Controversy has broken out in the wake of a food contamination incident that led to two deaths. Two died after eating at the Polam Kopitiam location in the Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A1 in downtown Taipei. The poisoning incidents occurred between March 19th and last Sunday...
A recent series of proposals from the KMT aims to expand the power of the legislature. This would allow legislators the ability to approve the appointment of officials, as well as conduct investigations of organizations, sections of government, the military, the police, and legal entities. To this extent, legislators would be granted the power to summon government officials and hold them in contempt for not complying, leading to fines of up to 300,000 NT...
Anti-nuclear groups demonstrated in front of the Legislative Yuan on March 11th, to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. The Fukushima disaster involved the catastrophic meltdown of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on March 11th, 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan...
A draft proposal by KMT caucus convener Fu Kun-chi has stoked controversy. Namely, the proposal would provide for the extension of high-speed rail around all of Taiwan, though this is attached to a proposal ostensibly focused primarily on an expressway connecting Hualien and Taitung and the extension of Freeway No. 6 to Hualien. The bill is currently backed by Legislative Yuan Vice President Johnny Chiang of the KMT...
Maritime contention between Taiwan and China continues, following the rescue of two Taiwanese fishers by the Chinese Coast Guard after the two became adrift during a fishing trip. This occurred due to the engine failure of their vessel...
A social outcry has broken out after the death of a one-year-old in foster care. The child reportedly died because of abuse by the caregiver, surnamed Liu...
A die-in and protest in support of Gaza and Palestine was held in Liberty Plaza in Taipei. Around 100 participated, including many expats in Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese. As such, many of the speeches were interpreted in both Mandarin and English...
Hongkongers rallied outside of the Ximen MRT station in Taipei today in response to the passage of Article 23. The passage of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law serves to criminalize sedition, but does so under such wide-ranging and unspecified terms that it is thought this will serve as a means of further criminalizing political freedoms in Hong Kong. The demonstration against Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law today takes place as part of a global day of action...
An investigation is currently ongoing into the death of a six-month-old child whose parents were undocumented Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan. The child is suspected to have died of the norovirus, with his sickness having been discovered after his placement at a shelter...
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.
