Shanghai–Taiwan Connections, Part 1: Mark Kitto on Helen Zia’s “Last Boat” — BONUS EPISODE

Some have called Taipei a “mini-Shanghai.” If true, the emphasis
might need to be on the word “mini.” The population of the
greater Shanghai area is nearly 30 million, some six million more
than the number of people who live in Taiwan. Yet, there are some
interesting similarities – which mostly aren’t accidental. When
CKS and the Nationalists took control in 1945, and then made
Taipei the "ROC Provisional Capital" on December 7th, 1949, the
new rulers began to shape Taipei in an image modeled in many ways
after Shanghai.





John Ross (world traveler that he is) has never been to this
sprawling city, but Mark Kitto (English actor and author, most
recently of China Running Dog, lived and worked there for around
a decade. Mark and John discuss the Shanghai-Taipei connection
via talking about and reading from the book, Last Boat Out of
China, a tale of a family fleeing Red China and “temporarily”
seeking shelter in Taipei.