The meeting last week between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American president Donald Trump offers lessons for Taiwan in terms of Trump’s unpredictability...
A Chinese YouTube vlogger who has in the past expressed support for Taiwanese democracy surnamed Liu reported last week that his mother has been detained by the National Security Bureau for over four days in his native Suzhou. The disappearance of Liu’s mother should be concerning, not only within Taiwan but to Chinese supporters of Taiwan—even if they live outside of China...
On the 72nd anniversary of the 228 Massacre, it should be clear that a long path remains to be walked to realize transitional justice in Taiwan. This is visible in a number of recent incidents...
Recently released Taiwanese horror game, Devotion, caused controversy in China after it was discovered that two parts of the game included messages mocking Chinese president Xi Jinping. This later led to the game being pulled from sales on Steam and other online stores. Devotion, released by Red Candle Studios, is the follow-up to 2017 horror hit Detention...
The new chair of the NPP was decided earlier this month, with lawyer Handy Chiu becoming the party’s new leader. Similarly, the second central committee of the party was also elected, consisting of eighteen party members. The announcement of the new chair took place on February 15th...
Pro-nuclear groups in Taiwan continue to push for nuclear energy, as observed in three recent referendum pushes on nuclear energy-related issues. These referendums are organized by the groups responsible for the referendum on nuclear energy held in November during nine-in-one elections...
Concern has broken out over suggestions from the KMT that it will seek a peace treaty with China if it retakes the presidency in 2020, with questions raised about what this could mean for Taiwan...
The Executive Yuan has finally released its draft bill on legalization for same-sex unions. Yet the draft bill does not allow gay couples the same rights that heterosexual couples currently enjoy in many crucial aspects. What will this mean for efforts to realize marriage equality in Taiwan?...
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.
