Interview with Stephan Thome + India vs Chinese apps • China.Table

Acclaimed author Stephan Thome sees growing pressure on Taiwan
India cracks down on China apps
Purchasing managers’ index back in negative
Pelosi’s Taiwan detour still uncertain
China begins nuclear heat generation
Photovoltaic sector grows strongly
Chinese rocket debris crashes into Sulu Sea
Heads: Political analyst Viktoria Laura Herczegh
So To Speak: The delicacy ‘tofu brain’

Dear reader,

The successful author and sinologist Stephan Thome has lived in Taiwan for the past 12 years. He writes novels with a local perspective, and most recently published “Pflaumenregen” (Plum Rain) a book set during the period of Japanese colonial rule over the island. Interviewed by Fabian Peltsch, Thome talks about how he experiences the current tense situation on the island, what he wishes for Taiwan, and what he thinks of the occasional accusation of cultural appropriation.

There are surveys according to which most people find hardly anything as annoying as their neighbors. China and India may feel the same way; for decades, both have been feuding about their border. So it’s no wonder that economic relations between the two countries are nowhere near as good as they could be. Now, India is punishing China for its aggressive behavior along the border. As our editorial team in Beijing analyzes, New Delhi is currently cracking down on Chinese IT companies that actually want to set foot in India.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, has left for Asia. Whether she will also visit Taiwan, as speculated by publications including the Financial Times, remained unclear on Sunday. Some analysts expect that Pelosi’s trip to Taipei will lead to a political crisis in the US-China-Taiwan triangle. We will keep an eye on the situation.

Your
Christiane Kühl

Interview

‘The pressure on Taiwan is increasing’

With his novels, bestselling author Stephan Thome wants to open the horizons of German readers to China and Taiwan. “If you want to tell something substantial about these countries, two years of residence and a few language skills are not enough,” says the sinologist, who has now lived in Taiwan for 12 years. A conversation about fear of war, cultural appropriation and best-case scenarios for an island constantly overshadowed by a looming Chinese invasion. Fabian Peltsch spoke with Thome.

Your first novel “Grenzgang” was a surprise hit in 2009. You wrote it during your time as a research assistant at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan. Did you have the necessary distance there to create a portrait of Germany’s provinces?

The inspiration for the place where “Grenzgang” is set is my hometown in Upper Hesse. I know the area so well, I could have written about it anywhere. In fact, almost all of my novels were written in Taiwan. At the time, I simply had the idea with me.

You have now been living in Taiwan for 12 years. Your latest novel, “Pflaumenregen”, (Plum Rain) is set at the time when the island was under Japanese colonial rule. You simultaneously published “Gebrauchsanweisung für Taiwan” (Instruction Manual for Taiwan). How is it that you are only now putting your experiences and knowledge of Taiwan into literary form?

Continue reading now

… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.

Are you already a guest at the China.Table? Log in now