Brian Hioe

Warnings of Chinese Disinformation Behind Reports of Secret Thai Trip by National Security Bureau Head

Brian Hioe
Unverified reports claiming a sightseeing visit to Thailand by National Security Bureau director-general Chen Ming-tong at the public expense began to appear earlier this month, following screenshots posted by a Twitter account with the username @andreny45652235. The Twitter account only had six posts before being taken down, which raised questions as to the authenticity of the account, but the photo of Chen it posted seemed to be taken from Thai customs. It is unclear as to whether Chen traveled to Thailand recently, whether these were older screenshots, or whether they could have been photoshopped...
EnglishPoliticsSeptember 20225 min read

Formosa Plastics Likely to Resist Legal Ruling Against Sunshine Project

Brian Hioe
A Louisiana judge struck down air permits for Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics’ 9 billion USD “Sunshine Project” earlier this month. The Sunshine Project would have occupied 2,500 acres of land, consisting of fourteen facilities, and would have become the world’s largest production facility for plastics and materials used for the production of plastics...
EnglishEnvironmentalSeptember 2022Social Movements7 min read

Biden Comments on Taiwan Commitment Again Walked Back, but Likely to Be Interpreted as of Greater Significance

Brian Hioe
Earlier today, US president Joe Biden confused again with comments on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that suggested US commitment to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Subsequently, as with previous such incidents in which Biden indicated US commitment to defend Taiwan, these comments were quickly walked back by the White House, which stated that US policy on Taiwan had not changed...
EnglishInternationalPoliticsRegional TensionsSeptember 20227 min read

KMT Continues to Be Caught in a Bind Regarding 1992 Consensus

Brian Hioe
The KMT has experienced further controversy regarding the 1992 Consensus, following a recent interview by party chair Eric Chu with Deutsche Welle, as well as an article published by the CPPCC Daily, a Chinese state-run media outlet. It may not be surprising to note that both incidents have been leveraged on by the pan-Green camp for political ammunition, particularly given that the KMT’s unwillingness to swerve away from the 1992 Consensus continues to be a major weakness for the party...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalPoliticsSeptember 20226 min read

Brian Hioe

Brian Hioe is one of the founding editors of New Bloom. He is a freelance journalist, as well as a translator. A New York native and Taiwanese-American, he has an MA in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and graduated from New York University with majors in History, East Asian Studies, and English Literature. He was Democracy and Human Rights Service Fellow at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy from 2017 to 2018.

丘琦欣，創建破土的編輯之一，專於撰寫社會運動和政治的自由作家偶而亦從事翻譯工作。他自哥倫比亞大學畢業，是亞洲語言及文化科系的碩士，同時擁有紐約大學的歷史，東亞研究及英文文學三項學士學位。