When Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi's Taiwan Travelogue won the 2026 international Booker Prize, it marked a historic breakthrough on the global stage. But behind the triumph lay a sharp geopolitical reality.
On stage, English translator Lin King voiced the anxiety looming over Taiwan.
"In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I made the explicit decision that rather than translating Sinophone works indiscriminately, I would only translate writing from Taiwan for the foreseeable future. I will continue to do so until the day comes that my homeland's sovereignty is no longer a provocation or a punchline — until no English speaker feels comfortable saying to me, 'I really should come visit you in Taiwan while it still exists,'" King said this in her acceptance speech.
Literature and politics
Taiwan Travelogue follows a young Japanese writer visiting Japanese-colonized Taiwan in May 1938 on an official government-sponsored lecture tour. As she and her Taiwanese interpreter explore local street food together, a subtle intimacy unfolds between them. It is written in a narrative that centers Taiwan's history rather than Beijing's preferred Great China framework.
"Literature and politics are directly connected. Politics determines the allocation of resources, and the allocation of resources determines which works get pulled out, held up high, and defined as 'good literature.' The idea that politics can just be kept out of it doesn't exist," Yang told DW.
A few days after the Booker Prize was announced, China's Taiwan Affairs Office reacted that, "Writers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait should firmly uphold a national standpoint, respect historical facts, and squarely face the immense suffering inflicted upon the Chinese people ... by Japan's war of aggression and fascism."
"From China's perspective, they do not want to see Taiwan's voice gain prominence," Yang said.
Her book demonstrates that Taiwanese culture is shaped by multiple historical strands — including Indigenous, Japanese colonial, and local Han influences, rather than being merely a "branch of Chinese culture."
During Yang's German book tour this October, an event in Literaturhaus München sparked controversy when her interpreter significantly shortened certain statements concerning Taiwan, China and historical politics. The interpreter later admitted oversights and shortcomings in the interpretation but denied deliberately deleting content due to political stance or the political situation in Taiwan.
Taiwan and China
Beijing claims Taiwan as a Chinese province and has long threatened to use force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's democratically elected president has rejected Beijing's assertion that its laws apply to Taiwan.
Since 1949, Taiwan has functioned with de facto independence, maintaining its own government, military, and legal systems while facing ongoing military pressure from Beijing.
China's international overreach?
In the past, China's monitoring of Taiwanese international engagement has reached far further than words over a literature prize.
"The target of suppression and harassment primarily include outspoken individuals, exiled activists, diaspora community organizers, alongside their family members and close affiliates back home. From the PRC's (People's Republic of China) eyes, these groups are a threat to regime security, as they are able to amplify the dissenting voices and alternative stories of China to the West," said Dr. Yan-ho Lai, a senior fellow of Georgetown Center for Asian Law.
In April this year, Taiwanese barista Lin Shao-hsing, also known as Bala, won the 2026 World Latte Art Championship, but soon after, all mentions of Taiwan as they relate to Bala's win were removed from the official World Coffee Championships website.
It now credits Bala's win to "Chinese Taipei," a term which is often used in international competitions, like the Olympics, to refer to Taiwan. The term, however, is almost never used in Taiwan. The vast majority of people in Taiwan identify as "Taiwanese," while only 2.5% identify as Chinese, according to a 2026 poll by National Chengchi University's Election Study Center.
In 2024, China allegedly planned a car collision during Taiwan's vice president Hsiao Bi-khim's visit in Prague. Czech intelligence officials told local media that the incident was part of a much larger and escalatory plan by Chinese diplomats and intelligence officers working out of the embassy in Prague.
In early October this year, the FBI says authorities arrested a California woman for allegedly spying on the son of Taiwan's president at the direction of Chinese officials. According to the US Department of Justice, the woman traveled to Seattle in 2025 under instructions from Beijing to monitor the president's son and his family, capturing photos, video footage, and license plate information.
During a press conference on October 6, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it "consistently opposes the hype surrounding so-called 'Chinese spies' and the smearing and vilification of China."
"It reflects the ambiguity and limitation of international law, that PRC using soft power to restrict the visibility of Taiwan may not directly fall into international law arena as Taiwan is not recognized by international bodies as a sovereign state party," added Dr. Lai.
