "Savage District," in contradis-tinction to the eastern "Territory under actual Japanese adminis-tration." That the situation before the Japanese arrived was little different can't be doubted. And this eastern no-go region on Davidson' s map constitutes some 55 percent to 60 percent of Taiwan's surface area.

The handover of Taiwan to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by the international community in 1945 was, Manthorpe argues, in essence illegal. This is probably this book's most original point. "China's claim to own Taiwan and its citizens is based on historically frail arguments and outdated legal concepts," he writes. But this is no partisan anti-Beijing, pro-DPP account of Taiwan's history and current situation. Instead, it's a carefully researched and judicious analysis. In rejecting China's histor-ical claims, therefore, the book deserves to be attended to closely. Clarity and justice, not anti-China rhetoric, are Manthorpe's strongest suits.

The same measured approach is found in his treatment of KMT one-party rule. "It must be acknow-ledged ... that the leavening of economic and social development promoted by the [KMT] in the later years of their exclusive rule made the party's style more akin to strict Chinese paternalism than pure totalitarianism," he writes. On the other hand the Chen administration, in promoting Taiwanese consciousness, has acted "not always wisely."

Nonetheless, this book' s funda-mental position is strongly and unambiguously pro-Taiwanese. "The only people who have established sovereignty over Taiwan are the Taiwanese, no one else ... They do not see why they should be expected to give up their current well-established independence, based on democracy and a vibrant market economy, as a pre-condition for talks with a despotic and repressive regime that has little evident political legitimacy beyond the use of force on its own people ... They have only recently extricated themselves from the coils of the corrupt and dictatorial one-party [KMT] state, and see no reason to jump into the arms of another one, the Communist Party of China."

The topics covered by Manthorpe together constitute a minefield, and yet he tip-toes his way through them with great intelligence and discernment. I have by no means read all the recent English-language books analyzing Taiwan's situation. Even so, if asked to recommend a single volume to a student new to Taiwanese affairs, something that would give both a balanced and a comprehensive account of the state of play here both past and present, Forbidden Nation would be the one I would opt for.

Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan, by Jonathan Manthorpe, is an insightful study not only of a country, but the peculiar circumstances leading up to its peculiar contemporary existence. The author starts with a look at Taiwan's March 2004 election, examining the fallout from the assassination attempt on President Chen Shuibian. Chen's injury was a violent exclamation point to what had been a very contentious campaign. Perhaps the author chose to focus on this episode as a means of showing how passionate the Taiwanese are about politics. While an attempted assassination far exceeds the bounds of proper decorum when politicking, the act may have been emblematic of Taiwanese perceptions of what was at stake in their society. Add that pivotable moment to a host of others and what unfolds is a comprehensive history of strife, survival, prosperity and ambiguity. Manthorpe backtracks from the travails of present Taiwanese events, providing in subsequent chapters a history of the island from its prehistoric settlement by early humans to the 2004 elections.

In relating the history of Taiwan, Manthorpe shows how China's claim to the island holds as much substance as its claim (if it has one)to the officially recognized sovereign nations of Southeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula. What is clarified in the book is Taiwan's role as a convergence point for an intersecting host of people, interests and ideologies. Cold War imperatives produced a dichotomous world view among American policy makers. The world was split between Communist and the so-called Free World. That dichotomy extended to China and Taiwan, with the repressive and corrupt Kuomintang in Taiwan standing vigilant against the Totalitarian hordes of mainland China.

Manthorpe highlights the looming threat of an increasingly assertive China. However, he understands that the Kuomintang, dominated by mainlanders, was little more than a colonial master lording it over the native Taiwanese population. It is the native population that Manthorpe brings attention to, driving home the point that native Taiwanese were oppressed or threatened by all parties, Ming and Manchu dynasts, Japanese, Communist and Kuomintang. He also covers America's schizophrenic relations with the island; on one hand, supporting it with rhetoric and weapons, on the other, courting China at the expense of Taiwan's status as a UN recognized nation.

