Island X
Taiwanese Student Migrants, Campus Spies, and Cold War Activism
Published on 21. November 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
270 pages
978-0-295-75205-1 (ISBN)
Description
Illuminates a Cold War transpacific drama played out across US campusesIsland X delves into the compelling political lives of Taiwanese migrants who came to the United States as students from the 1960s through the 1980s. Often depicted as compliant model minorities, many were in fact deeply political, shaped by Taiwan's colonial history and influenced by the global social movements of their times. As activists, they fought to make Taiwanese people visible as subjects of injustice and deserving of self-determination.
Under the distorting shadows of Cold War geopolitics, the Kuomintang regime and collaborators across US campuses attempted to control Taiwanese in the diaspora through extralegal surveillance and violence, including harassment, blacklisting, imprisonment, and even murder. Drawing on interviews with student activists and extensive archival research, Wendy Cheng documents how Taiwanese Americans developed tight-knit social networks as infrastructures for identity formation, consciousness development, and anticolonial activism. They fought for Taiwanese independence, opposed state persecution and oppression, and participated in global political movements. Raising questions about historical memory and Cold War circuits of power, Island X is a testament to the lives and advocacy of a generation of Taiwanese American activists.
Under the distorting shadows of Cold War geopolitics, the Kuomintang regime and collaborators across US campuses attempted to control Taiwanese in the diaspora through extralegal surveillance and violence, including harassment, blacklisting, imprisonment, and even murder. Drawing on interviews with student activists and extensive archival research, Wendy Cheng documents how Taiwanese Americans developed tight-knit social networks as infrastructures for identity formation, consciousness development, and anticolonial activism. They fought for Taiwanese independence, opposed state persecution and oppression, and participated in global political movements. Raising questions about historical memory and Cold War circuits of power, Island X is a testament to the lives and advocacy of a generation of Taiwanese American activists.
Reviews / Votes
"[E]ssential reading. . . Island X offers so many things at once to the Taiwanese American canon and political education, recovering what was discounted and articulating what continues to be murky, without the self-consciousness of a memoir or the distance of an outsider-observer. It is a labor of deep, lasting love from a daughter who brings honor to her radical parents' legacy and hope to her children's future." * TaiwaneseAmerican.org * "Island X is an original and welcome addition to the fields of Asian American history, US Cold War history, and geopolitics. Wendy Cheng has shown how to do excellent scholarship with limited source material and a flair for storytelling. It is indeed a triumph of recuperating a community's history from "epistemic murk."" * American Historical Review * "As an intervention in critical studies of ethnicity oriented toward contemporary American politics, Wendy Cheng's book provides a useful and welcome correction to existing stereotypes about Taiwan and Taiwanese migrants in the United States. Through its thorough examination of English-language sources, the book offers a rich and nuanced understanding of the political actions of these migrants during the Cold War. By focusing on students, the study also captures the important and ambivalent role of American universities in the international politics of the time. This is the most remarkable achievement of this work." * China Perspectives * "[A] fascinating new book by Wendy Cheng." * Taipei Times * "This meticulously researched work of history relies heavily on oral history to cut through propaganda, hearsay, and supposition to get to the truth of how totalitarian governments exert control through manipulation of information and misinformation. In so doing, Cheng reveals an important portrait of a previously overlooked generation in Taiwanese and Taiwanese American history, and spins a captivating true-life tale of the difficulties many Taiwanese student migrants encountered on university campuses between the 1960s-1980s." * Electric Literature * "Island X is a timely book articulating how Taiwanese American identity is deeply historically grounded and influenced by multiple transnational forces. The book opens doors for scholars to pursue this understudied subject." * Taiwan Insight * "Compelling. . . Island X delves into the experiences of several Taiwanese students studying in the US during the Cold War as they attempted to valiantly maneuver between Taiwan's authoritarian government, headed by mainland anti-communist Chinese, and Cold War America which significantly underwrote that authoritarian government while declaring itself the leader of the free world. . . Highly recommended." * Choice * "Using a multidisciplinary approach that includes history and critical race and ethnic studies, Cheng combines archival research, oral histories, and personal memoirs to create a rich narrative. Wendy Cheng's book transcends conventional frameworks and limitations in Taiwanese studies. Through her deep insights into American history, culture, and ethnic relations, Cheng successfully situates the stories of Taiwanese immigrants within the broader context of American history and culture, thereby setting a new precedent for both American studies and Taiwanese studies." * H-Net * "Island X significantly contributes to Cold War history, migration studies, and the study of activism in the United States. By highlighting Taiwanese student migrants' unique experiences, Cheng broadens Asian American history and identity narratives. Her critical theoretical framework offers valuable insights into contemporary struggles against oppression and for social justice. Cheng's work enriches historical knowledge and sets a new example for American and Taiwanese studies." * H-Diplo *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 1 Maps; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
446 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-75205-1 (9780295752051)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Wendy Cheng is professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at University of Southern California. She is author of The Changs Next Door to the Diazes: Remapping Race in Suburban California and coauthor of A People's Guide to Los Angeles.