Is this to say that you took advantage of that technology during the COVID crisis? The whole world admired your methods

But how can you reconcile this conservative anarchism with big companies doing this in the digital industry? Because our listeners should remember that Taiwan is a central hub for the digital industry. And without Taiwan there would be no computer chips, for instance.

I said that you were an activist for open source, now you are a minister for digital affairs in Taiwan, and I say the word, to be “conservative anarchist”, what does that mean?

You believe you should fight the power of the GAFA?

Beyond the cases where the state controls the citizens, there is a big debate about the real problems with social media, the fact that kids are being harassed through the social media. What do you think about that?

In other countries, the internet was used for repression purposes. Look at China, for instance…

I mean, what’s the connection between technology and political activism?

What I’m interested in here is how did you go from being a geek, as it were, to become an activist for democracy.

You became a hacker. What is a hacker? I mean, we think of hackers as people, as pirates stealing your confidential data. That’s not what you did. You didn’t do anything illegal.

You left school at age 14 and then you started up your own company at age 16. What did your parents have to say about this? How did it go?

Where did this passion come from?

I am describing you to our listeners, you are a child prodigy of digital technology, you started coding at age 8.

For you, transparency of information is essential, but can you both be a government minister and still have this view of things?

Now, this is very interesting about your view of politics. What does this say on your view of politics?

Audrey Tang, you record all the interviews that you give. Are you recording this?

You are the Minister for Digital Affairs in Taiwan since 2016, and you advocate for full transparency and open data in your country.

Hello Audrey Tang. Good morning.

In 2014, she returns to her country of origin, Taiwan, where she actively participates as a civic hacker in the ground-breaking movements against the Kuomintang administration, before joining the new government of the young Asian democracy at 35 years old.

I received this morning an invitation to the atypical course and prestigious CV. She learns to program at 8 years old, leaves school at 14, goes to the United States and founded her startup at 16.

（中文採訪）

Thank you very much.

In the meantime, many Japanese are disappointed when your visit to Japan was canceled last year during the Tokyo Olympics. Many know you have supportive children in Northern Japan who were affected by the earthquake 11 years ago. Please tell if you have a plan to visit Japan again.

Please share your views about if the exercise caused any changes to people’s lives in Taiwan.

We have very many questions, but I would like to ask you questions for the sake of Japanese people, as well as the people in the world. Since China started the wide range of military exercise around Taiwan, Japanese people have been concerned about the safety of Taiwanese friends.

Bye.

Awesome. Thank you.

Thanks a lot for coming, and be in touch.

Yeah.

OK, thank you for everything.

Just a moment, please.

Awesome. Thanks. That’s really helpful.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thank you for answering all these questions for us. He’s hoping that maybe you’ll be able to share pictures from your childhood or teenage years. I know that would…

Mm hmm.

Yesterday, we just had an election in Japan and probably the turnout was pretty low, especially among the young people. He’s wondering if you have anything, especially an idea to encourage young people in Taiwan to vote.

I’m trying to think of a light inside cracks. [laughs] OK.

He says, basically, this book is going to be for kids in Japan. We’re hoping that kids who maybe feel different from other people or some isolation, somehow will read it, and if you have anything that you think would be good to tell them, they would love to hear ...

The author likes the game a lot, so he was curious about it.

They’re wondering if you still play the card game that you became a champion of.

[laughs] You want to make him nervous.

OK. Are there any other instances of either really tough times, or hopeful times that you think kids would either identify with, or learn something from, or just any other?

…or anything that like that?

Are there any other songs that you may be found inspiration from in your teenage years…

That make sense.

Really? OK, wait. I need to cure mine, too.

What did you think when you heard them?

OK. That’s really interesting. I guess you mentioned the Leonard Cohen lyrics, the crack and everything coming in. How old were you when you first heard them? What was the context of your first meeting with them?

Gatekeeping.

Were there any specific ways that they inspired you?

Yeah, that’s awesome. We read in one of the books about you, or one of them, that you spent time with an indigenous group of people