Very recently has Taiwan become a true democracy. However aggressive its politics may be, however many vestigial shackles from its martial law days it must shed, it will be a tragedy of monumental proportions if the shining light of Taiwan's democracy were to be blotted out beneath the shadow of mainland tyranny. Manthorpe presents the Chinese threat in stark relief. China's military buildup shows no sign of abating, niether will it likely soften its position on Taiwan, which it considers to be a wayward province.

For China, Taiwan's submission to its authority is non-negotiable. For Taiwan, unification is equally out of the question. For now, the United States is committed to protecting Taiwan. But, Manthorpe's view of U.S. protection is pessimistic. How long will that commitment remain in place? As long as it is in America's interest, he suggests. Manthorpe offers no prospects for a happy ending in Taiwan's ongoing saga. Of course, he does not does not offer a sad one either. Taiwan still has a rough road to travel as it navigates between an enemy that wishes it snuffed out of existence and "friends" that keep it from taking its place in the community of nations. Forbidden Nation is as much an indictment of Taiwan's treatment on the world stage as it is a well laid out history.

As someone who plans on spending some time in Taiwan in the near future, I was interested to learn more about its history. I found this book to be a good overview, and it held my attention much more closely than I had expected. I learned some things that I had never suspected about Taiwan's influential history as a focal point of East Asian sea trade (and piracy!).

Some reviewers have noted that this book tends to be selective in its focus, giving much more time to ancient history than to modern events (especially recent). This is a valid criticism, perhaps, but personally I enjoyed the historical narrative of pirate kings, wars, and the mysterious mountainous interior, as opposed to the endless modern political debates.

-The bottom line:
For someone seeking an in-depth analysis of Taiwan's modern status as a nation (or not) and relationship to China, there are other works that focus on that specifically. But if you want a good comprehensive understanding of the forces and events that have shaped Taiwan and its people throughout the ages, I can't think of a better read.

Forbidden Nation, by Manthorpe offers a condensed look at the history of the Taiwan, ranging from its physical formation and theories over how it was originally peopled, up to the modern day political landscape.

Within 300 pages, Manthorpe paints a rich guide to highly politicized issue of Taiwanese identity, weaving together aboriginal, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. The bias in Manthorpe's writing is fairly evident, heavily in favor of the DPP over the KMT in modern era politics, and refusing to pull any punches regarding how the KMT establishes itself in Taiwan.

Inevitably, such a brief guide to such an extensive history will suffer from glossing over some important subjects, and it seems that Manthorpe spends little too much time in ancient history, and chooses to focus on episodes of significance (such as the leadup to 1985 Japanese occupation, 1949 KMT retreat, and 2004 election). Additionally, each chapter appears as if it was written independently of the others, and Manthorpe often repeats facts. Whether this is design or flaw, I do not know, but each chapter of the book can be pulled out and read fairly well on its own.

Overall, the book offers a concise yet effective overview of the complicated history of a little yet important island in the Pacific.

Manthorpe has filled a vital need, writing a concise, highly readable history of Taiwan and its Chinese inhabitants. Although he does discuss the aboriginal tribes in the early chapters and touches upon their interactions with the various settlers, invaders and would-be exploiters, be they Chinese, Japanese or Westerners, the main focus of the book is Chinese people who started moving to Taiwan 400+ years ago and their relationship with mainland China. Manthorpe begins the book with the 2004 assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian, and then moves back in time to the first peoples traveling to Taiwan in prehistoric times. The book quickly jumps to the seventeenth century and progresses through Dutch Rule, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, the Japanese occupation, return to Nationalist Chinese rule, and bringing up to the present and the blossoming of Taiwan's democracy. It is a roller coaster of events, and Manthorpe ties in the happenings on Taiwan with the relevant activities in the rest of the world. Although written for a popular audience, the author has included a comprehensive bibliography and footnotes for someone who wants to explore any part of the history in greater detail. There are only 2 aspects that detract from the story. Manthorpe strongly supports Taiwan's independence. Although there are many arguments for independence (as well as many against), they tortured logic that he sometimes employs greatly weakens the argument. For example, because the Qing dynasty only ruled over the western plains, and ignored the mountainous aboriginal tribes and their territory, he argues that this part of the island was not ever part of Imperial China. They may have been left alone, but these tribes were not exactly treated as a sovereign kingdom either. Another minus is that this is the typical great men and wars view of history. The reader does not get much perspective of what it would be like as a common person to be around during these times. Nevertheless, Manthorpe has produced a book that reveals the history of Taiwan and illuminates the complexity of the political issues surrounding Taiwan's relationship to mainland China and, indeed, the rest of the world.

