Social Movements

Deepfakes Present Issues for Legislation in Taiwan

Brian Hioe
DPP legislators Fan Yun and Kao Chia-yu held a press conference late last year to call for stronger action on the misuse of sexually explicit images, such as revenge porn, deepfakes, or images otherwise taken without consent and used for coercive purposes. The press conference was held jointly with civil societies such as the Judicial Reform Foundation, Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, and Garden of Hope Foundation, the latter two of which are prominent women’s groups in Taiwan. The press conference was to call for changes to a draft bill from the Executive Yuan on the issue...
EnglishGender/SexualityMarch 2023PoliticsSocial Movements5 min read

March Held in Taipei to Remember 64th Anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day

Brian Hioe
Civil society groups held a march today in Taipei to commemorate the 64th anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day. Tibetan Uprising Day marks the uprising that took place on March 10th, 1959 against the PRC presence in Tibet, and is commemorated on March 10th each year. Today’s march was part of a series of activities to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day, including cycling around Taipei in the prior month with Tibetan flags, and a vigil that will be held at Liberty Plaza on Friday...
EnglishMarch 2023Self-DeterminationSocial Movements6 min read

Civil Society Groups Call for Wi-fi for Migrant Fishermen

Brian Hioe
Civil society groups held a press conference in front of the Taipei Fish Market late last month to call for wi-fi access for migrant fishermen. Participant groups included the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Stella Maris Kaohsiung, Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum, the Humanity Research Consultancy, and Fospi Donggang Pingtung. Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih of the NPP was also present and DPP legislator Hung Sun-han was scheduled to attend but was later unable to make it. According to these groups, this press conference was more than half a year in planning...
EnglishLaborMarch 2023RaceSocial Movements4 min read

Arts/Culture

Calling For a Return to Sinocentrism in the Name of Opposing It: Responding to ‘Reconsidering Sinophone Studies’

Brian Hioe
The International Journal of Taiwan Studies, one of the flagship journals of the discipline, published an unusual piece several months ago by Flair Donglai Shi. Though framed as an attack on Shih Shu-mei’s concept of the Sinophone, the crux of the piece’s argument is effectively that Taiwan studies is insufficiently Sinocentric...
Arts and CultureEnglishJuly 2021Literature and Poetry8 min read

Interviews

Radio New Bloom #19: Coen Blaauw on Thirty Years of Pro-Taiwan Advocacy in Washington

newbloomeditor
For the nineteenth episode of Radio New Bloom, we feature an interview with Coen Blaauw, a Dutch lawyer and Senior Policy Advisor to the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, a US non-profit promoting Taiwan’s right to self-determination. He joined FAPA in 1989 and has since become a central figure in the Taiwan independence movement in the United States. He specializes in connecting with members of the U.S. Congress, drafting Taiwan-related legislation, and recruiting support for these legislations....
December 2021EnglishInterviewsRadio New Bloom1 min read

Politics

Make-Up Work Days Lead to Backlash

Brian Hioe

Will Honduras Break Ties with Taiwan?

Brian Hioe

Controversy Over KMT Election Strategy Committee Reflects Generational Splits, Corruption

Brian Hioe

Deepfakes Present Issues for Legislation in Taiwan

Brian Hioe

Yunlin Wind Farm Corruption Case Implicates County Council Speaker

Brian Hioe

US Conservatives Increasingly Frame Ukraine and Taiwan in Zero-Sum Terms

Brian Hioe

International Affairs