Remembering China from Taiwan

By: Mahlon Meyer

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Synopsis: When the Nationalists lost China in 1949, many of them left behind their families as they retreated to Taiwan. A half century later, through democratic elections, they lost control over Taiwan as well and began looking to a new and powerful China, where their relatives had grown rich, for a sense of identity and economic support, thus laying the groundwork for the growing integration between Taiwan and China. As exchanges across the Taiwan Strait increased, many separated families finally met after years of dreaming about each other in hope and in sorrow, through many eras and disasters. But their reunions were often painful and freshly transformative as new realities were encountered. This book draws on oral histories with several generations of Kuomintang loyalists in Taiwan and documents their struggles with family and friends nearby as well as distant relatives in the mainland.