English

Migrant Workers March For Better Labor Conditions Despite Heavy Rain, Wind, And Cold

Brian Hioe
Despite heavy rain, wind, and cold, several hundred migrant workers and supportive Taiwanese activists marched today from the Ministry of Labor close to the Dadaocheng area in western Taipei, past Taipei Main Station, and towards the Presidential Office. There, migrant workers held a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the barricades surrounding the Presidential Office...
#20EnglishJanuary 2018LaborSocial Movements12 min read

NPP Occupation In Front Of Presidential Office Continues Past 24 Hours

Brian Hioe
As the New Power Party's occupation in front of the Presidential Office continues past its 24th hour, shock and outrage has ensued against the Tsai administration for the disproportionate police reaction against demonstrations against planned changes to the Labor Standards Act. This includes police setting up a restricted area around the Presidential Office so large that Taiwanese media has dubbed it to be the "largest restricted area in Taiwanese history"...
#20EnglishJanuary 2018LaborSocial Movements9 min read

Attempts By Sporting Associations To Block Reform Efforts Using Fake Members

Brian Hioe
Controversy over sporting associations in Taiwan continues, with accusations in the past month that sporting associations have taken steps to try and block pushes for reform from Taiwanese activists and members of civil society. This has been through raising the costs for joining sporting associations and a sudden influx of thousands of applications shortly before the deadline, of which many are thought to be fake...
EnglishJanuary 2018Social MovementsYouth Movements6 min read

New Party Members Part Of Scheme By China To Build Contacts In Taiwan

Brian Hioe
Controversy continues regarding alleged connections between four New Party members briefly detained by police earlier this month to Zhou Hongxu, a Chinese student studying in Taiwan arrested for spying in September. In particular, recent developments are that Wang Ping-chung, a television personality known for his pro-unification views and the best known of the four New Party members, may have been paid by China to develop a media website in Taiwan, with the eventual aim of developing this into an espionage organization...
EnglishJanuary 2018Politics11 min read

10,000 March Against Chinese Influence In Hong Kong On New Year’s Day

Brian Hioe
10,000 marched in Hong Kong on New Year’s Day in order to demonstrate against the continued erosion of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, marking that while the democracy movement may have had a tough year, protests will still continue in Hong Kong. The protest included an encirclement of police headquarters and clashes after the crowd attempted to enter Civic Square, the site of high-profile occupations during the Umbrella Movement. At least three were injured, including two police officers...
EnglishJanuary 2018Self-DeterminationSocial Movements6 min read

Tsai Recognizes Authoritarian Regime Reminiscent Of The Past KMT In Honduras

Brian Hioe
The irony, not to mention hypocrisy, of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen acknowledging Juan Orlando Hernandez as president of Honduras is deep. Namely, Honduras is presently in the midst of a voter fraud scandal, with Hernandez accused of having won the election through fraud, much as how the past KMT once controlled Taiwan through stolen elections. This would be Hernandez’s second term as president and under Hernandez's rule, the Honduran police is accused of killing political dissidents, and allowing organize crime to freely carry out street killings, leading Honduras to have one of the world's highest murder rates...
December 2017EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions9 min read

Detention Of Maoist Intellectual Reveals Hypocrisy Of Chinese State, But Ultimately Not Surprising

Brian Hioe
The arrest of 24-year-old Maoist intellectual Zhang Yunfan, a graduate student at Peking University in philosophy, is nothing really surprising. Despite Maoists advocating for strengthened state powers to regulate the economy and perhaps seen themselves as a loyal opposition to the state, the flip side of this is that the state could still turn on them when it sees them as threats...
December 2017EnglishLaborSocial Movements9 min read