S4-E23 - Taiwan’s President in Exile – Thomas Liao.

This forgotten father of Taiwan democracy sacrificed his
comfortable life (he came from a rich family and had a PhD from
the US in Chemical Engineering) to fight for Taiwanese
independence in the post-WW2 decades.





In 1956 he was elected president of the Japan-based Republic of
Taiwan Provisional Government. In some ways, he also sacrificed
his Chinese-American wife and children. So, when his American
granddaughter Kim Liao was growing up, Thomas Liao was almost
never mentioned.





In this episode, John talks to Kim about uncovering her
mysterious family history, the subject of her recent outstanding
book: Where Every Ghost Has a Name: A Memoir of Taiwanese
Independence.





(Note: John also recorded another episode with Kim focusing on
her book – see Episode 6 of Bookish Asia with Plum Rain Press)