Imagine you’re an Allied soldier in the Pacific during WWII. You’re captured by the Japanese, survive brutal conditions as a POW, and the dangerous voyage in a “hell ship” to Japan, where you endure more years of captivity. Finally, in August 1945, the war ends. You’re freed, ready to go home. But there will be no happy ending.

Some transport planes and ships never make their destination, including a B-24 carrying 20 former POWs, which crashes into a 3,496-meter peak in Taiwan’s southern Central Mountain Range during a typhoon. Compounding the sadness, 26 members of a team made up of Japanese, Taiwanese, and Indigenous people die in a rescue/retrieval attempt.

This once little-known story was featured in Season Two of Formosa Files. In 2025, however – the 80th anniversary – many news organizations featured stories marking the event. Taiwan President Lai offered a moving tribute in a Facebook post, which in part read, “Eighty years ago, a group of people, without regard to nationality, blood, or side in the war, risked their lives to save others.”

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Bargirls, bar fights, beer, and bong hits – yes, those topics are covered, but this interview features much more than salacious tales. TC Brown, who first came here at the age of 18, served in the U.S. Air Force as a police officer – or “Sky Cop” – at the famous CCK Air Base in Taichung during the Vietnam War era. Brown’s recent book, Made in Taiwan, is a wonderfully honest memoir; an important first-hand account of his five-year deployment and a glimpse into a radically different Taiwan, and he’s a great storyteller… as you will hear.

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With sprawling 1,750-acre grounds and a record-setting 12,000-foot runway, CCK stood as America’s most significant Taiwan base during the Vietnam War. At times hosting as many as 8,000 U.S. troops, CCK was a vital airpower logistics hub. From its prime spot near Taichung, CCK orchestrated major Southeast Asian airlift missions, including iconic long-range C‑130 flights.

In this week’s episode, we focus on two “inside story” books, the best of which is Made in Taiwan: A Naïve American’s Chaotic Journey to Manhood in an Exotic Culture During Radical Times – by TC Brown, a former U.S. Air Force police officer. Brown’s book is full of stories about the gritty realities connected to Taiwan’s forgotten Vietnam War-era American stronghold: from falling in love with bargirls to racial tensions and marijuana smuggling. And, we’re happy to say the author will be chatting with us next week.

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Long before 1988, Taiwan’s beauty pageants had been mired in rumors — winners accused of marrying into political dynasties, whispers of contests doubling as “wife buffets” for the elite, and government crackdowns on such events being too frivolous in austere times.

Even beauty standards themselves were contested as Western pageants favored tall frames and bold features, while traditional Chinese ideals prized delicacy, modesty, and the “melon-seed face.” By the time Miss Universe came to Taipei, the stage was set for both spectacle and controversy.

Yet for Taiwan’s government, the payoff was irresistible. Hosting Miss Universe meant sixteen minutes of global airtime to present the Republic of China’s culture, heritage, and landmarks from Taroko Gorge to Yehliu’s Queen’s Head. For a country fighting for recognition, this beauty show was also showtime for “Free China.”

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From Chiang Kai-shek’s nuclear ambitions to the fallout from Chernobyl and Fukushima, Taiwan’s nuclear story has always been controversial. The ROC once came within months of being nuclear-bomb ready, but today, fission is gone from even civilian atomic power generation. This Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, voters face a radioactive referendum. The core question?

Whether to restart the recently decommissioned Ma’anshan Nuclear Power Plant 馬鞍山核能發電廠 in Kenting, Pingtung County. After years of splitting atoms over this hot topic, a critical mass is forming in a debate that may reveal just how divided the island remains on atomic energy. Join us as we explore the chain-reaction politics of Taiwan’s nuclear dilemma and the referendum which may trigger a U-turn on uranium.

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This episode was released on August 15th, 2025, exactly 80 years after the Empire of Japan unconditionally surrendered to the Allies following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, we bring you a largely forgotten story.

In 1944, Japan launched its biggest land campaign of the war. It was called “Operation Ichi-Go (Operation #1)” – a massive push through China with half a million troops. It shattered Chiang Kai-shek’s armies, changed Allied strategy, and helped set the stage for the ROC’s retreat to Taiwan.

But the spark for this offensive began not on a battlefield in China, but in what’s today Hsinchu, Taiwan. This “big picture” episode has surprise U.S. bombing raids, brutal battles, Roosevelt’s strategy meetings in Hawaii, the collapse of China’s wartime economy, and lots more twists and turns that would lead to Mao Zedong proclaiming the People’s Republic of China in 1949 – and the Republic of China retreating to Taiwan.

In the summer of 1972, Chiang Kai-shek vanished. He missed Double Ten parades. However, Madame Chiang (Soong Mei-ling), and the step-son she loathed (future president Chiang Ching-kuo) carried on as if all was well. There were no press leaks as the president of the Republic of China lay in a coma for six months.

In this episode of Formosa Files, we uncover the cover-up, and tell you about an odd dinner where medical staff waited to pounce and revive the aging dictator. Plus, we meet Jeanette Kung: a cigar-smoking, men’s clothing enthusiast who might today be a gay icon of some kind, except for the fact that she possessed an…um…“challenging personality.”

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Supreme Court judges, bus conductors, chemists, even radio stars — in this episode, we look at how women were making their mark in 1960s Taiwan. Our source is a 1963 issue of the Free China Review, published in the peak “Free China” years, when most of the so‑called “Taiwanese” women featured were actually from China. Still, even in this repressive period, you could argue women here had more chances to lead, earn, and succeed than many of their peers in the West.

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