When Japan took control of Taiwan in 1895, it inherited a financial mess: a chaotic mix of chopped silver, copper cash, and foreign coins. The new colony also cost far more to subdue and administer than it brought in. Yet during that demanding first decade, able administrators such as Gotō Shinpei turned things around, bringing monetary order and eventual profitability.

2025 recaps show how tightly streaming data is now woven into the way people understand their own media habits. For the platforms, they are also powerful annual marketing campaigns. For users, they have become a kind of digital diary of what they listened to, watched, and talked about throughout the year.

We continue with our serialization of Taiwan in 100 Books and find out what became of George Psalmanazar, a young Frenchman claiming to be a native of Formosa. He was the author of An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa (1704), one of history’s greatest literary hoaxes.

“Watermelon farmers are suspected of using chicken manure as fertilizer, resulting in stench and attracting flies. The flies affect traditional banquets held by the Paiwan communities there.”

City diplomacy offers Taiwan a strategic solution to stay in the game, by creating a subnational platform that allows foreign countries to circumvent the concerns of formally recognizing Taiwan’s statehood. Such efforts by the city of Kaohsiung provide a great example as to why Taiwan should leverage city diplomacy to advance its foreign policy goals.

The first emperor of China dispatched expeditions to the world’s far corners with a life-and-death task: find and bring back the elixir of immortality. Most famous among these explorers was a Taoist priest named Xu Fu, who sailed into the Eastern Seas. Xu Fu and his fleet vanished. Some legends say he settled in Japan. In Tim McGirk’s novel, Xu Fu goes beyond Japan, traversing the Pacific Ocean and landing upon the shores of the land of the May

WARNING: The following article contains MAJOR SPOILERS related to the recently released TV drama Zero Day Attack.

Among emerging CDR technologies, biochar has unexpectedly become a headline topic. And for good reason: it offers a rare combination of scientific credibility, scalability, and economic viability.

Next week we will continue the Psalmanazar story, covering how his Formosan claims were challenged and how he defended himself. Our French conman had some very cunning explanations to rebut his challengers, and also the confidence that came from an increasing intake of drugs.

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