Democratic Progressive Party

Will Taiwan Be Able to Lower Its Voting Age From One of the World’s Highest?

Brian Hioe
Questions have been raised about whether an upcoming referendum to lower the voting age to 18 will pass. Concerns have been raised about whether the referendum will meet the referendum may not meet the 9.65 million votes necessary to pass constitutional changes. This means that young people can serve in the army, drink, and are able to vote in national referendums, seeing as changes to the Referendum Act in December 2017 lowered the age for voting in the referendum from 20 to 18, but they cannot vote for elected representatives in Taiwan currently...
EnglishPoliticsSeptember 20226 min read

Chinese Grouper Ban Accused of Being Attempt to Politically Pressure Taiwan

Brian Hioe
Taiwan has expressed dissatisfaction after China acted to block imports of grouper last Friday, alleging that it had found oxytetracycline and other prohibited chemicals in excessive amounts in grouper imports from Taiwan. For its part, Taiwan has suggested that China’s actions are politically motivated, similar to China blocking imports of pineapple, wax apple, and custard apple, as a way to hit back at Taiwan’s agricultural sector...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalJune 20228 min read

Facebook Post by Entertainer About Child Deaths Leads to Controversy About COVID Disinformation

Brian Hioe
There has been a political firestorm after entertainer Antony Kuo made a viral Facebook post suggesting that there have been more deaths of children from COVID-19 than have been reported by the Central Epidemic Command Center. After the post, a number of suspected content farms posted claims about alleged child deaths due to COVID-19, raising questions about the circulation of misinformation and disinformation versus free speech in Taiwan. Unsurprisingly, the issue became contested between the pan-Blue and pan-Green camps...
EnglishJune 2022Politics7 min read