With global concern over the spread of “fake news” following prominent discussion about the issue during 2016 American presidential elections, some have also raised the need in Taiwan to combat fake news and prevent the spread of false information. But could this possibly lead to dangers for press freedoms in Taiwan?...
The Chinese Women’s League has recently been mired in controversy regarding accusations that most of its resources come from KMT party assets or the military. But the controversy is illustrative of the difficulties in distinguishing ROC institutions from KMT ones, as well as how many institutions with large amounts of resources dating from the authoritarian era still exist with little oversight in Taiwan...
With increasing talk in America of the possibility of impeaching Donald Trump, it may be due time for Taiwan to consider what course it should take in the case of a Trump impeachment. What Taiwan should not do at all costs is, for whatever reason, to irrationally hitch its wagons to the Trump administration...
Factional infighting continues in the KMT following the election of Wu Den-Yih as chair, with the latest spat taking place as a result of outgoing chair Hung Hsiu-Chu attempting to appoint new Central Standing Committee members despite nearing the end of her term. Hung’s actions would be in order to ensure that her faction of the party continues to have a say in party decision-making despite her loss in her bid for reelection as party chair...
The annual commemoration of the Tiananmen Square Massacre took place in Taipei yesterday, marking the 28th anniversary of the crackdown on demonstrating students by the Chinese government. The commemoration was held in Liberty Plaza, as it has been in previous years, and had over one hundred in attendance despite drizzling rain and the ceremony coming on the tail end of a weekend which had seen near-typhoon conditions...
The indigenous occupation on Ketagalan Boulevard demonstrating for the return of traditional lands was cleared and evicted Friday, on a rainy day in which heavy downpours led to severe flooding in parts of Taipei. Friday would have been the occupation’s one hundredth day...
With American president Donald Trump announcing that America will withdraw from the Paris Agreement climate accord, this would be another step in the decline of American power. But, significantly, this also allows China to increasingly be seen as a responsible partner in the international community...
With Emirates cabin crew from Taiwan ordered by the company to remove their ROC pins from their uniforms and to replace them with PRC pins, as well as ordered to follow "One China Policy," it is not surprising that this has led to outrage in Taiwan. But what can we learn from this incident, in terms of how international companies handle cross-strait issues, and how Taiwan can leverage on such incidents to raise awareness of its international plight?...
With the recent landmark ruling of the Council of Grand Justices’ in Taiwan that preventing same-sex couples from marrying is unconstitutional, some question whether China will be soon to follow in Taiwan’s footsteps in legalizing gay marriage. But this seems highly unlikely...
International media outlets have sometimes referred to Taiwan as the first “country” in Asia to legalize gay marriage by court ruling. More commonly, Taiwan has been referred to as an “island,” “place”, or without any reference to what kind of polity Taiwan is altogether, but still stressing the historic nature of the event as a first in Asia. This is revealing of the hypocrisy of international media...
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.