I agree with most of the other reviewers above here that this book is fast, effective and fairly thorough.I bought this book because I wanted to understand Taiwan in its context besides merely the Chinese influence we all know so much about. For this purpose, the book is splendid!

My criticism - and why I felt obliged to give no more than three stars - is that it is a self-professed history of Taiwan. In dealing with historical events, however, it is a politically charged book. This makes for a tough read for someone who wants to attempt an objective view of what currently takes place between Taiwan and China. Manthorpe intelligently makes use of conventions in international politics to justify Taiwanese independence just as he makes use of emerging studies of ethnicity to describe Taiwan as unique - that is, in almost no way Chinese. But rather than inspire the reader to draw conclusions from this "evidence", Manthorpe clearly wants to steer the reader in a particular direction.

If you are searching for a pro-Taiwan take on the current issues, you have found the right book. Manthorpe is lively in his prose, and it is not hard to turn pages. However, if you are a historian or student of international politics in general, you should look to another history of Taiwan.

I've never read a better history to acquaint myself with the island of my birth. "Forbidden Nation" made me understand I am Taiwanese, even if my father had come from the mainland to the island as a refugee student after WWII. A fascinating guide to a contentious people whose character and fate are largely shaped by the island's position at the crossroad of cultures.

I did not know much on Taiwan, so I was keen to read about it when I got a copy of this book.

Taiwan, unfortunately has been a battle zone for hundred years for major powers. Its history of Taiwan is often intertwined with the history of these powers.

I particularly liked his study of the 1600 to 1895. It gave me a feel of how the Taiwan's history moved between being a European colony, an independent state and a Chinese province

I was confused over his treatment during the early 1900s by Japan which despite his misgivings on much the Japanese did, the writer feels were an overall benefit. It seems to conflict with other books, I have read on Japanese rule being extremely harsh. However, it does appear that much of the drive that Taiwan has today, comes from this era in their history.

Much of this feeling of the benefits for Taiwan of Japanese rule, that the writer and many in Taiwan have was because the initial rule by the Kuomintang was a major step backward. Then the writer discusses the rule of the Kuomintang, so negatively that I wondered why Taiwan under Kuomintang did later became successful. Maybe he is too negative here. As a Taiwan nationalist, he has good reasons to reject their rule. Still faced at the end of their rule the Kuomintang were faced by a choice, either democratise Taiwan and give it a Taiwanise identity and so some legitimacy or see Taiwan forced to go under China's domination. To me, they acted intelligently by picking the former.

What the book did give me was a feel of how Taiwan's national and ethnic identity depends much on who is in control and how a country's history can be manipulated by historians and politicians which is the writer's point.

Lastly, as Taiwan is a very controversial subject, I did appreciate that the writer immediately set forward his political views on the subject. So saving me the trouble of trying to figure them out from his writings. I think he made a very good effort of being fair despite his strong views that Taiwan is separate from China.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone trying to learn about Taiwan's history.

This is a great book about Taiwan history. The author has sharp observation and indepth knowledge of the history of Taiwan. A valuable reference.