Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: 台灣聲援緬甸聯盟 Taiwan Alliance for Myanmar/Facebook
THINGYAN FESTIVITIES in Zhonghe saw protests from pro-democracy Burmese diaspora groups earlier this month, with a pro-military junta singer, L Seng Zi, invited to perform by the New Taipei city government.
Thingyan is otherwise referred to as Myanmar New Year. In particular, Zhonghe is the site of “Little Burma”, a neighborhood in New Taipei with many ethnically Han Burmese diaspora residing there. There are between 30,000 and 40,000 residents of Little Burma on Huaxin Street in Zhonghe alone, though exact statistics are hard to know because many individuals have naturalized Taiwanese citizenship.
Performances by L Seng Zi have met with protest in other countries in the region, such as in Japan and South Korea, due to her pro-junta stance. Nevertheless, Taiwan did not cancel performances by L Seng Zi in spite of criticisms.
Millions have been displaced by the civil war in Myanmar, with thousands killed. The military junta continues to mount a fierce resistance, even as it is losing ground and no longer controls the majority of territory in Myanmar. The military junta carries out indiscriminate attacks on civilians using air strikes, continuing to carry out airstrikes on civilian populations after a devastating earthquake in August 2025. At present, the military junta is believed to hold over 30,000 political prisoners. Likewise, the military junta maintains extensive ties with the Chinese and Russian governments.
At the demonstration, pro-democracy protesters emphasized that they were not opposed to Thingyan festivities, but that they did not see it as appropriate to invite a pro-junta singer. At times, there were taunts from other Burmese groups present, including hometown place associations.
For its part, the New Taipei City government ignored the protests. Former Taipei deputy mayor Lee Shu-chuan of the KMT, who is running for New Taipei mayor, was present at the Thingyan festivities. As a result, there was heavy security present. Legislator Chang Chi-lun of the KMT, who represents Zhonghe, was also there. Chang is the son of former legislator Chang Ching-chung, best known for passing the Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement through committee review in under thirty seconds in the series of events that sparked the 2014 Sunflower Movement.
After the 2021 coup in Myanmar, large-scale demonstrations took place among the Burmese diaspora in Zhonghe. The size of these protests led to a new awareness of the size of the Burmese diaspora in New Taipei.
As the years have gone on, civil society groups have continued to commemorate the anniversary of the coup. In particular, the Taiwanese government was called on to live up to promises to assist with Burmese asylum seekers. A number of Burmese asylum seekers currently face the possibility of deportation back to Myanmar, as Taiwan does not have any asylum law, as a result of which asylum seekers are usually pressured by immigration authorities to turn back–even if this may result in imprisonment or death. Civil society groups issued an open letter on the matter last year.
Although the Taiwanese government originally promised not to deport Myanmar nationals back under the provisions of a temporary residency status at the time of the coup, several years later, the actual issuing of this status is close to zero. Occurring as a project under the National Immigration Agency of the Ministry of the Interior in 2023, after fifty applications, none have been approved. That the Legislative Yuan passed resolutions promising not to deport Myanmar nationals has not been sufficient to pressure the Ministry of the Interior.
Myanmar nationals stranded in Taiwan, likewise, have no work permits. As such, this has pushed many of those currently in Taiwan to work illegally to survive. Without the ability to renew their identity documents, given that their country is currently in the middle of a war and an authoritarian regime controls government institutions, this has stranded Myanmar nationals in an administrative morass.
Asylum issues are largely the remit of the central government. Still, that a pro-junta singer was invited to perform in Taiwan by the New Taipei government shows that the status of Burmese in Taiwan is hardly a concern for the local KMT politicians who rule over New Taipei.