Made in Taiwan

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OUTLINE

John takes advantage of his country's economic boom to launch his first company at age 25. In the summer of 1980, he returned from a trip to the US with a Sony Walkman and came up with the idea of creating a more affordable generic version. As it would have been impossible to sell in the US or most of the Western world, John found a weak spot: The Eastern Bloc; with whom Taiwan's diplomatic relations were officially null since 1949 but following the reestablishment of relations between the US and The People's Republic of China in 1979, Taiwan's newly nominated President (an old army friend of John's father, Ao-nan) informed John of the possibility of trading with the Soviet Union. Eager to take advantage of this opportunity, John learned basic Russian through Ipat'evna Vakhreva, the new President's wife, and then ventured on a tour of the Eastern Bloc to find potential customers. He came back with orders for 10,000 units, enough to launch production.

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CHIANG KAI-SHEK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, NIGHT, JULY 1980

1980 Sony Walkman Ad

A San Francisco born China Airline Boeing 747 lands at Chung-Cheng International Airport. As the plane's door open, a woof of hot and humid air enters the cabin. John Wang a 25 years old engineering student is in a deep sleep when a flight attendant gently taps him on the shoulder to wake him up.

-Sir... We have landed... You have to get your things...

John pulls down the complimentary eye patch the was provided to him, smiles at the attendant and grabs a blue Nike sports bag form overhead compartment. In the corridor linking the plane to the terminal, holding his bag over his shoulder, he uses the other hand to skilfully raise his orange headphones from his neck to his ears then presses the play button of the brand new Sony Walkman attached to his belt. Call Me transforms this ordinary transpacific arrival into a conqueror's march. As he crosses the terminal with Travoltaesque allure, he is the greeted by his ecstatic mother, [[Ju-ling], at the arrival door.

-大儿子!

John grabs Ju-ling, western style, and places his headphones over her head to share the vibe of the music with his mother, now 50, not too sure about how to react to Blondie.


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