Looks to me like she is willing to let him speak to the kid but she doesn’t want to be the go between. Hence the FaceTime requirement. The kid must have an iPad. She even said he can contact her when he wants to arrange a visit.
Get the iPhone. Speaking to the kid is the most important thing.
In which case he should buy one and try it.
I think a lawyer is the best way forward now that she wants rid of him.
Really this will only make things much worse. She has money to drag on everything while the OP won’t even be able to afford to go to court…
I only provide, not decide. Only a lawyer can give legal advice and tell OP whether or not a decision is good.
Regarding the divorce:
Did you voluntarily agree to the divorce?
Didn’t you set up custody/visitation before you signed?
What’s this about “alimony”? You didn’t agree to that, did you? I can see child support if you voluntarily gave up custody rights to your ex-wife, but not alimony.
Please provide more clarity regarding how you got divorced and what custody/child support arrangement you signed.
If I recall, the minimum legally required child support payments is merely 12,000 NTD/month. That is all you would be legally required to pay, unless you agreed to some other demand.
Your wife couldn’t divorce you without your agreement per Taiwan law, unless she took you to court and got a judge to rule in her favor, which is extremely difficult.
I am not diminishing her anger, although I feel it’s not warranted if directed at an illness.
I doubt she’d be angry if I had any other disease.
She was very aware of my mental health problems long before I moved to Taiwan and we got married.
Yes, I am in therapy and have tried all alternative treatments from Ketamine to Mushrooms. All in a clinical setting.
It’s also a way to make a struggling person’s life even harder and more miserable. And a way to say I’m an asshole. And to show poor taste. Apple… 
As pointed out before we only know one side of the story, but she sounds bitchy. If she had good reasons and intentions she wouldn’t give bullshit excuses.
I’ll try to answer all questions asked here for more clarity.
1-My ex was well aware of my mental illness before I came to Taiwan. It was discussed and she still insisted I come. She used to call my mom in tears telling her she would support me on matter what.
2-I saw many psychiatrists in Taiwan, and they chopped and changed medicines over the years.
3-It got to a stage where I was unable to go out and work, but still paid all expenses. When we got divorced I paid her alimony. She insisted that the divorce agreement stated alimony, not child support. At the time I was too fucked up to even argue. The only thing I insisted on was joint custody. Would not sign without that.
4-While I was still in Taiwan, I paid her 20 000 alimony, plus all household expenses and my son’s education expenses.
5-It got to a stage where I realized that the mental health care I was receiving would end up killing me. As mentioned the drugs were constantly changed, and I was basically continuously in withdrawals from old meds and strung out on benzodiazepines that were given in ever increasing doses. Some doctors would not give benzodiazepines and were blissfully unaware of the fact that the taper off them can take years. I was also getting physical symptoms, such as twitches, muscle spasms, problems with regulating body temp, forgetfulness to name a few.
6-When I got back to my home country I saw a few doctors who did try to stabilise the meds.
7-Two doctors agreed that I was in no state to work, so they put me on sickness leave.
I have private income protection, but as they will not accept teaching as a source of income, and foreign documents, my sickness payments are limited to what work I did outside teaching.
Far from enough to live on and continue to pay 20 000 a month.
I did leave my ex money before I left that would cover the 20 000 for a few months, but that ran out. I did think that I would have been back in Taiwan within a few months.
8-I am in therapy but have basically cold turkeyed most of my medication. Not the best idea but I can’t see any other way. It gets to a stage where you don’t know if something is a symptom or a side effect of medication, so somehow a baseline needs to be created.
9-Legal action is something that I can’t do at the moment. Besides the massive cost of doing it, I don’t see it getting me anywhere, and possibly putting myself in a worse position. Let’s not kid. There is still a massive stigma in Taiwan over mental illness. My ex once told me that someone killed themselves in house nearby, and that the if the house owners want to sell it will be near to impossible.
10-My ex father in law will not help in any way. I reached out to him and he blocked me.
So do you have joint custody?
Yes, I do.
Good. I think that’s a good thing. Build up a tool box of strategies. I’ve read a bit about the Ketamine therapy. A nice little sense of belonging never hurt anyone!
So are you going to get an old iPhone?
Yes. I got one today.
Prepare yourself to be disappointed.
She won’t let you talk to your son until she gets money.
Pay to play.
We’ll see. She’s the one who said get the phone and make a date for a video visit.
They ain’t ALL brujas. 
Horrible idea to go for alimony, I would focus on contact with my son first. if you have a relationship with your children, the rest will just disappear eventually. I eventually ended up with all my kids
Note, I paid my last child support on July 1, so I am happy and free of that.
She wanted alimony on top, I told her a lump sum, no way I would suggest anyone to pay to someone for their rest of their lives, which is what you agreed to.
Ha. Wanna do a little side bet on that?
Payable next time you make it out to Baishawan.
