Traditional Text Media

Taipei Times (台北時報): Founded in 1999, it is the only English-language printed newspaper in Taiwan, and also has a website. It claims to practice non-partisan reporting on Taiwan, as well as the rest of Asia and the world, and is produced by a diverse team of international authors and editors. The website, which is updated daily and has an archive, can be accessed at https://www.taipeitimes.com/.

United Daily News (聯合報): A Taiwanese newspaper written in Chinese that is considered to have pan-Blue views, meaning it aligns with the Kuomintang (KMT) government, the opposition to Tsai Ing-Wen’s pan-Green Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Advocates of pan-Blue ideology tend to favor a closer relationship with China². The UDN website can be accessed at https://udn.com/news/index.

Liberty Times (自由時報): A Taiwanese newspaper that shares the same publisher as the Taipei Times, listed above. It is known as a pan-Green newspaper, which aligns with the views of the DPP. This is a traditional print newspaper, but also has a website. Both versions are entirely in Chinese. This is a strong choice for those with Chinese proficiency, but its political leanings may paint a much more hostile picture of China. It can be accessed digitally at its website, https://www.ltn.com.tw/.

China Times (中國時報): This is a Taiwanese print newspaper that also has a website. Similar to the Liberty Times, it is entirely in Chinese. However, unlike the Liberty Times, this newspaper has pan-Blue political alignments, meaning that in general, they support closer ties with China. This would be an excellent source to gain insight on KMT ideologies in Taiwan. It can be accessed digitally at its website, https://www.chinatimes.com/?chdtv.

New Digital Text Media

Taiwan News (台灣英文新聞): An online newspaper established in 1949 that publishes news from Taiwan in both English and Mandarin. There are curated sections of news by category, including politics, business, culture, and many others. The newspaper can be accessed at https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/index.

Up Media (上報): According to the website of this Taiwanese media platform, this is a form of new media that emphasizes both professional reporting and entertainment. The website is in Chinese and features many different categories of news, including editorials, entertainment, and forums. It was established in 2016, so it is relatively new in the sense of form as well as date of establishment. This is a source that is great for leisurely browsing, but may feature more entertainment related news than other sources. It can be accessed at https://www.upmedia.mg/.

The News Lens (TNL): This is a Taiwanese media startup that has earned a reputation for great reporting. The site is available in English, and emphasizes the importance of presenting various perspectives on important issues, making it a well-rounded, relatively bias-free media source.

Taiwan Today: This is a website published by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It offers content in a variety of languages, including English, making it a good choice for non-Taiwanese people to learn more about Taiwan. It also provides links to some related publications, such as Taiwan Review and Taiwan Panorama.

Social Media

Dcard: A Taiwanese platform for discussions and forums that was originally meant for college students³. It still has dedicated forums for university students that require identity verification to post on, but the app is usable by anyone. There are many topics such as relationships, food, travel, and many others, which contain smaller focused discussions relating to those topics. The platform is entirely in Mandarin, and is a great source for viewing discussions among locals about nearly any topic. Dcard can be accessed at https://www.dcard.tw/f or downloaded on the App Store.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan): This is a major government body of Taiwan. As the name suggests, they deal with Taiwan’s foreign relations. This is an excellent source for official political news on Taiwan, but their social media presence is also incredibly broad. Their website lists all of their social media links on the sidebar, and they include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, among others. The website is available in English, and many social media sites now have translation features for posts built in to their platforms.

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT/美國在台協會): The American Institute in Taiwan serves the role of an embassy for the US in Taiwan. Their website is in English, and features many relevant news updates and information about Taiwan-US relations. Similar to Taiwan’s MOFA, the AIT has a large social media presence that can be found via their website.

Data Sources

Taiwan’s Open Platform for Governmental Data (政府資料開放平臺): A public database made available by the government of Taiwan. It provides data sets that are sorted by category. Some categories include education, employment, and transportation, among many others. The site is available in English and is very intuitive to use. It can be accessed at https://data.gov.tw/en.

Statista: Statista is a platform that provides statistics and data on a huge collection of topics, markets, and countries. It is available in English and can be used to find quantitative data on various aspects of Taiwan. A drawback of this platform is that it keeps a lot of information locked behind a subscription, so it is better suited for those with premium access, such as college students or professionals.

World Bank: The World Bank is a global organization whose efforts are not specific to Taiwan or data collection. However, the website does feature a database that is great for finding economic data on any country. The data is great for learning about Taiwan’s economy and societal factors, among other things. Unlike Statista, there are no paid features. This is a great source for students, professionals, or anyone doing research.

Audio-Visual Media

Morning Taiwan Glocal News Podcast (全球串聯早安新聞): A podcast in Mandarin that focuses on news from both Taiwan and the rest of the world, hence the term “Glocal”, a portmanteau of global and local. Each episode is about an hour long and is released every weekday. It begins with a brief overview of several major news stories, and then opens up to call-ins from listeners, inviting them to discuss a news story of their own. It is originally aired on Clubhouse, and uploaded afterwards to major streaming services such as Spotify.

Shasha77 (志祺七七): A YouTuber that goes by the name Zhi Qi and posts short videos daily on different intriguing topics. His analyses are professional yet entertaining, and takes care to cite sources when needed, which goes above and beyond the standards expected of amateur news reporting on YouTube. His videos are in Mandarin, but usually have English captioning available. His channel can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/@shasha77.

Public Television Service (PTS, 公共電視): This is one of the most popular news channels in Taiwan. Without access to Taiwanese cable television, PTS creative works can be accessed on social media, including YouTube. Some videos are available with English subtitles to accompany the Chinese audio. Many of the YouTube videos posted are specials on various topics, rather than traditional daily news broadcasts. This makes it a strong source for someone wanting to learn more about Taiwan.

Taiwan SET News Live Channel: This is a Taiwanese news channel that runs 24/7. The political leanings of SET News align mostly with pan-Green ideologies, the side that tends to favor independence over closer China ties. The YouTube channel for this channel features live broadcasts as well as many past broadcasts and videos. The news is reported in Chinese, but some videos may have English subtitles.

TTV News (台視新聞): This is a Taiwanese news company that broadcasts a handful of various channels under its name. It broadcasts news in Chinese and can be accessed at its website or on YouTube.

Source(s):

Note: The information presented above is largely gathered from each source’s website. The links below were referenced for additional information.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Daily_News

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Blue_Coalition

3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dcard

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Times

5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Times

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SET_News

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Television