Brian Hioe

Election Results in Maintenance of Pan-Blue Status Quo in Taiwanese Local Politics

Brian Hioe
The results of nine-in-one elections today resulted in the KMT regaining control of traditional territories in Taoyuan, Keelung, and Taipei, while edging out the DPP competition. On the other hand, the DPP held onto its own traditional territories in southern Taiwan in Tainan and Kaohsiung. However, the DPP clearly was unable to gain new ground or to hold onto traditional pan-Blue territory that it had captured in past years...
EnglishNovember 2022Politics5 min read

Will the Referendum on Lowering the Voting Age Pass?

Brian Hioe
The 2022 midterm elections have, in some ways, been characterized by the absence of any animating core issue. In past years, the national referendum has allowed for local elections to crystallize around specific issues. For preceding elections, this has ranged from legalizing gay marriage to nuclear energy, opening up Taiwan to pork imports from the US, and the name that Taiwan would compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under. This year, the only issue being voted on is that of lowering the voting age from the current twenty years old to eighteen years old...
2022 ElectionsEnglishNovember 2022Politics5 min read

Tainan Mayoral Debate Sees Contestation About Public Safety

Brian Hioe
The Tainan mayoral policy presentation was held on November 16th. This piece will focus on the two primary contenders, Hsieh Lung-chieh of the KMT, and incumbent Huang Wei-che of the DPP. The policy presentation took place in the form of each candidate being given twenty minutes to make a presentation. The presentation took place almost entirely in Taiwanese Hokkien, though Huang broke into Mandarin at some points...
EnglishNovember 2022Politics5 min read

Hsinchu Mayoral Debate Sees Ann Kao Come Under Fire For Scandals

Brian Hioe
The Hsinchu mayoral policy presentation took place on November 21st. The following article will focus on the three primary candidates, DPP candidate and former deputy mayor Shen Hui-hung, legislator Ann Kao of the TPP, and Hsinchu city councilor Lin Ken-jeng of the KMT. The debate took the form of thirty-minute speeches by each of the candidates, though candidates did use the opportunity to criticize each other...
2022 ElectionsAugust 2022EnglishPolitics5 min read

Taichung Mayoral Debate Centers Air Pollution, Past Campaign Promises

Brian Hioe
The Taichung mayoral debate took place on November 15th. This report will focus on the two primary candidates, incumbent Lu Shiow-yen of the KMT and challenger Tsai Chi-chang of the DPP. As with many of the other debates that have been held in the course of the election, there were three rounds. The first round consisted of opening statements, the second round consisted of questions from a panel of experts, and the third round consisted of closing statements...
2022 ElectionsEnglishNovember 2022Politics5 min read

Keelung Mayoral Debate Focuses on Different Visions for Development

Brian Hioe
The Keelung mayoral policy presentation took place on November 17th. Though there were five candidates, this article will focus on Hsieh Kuo-liang, the KMT candidate, and Tsai Shih-ying, the DPP candidate, as the main viable candidates. For the policy presentation, each candidate was allocated fifteen minutes to state their platform, with no round for cross-examinations or questions from experts due to the number of candidates...
2022 ElectionsAugust 2022EnglishPolitics5 min read

Mayoral Debate Illustrates How the KMT Continues Efforts to Make Inroads Into Kaohsiung

Brian Hioe
The Kaohsiung mayoral debate took place on November 12th. Though there were four candidates, this article will focus on the two main candidates, former legislator Ko Chih-en of the KMT and incumbent Chen Chi-mai of the DPP. The debate had three rounds, consisting of a first round of opening statements, a second round of questions from experts, and a third round consisting of closing statements...
2022 ElectionsAugust 2022EnglishPolitics5 min read
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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。