Brian Hioe

Will the Ministry of Labor’s New Guidelines Improve Conditions Facing Female Migrant Workers?

The Ministry of Labor has released new guidelines on the rights of female migrant workers. Nevertheless, it is to be seen whether the guidelines rectify a longstanding problem in Taiwanese society. One issue of note facing female migrant workers is that many have their work terminated after becoming pregnant. 6,000 female migrant workers become pregnant in Taiwan each year, but 78% of migrant workers who receive maternity benefits end their contracts and return to their home countries...

Why Has the KMT Begun to Attack the Kuma Academy Over Funding?

The KMT has hit out at funding for the Kuma Academy, the best-known of Taiwan’s civil defense initiatives. In particular, the KMT has accused fundraising efforts for the Kuma Academy–which took place on a public welfare fundraising platform run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare–as being an effort to fund political activities. Laws forbid political activities from fundraising on public welfare platforms...

Lai Ching-te Emphasizes Dialogue, Defense of the Constitution in New Year’s Speech

In his New Year's address, President Lai Ching-te touted Taiwan’s accomplishments on the international stage, such as the Olympics victories in badminton by Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang, as well as in boxing by Lin Yu-ting. Lai also brought up Yang Shuang-zi’s Taiwan Travelogue winning best work in translation at the United States National Book Award, as translated by King Lin. Likewise, Lai touted Taiwan’s economic growth, including in high-tech industries, and increases in wages...
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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 and is currently a Non-Resident Fellow at the University of Nottingham's Taiwan Studies Programme.

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。