Social Movements

The Case for Accepting Hong Kong Refugees in Taiwan

It is widely expected that many Hongkongers will want to flee the city, given the possibility of being ‘disappeared’ into the prison system of a state that has imprisoned untold numbers of political prisoners, Uighurs, Tibetans, and others that don’t fit into Xi Jinping’s “China Dream.” Many have already fled. The Taiwanese government should take steps to aid them...

Minneapolis Ignites in the Wake of George Floyd’s Murder

On the 25th of May, Memorial Day, the national holiday to honor and mourn American military martyrs, a devastatingly routine act of police brutality was captured on camera. Yet another cop murdered a Black man. George Floyd was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police and suffocated under the weight of the knee pressed against his neck. Some of George Floyd’s last words echoed Eric Garner’s dying plea for mercy, “I can’t breathe"....

Tiananmen, Hong Kong and the US in the Age of COVID, Trump, and Xi

Whether it be young black men targeted in disproportionate numbers amidst white revanchism led by Trump or Hong Kong students beaten and arrested by security forces implementing a reign of terror engendered by Xi’s trampling of the city’s Basic Law, we must look past nationalistic rhetoric that obscures dark legacies of American and Chinese empire and policies of state violence that continue to operationalize in the present. On the 31st anniversary of Tiananmen Square, this is what we should keep in mind...

Eswatini Students Forced to Work in Factory is the Latest in Series of Similar Incidents

Reports that 40 exchange students from Eswatini studying in Taiwan were forced to work in a refrigerated factory skinning chickens should be highly concerning. Namely, there have been a number of similar incidents in past years involving students from non-western countries forced to work in factories for low wages by their universities under the auspices of work-study programs or internships...

American Abandonment of Hong Kong Could Be Framed as an Anti-China Move Through Loss of Autonomous Status

It is possible that protests yesterday in Hong Kong will be remembered as a pivotal event. Although yesterday’s demonstration is comparable to many of the protests that took place in the past year before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the wake of the protests yesterday, American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo certified to Congress that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from China...