Brian Hioe

How Should We Interpret Ko Wen-Je’s Narrow Election Victory?

Ko Wen-je barely clinched the Taipei mayorship yesterday night, winning by several thousand votes over KMT candidate Ting Shou-chung. According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), Ko won with 580,820 votes, while Ting lost with 577,566 votes. This puts Ko just over 3,300 votes ahead of Ting, a narrow victory by any means. How should we interpret this narrow win?...

Progressive Taiwanese Civil Society Sees Defeat By Way Of National Referendum

The results of referendum voting will no doubt come as a great shock to progressive Taiwanese civil society with, quite literally, all of the referendum proposals they championed being voted down. On the other hand, all of the referendums they opposed passed. However, not all of these achieved the necessary 25% of voter participation needed to be legally binding...

KMT “Blue Wave” Takes Taiwan, Defeats For Progressive Civil Society On Referendums

Election results in 2018 local elections in Taiwan have been a surprise, with the apparent defeat of the DPP across much of Taiwan and a resurgent KMT. Referendum proposals pushed for by progressive civil society were widely defeated, but the NPP won 16 seats across Taiwan. The Taipei mayoral race has still yet to be called but is neck and neck between Ko and Ting...

What Will Happen If Progressive Taiwanese Civil Society Is Defeated Through The Referendum?

Referendum reform has historically been pushed for by progressive civil society groups in Taiwan, as a means to resolve longstanding issues blocked by the KMT and other conservative forces. Progressive civil society groups were finally victorious in amending the Referendum Act last year, lowering the benchmarks needed to hold a referendum in Taiwan. But what if the results of referendum voting tomorrow indicate that, ironically enough, conservatives have managed to hijack the referendum and to use it against progressive civil society?...

Will The DPP Lose Its Control Of Taiwan’s Six Special Municipalities?

With mayorship of all of Taiwan’s six special municipalities up for the vote in 2018 local elections, the DPP looks like it may have a tough time holding onto its current political dominance in four out of the six municipalities. Some take the view that DPP losses in these municipalities will allow the KMT to rebuild momentum, which is why DPP losses could be worrying...

What Will Become Of The Third Force In 2018 Elections?

Going into 2018 local elections tomorrow, it is a question as to what will become of Taiwan’s so-called “Third Force”. “Third Force” as a term refers to political parties which emerged after the 2014 Sunflower Movement, composed in large part out of young people, youth candidates, and activists turned politician, and which framed themselves as breaking from establishment politics both DPP and KMT...

Concerns That 2020 Olympics Name Referendum Could Lead To Taiwan Olympics Ban On The Rise

The most popular of the slate of referendums which are to be voted on this Saturday, the referendum on what name Taiwan will participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under, has come under increased scrutiny in the past week. Namely, the International Olympics Committee has warned that Taiwan could be banned from participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if the referendum is successful...
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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。