Brian Hioe

Following Death, Pilot Union Calls for Three-Day Break Between Quarantine and Long-Haul Flights

Brian Hioe
The Taoyuan Pilot's Union has called for pilots to have a three-day break between quarantine and long-haul flights, following the death of a China Airlines pilot on Monday in his home. The cause of death of the pilot, who was 61-years-old and from Venezuela, is still being investigated. There is particular scrutiny on whether he might have died due to COVID-19...
EnglishLaborOctober 2021Social Movements6 min read

Biden Again Creates Confusion After Comments Suggesting US Commitment to Defend Taiwan From Invasion

Brian Hioe
US president Joe Biden again created confusion regarding the US position on Taiwan today during a town hall held by CNN. In response to a question about whether he would vow to protect Taiwan and what he would do to compete with China militarily, following Chinese tests of a hypersonic missile, Biden stated “Yes and yes"...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishInternationalOctober 20217 min read

Huang Kuo-shu Controversy Reveals Issues of Complicity, Collaboration During Authoritarian Times

Brian Hioe
DPP legislator Huang Kuo-shu announced that he would be withdrawing from the party and not pursuing reelection in 2024 earlier this week after the Liberty Times reported that he had served as an informant during the KMT during authoritarian times. According to the report, Huang was involved in spying on fellow students who were involved in political dissidence in university...
EnglishOctober 2021Politics6 min read

Arrest Calls Attention to Issue of “Deepfake” Videos in Taiwan

Brian Hioe
The issue of "deepfakes" has been widely discussed in Taiwan after YouTuber "Xiao Yu" was found to be responsible for a Telegram group used to sell, commission, and circulate "deepfake" porn videos of women, who were mostly public figures. Xiao Yu, whose real name is Zhu Yu-chen, was subsequently taken into custody. Xiao Yu is primarily known for humor videos, though some of his viral stunts have caused controversy in the past...
EnglishGender/SexualityOctober 2021Social Movements5 min read

Calls for Punitive Treatment of the Mentally Ill After Violent Incidents Prove Unsurprising

Brian Hioe
Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare has made a name for itself in past years through its firmly progressive political stances. This has been demonstrated in public service announcements calling for respecting freedom of gender expression, particularly from the young, and calls for migrant workers to be able to undergo COVID-19 screenings without having their working papers checked, something that might discourage undocumented workers from visiting hospitals...
EnglishOctober 2021Politics5 min read

China Leverages on Taiwan’s Reputation for Dollar Diplomacy in Somaliland Criticisms

Brian Hioe
In the past week, the Chinese government has sought to tar Taiwan’s efforts to build stronger diplomatic relations with Somaliland, with state-run tabloid Global Times alleging that the Taiwanese government is paying off politicians in Somaliland in return for diplomatic recognition. Such claims, which have been denied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, draw on Taiwan’s reputation for “dollar diplomacy” ...
EnglishOctober 2021Politics5 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。