Officially Unofficial: Confessions of a Journalist in Taiwan

In this long-awaited memoir, journalist J. Michael Cole takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery as he explores the dreams, motivations, successes, failures, and frustrations of an idealistic foreign correspondent in Taiwan. This semi-autobiographical work will appeal to anyone who is interested in the practice of journalism and the politics of a democratic society that lives under the constant threat of authoritarian China. Although the external forces that seek to undermine Taiwan’s democratic foundations have been well documented, much less has been written about the institutional failings — from the island’s troubled media environment to the legacies of an authoritarian past — that far too often weaken the ability of the nation’s 23 million people to resist aggression. By candidly detailing his personal experiences as an actor in Taiwan’s media and placing those in their proper historical context, the author demonstrates that the island’s enemies at home can often be just as nefarious as the machinations of outside forces.