Brian Hioe

Is Controversy Regarding the Anti-Infiltration Bill a Fake Political Issue?

Brian Hioe
Controversy regarding a new anti-infiltration bill that the Tsai administration intends to pass before the end of the year largely proves a false issue. Namely, while Tsai seems in a rush to pass the bill before the year’s end and the KMT claims that the DPP is infringing on political freedoms and shrugging off legal oversight measures to pass the bill so quickly, it is actually quite unlikely the bill will do much to stop Chinese efforts to influence Taiwanese elections...
December 2019EnglishPolitics8 min read

The “Democracy Frontline” Reflects Shifts in Youth Participation in 2020 Electoral Politics

Brian Hioe
Though under-discussed in English-language writing on the 2020 presidential and legislative elections that are set to take place in January next year, the “Democracy Frontline” interparty alliance proves one of the more significant formations where youth participation in electoral politics is concerned. The Democracy Frontline consists of young independent, third party, or DPP candidates that have aligned to tacitly endorse Tsai Ing-wen’s reelection campaign...
December 2019EnglishPolitics8 min read

Detention of Well-Known Chinese Labor Activist Points to a Larger Pattern

Brian Hioe
The detention of young Chinese labor activist Chen Wei-xiang proves the latest incident of the detention of social activists by the Chinese government. Chen's detention points to a larger pattern, not only regarding actions by the Chinese government against labor activists, but against activists that run news platforms aimed at spreading information about protests or political dissent...
December 2019EnglishLaborSocial Movements5 min read

Chthonic Concert Draws 30,000, Dueling Rallies in Kaohsiung Both Draw Hundreds of Thousands

Brian Hioe
A number of political rallies took place in both northern and southern Taiwan today, between both the Pan-Green and Pan-Blue camps. In Taipei, independent legislator Freddy Lim and the young Pan-Green candidates of the "Democracy Frontline" interparty alliance held a rally and concert on Ketagalan Boulevard with Lim's band, the symphonic black metal band Chthonic. President Tsai Ing-wen was among those in attendance, with organizers claiming that over 30,000 attended the concert...
December 2019EnglishPolitics7 min read

Misogyny, Racism, and Homophobia Abound in 2020 Elections

Brian Hioe
In examining many of the prominent male politicians playing important roles in 2020 elections, a striking commonality is their frequent overt displays of misogyny, racism, and homophobia. This is true of individuals including but not limited to Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, the KMT’s presidential candidate, his running mate Simon Chang, KMT chair Wu Den-yih, and Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je, who is not running but whose Taiwan People’s Party will be fielding a number of legislative candidates in 2020 elections...
December 2019EnglishPolitics6 min read
Avatar photo

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。