Thinking about a faculty position in Taiwan? What you need to know.
I'd like to share my recent experience applying for an academic job in Taiwan, just as a reference for anyone looking into it.
I applied for a faculty position at one of the major top-tier universities in Taiwan. after the application, I was told my hiring was confirmed. but the actual formal offer kept getting delayed for almost 3 months due to "administrative procedures." they kept telling me that if they failed to hire an EMI (English-Medium Instruction) professor this time, the quota would permanently disappear. they expressed their hope that I wouldn't go anywhere else and would just stay with them. since I trusted them completely, I planned my entire future around this without a single doubt.
One professor in the department even assured me the decision was 100% positive. he suggested I move to Taiwan a semester early and actually had me start advising some newly admitted students... so naturally, I couldn't have predicted that the result would suddenly be flipped. but eventually, it all fell through and I was left with nothing.
Taiwan is great for tourists and visiting scholars. but working inside the system is quite different. it's very top-down and authoritarian. when a mistake happens, there's a strong culture of shifting the blame and no one ever official apologizes.
Honestly, connections mean everything here. official hiring procedures often feel like just a formality, with a lot of inappropriate behind-the-scenes communication. if you don't have a strong connection -- like a professor inside who is fully willing to fight the system for you -- it can be really tough for a foreigner.
When I raised a formal issue about the unfair process, the university didn't investigate in detail. they just had the department (the ones who caused the issue) reply to me directly. I even sent my evidence to the Ministry of Education. they didn't review it, just forwarded it to the school, and then sent me back the exact same excuse the school gave them like Post Office!! it seems like Taiwan's ministry of education mistakes this kind of negligence for "university autonomy."
and here is the craziest part... when I kept pushing for accountability, the school actually threatened me. they threw a formal phrase at me saying they had "collected evidence and reserve the right to pursue legal action" (已蒐證並保留法律追訴權).
you should know that Taiwan actually has criminal defamation laws even for stating the truth. so technically, your freedom of expression is heavily restricted. sure, you can argue "public interest" in court, but surprisingly, many institutions in Taiwan are known to use SLAPPs🙀 (strategic lawsuits against public participation) just to harass and bleed you out financially. Historically, there were many SLAPP cases in Taiwan! they know they might not win, but the process itself is the punishment. getting threatened with a lawsuit by a university just for pointing out their broken hiring process... it's completely unimaginable until it happens to you.
People here generally avoid getting involved in things that don't directly benefit them. it seems to be a cultural preference to avoid conflict and just sweep unfair situations under the rug. the weak aren't really protected. if you're a scholar coming from Europe or other developed democracies, the stress from this lack of transparency and basic procedural justice can be pretty exhausting.
I just wanted to put this out there so people know what to expect behind Taiwan's international democratic reputation. 🤮