Brian Hioe

Vaccine Requirements Introduced for Entertainment Venues, COVID Cases Found in Kaohsiung, Hsinchu

The CECC, which coordinates Taiwan’s response to COVID-19, has announced a new requirement necessitating proof of vaccination for entry to bars, nightclubs, tea parlors with hostess services, and beauty parlors. This is in response to recent weeks that have seen cases return to the double digits, as well as a large number of imported cases...

Will the Tsai Administration Lift Barriers on Food Imports from Fukushima?

The issue of food imports from Japan’s Fukushima prefecture is expected to become a contested issue for the Tsai administration in the near future. This takes place in the wake of a December 2020 referendum that saw the DPP victorious, with the DPP’s positions on all four referendum questions winning out over the KMT, in addition to the referendum failing to meet benchmarks to be binding. Some reports suggest that the DPP will next move to lift the ban...

12 Domestic Cases Reported by CECC, Including Cluster at Factory, With Uptick in Cases in Past Days

The Central Epidemic Command Center, which coordinates Taiwan’s response to COVID-19, announced 12 domestic cases today. 58 imported cases were also reported, along with no deaths. Of particular concern are that four of the cases from today are from an electronics factory in Taoyuan. This occurred due to a previously known case that worked at the Taoyuan International Airport, who transmitted it to her child and husband and friend, who then spread it to four co-workers. The factory has 280 workers, who have all been sent into quarantine, and the factory has halted work...

Freddy Lim Survives Taipei Recall, Lin Ching-yi Wins Taichung By-Election in Pan-Green Win

The pan-Green camp saw a victory today, with independent legislator Freddy Lim retaining his seat in Zhongzheng-Wanhua in Taipei District 5, and Lin Ching-yi of the DPP winning the by-election for Taichung District 2, which includes Shalu, Longjing, Dadu, Wuri, and Wufeng. Voting took place in Taichung and Taipei from 8 AM to 4 PM. Vote counting in Zhongzheng-Wanhua was more or less finished by 5 PM, while Lin showed a clear lead in vote counting in Taichung earlier on. Although it was originally expected that results would be known by 7 PM, results were known far earlier...
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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。