Differences between Catalonia and Taiwan aside, this has not prevented most of those in Taiwan who support continued Taiwanese independence from feeling sympathetic to Catalonia’s cause...
Renewed emphasis on Marxism after China’s 19th National Congress is not too surprising, seeing as China has never fully distanced itself from its purported claims to embrace Marxism as an ideology. Nevertheless, despite the fact that China may claim to be Marxist, China has long since embraced a free market economy while clinging to Marxism as a justification for a high degree of state involvement in the economy and the primacy of the state over political affairs...
Despite the large shifts brought about by the passing of the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals by the Legislative Yuan at present, it seems unlikely that long-term issues concerning Taiwan’s ability to attract and retain foreign or local talent will be resolved or that this will address many of the long-term issues facing foreigners in Taiwan...
With environmental groups filing a lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs against the renewal of Asia Cement’s mining permit in Sincheng, Hualien, means that the struggle against the Asia Cement mine in Hualien will continue...
Catalonia’s cause has drawn much sympathy from the world. But as for those who are unsympathetic, this raises a valuable lesson for Taiwan with regards to the criticisms from the international world that Taiwan would face in the case of independence...
The release of former death row inmate Cheng Hsing-Tse should be celebrated as a victory for the legal advocates and activists that have fought for his release for decades. However, what the case continues to raise is how dystopian the Taiwanese legal system can be at times, seeing as Cheng served ten years on death row and was imprisoned for a total of 14 years on inconclusive evidence...
A ruling by the Taiwan High Court in favor of RCA workers whose health was affected by industrial pollution is a victory, not only for RCA workers but for Taiwanese labor overall. A landmark case in Taiwanese labor, the case is also a case with few precedents in Taiwanese jurisprudence, as a class action lawsuit with hundreds of plaintiffs. Subsequently, it remains to be seen what will come next for efforts to secure justice for RCA workers...
Controversy regarding the China Youth Corps and a probe into its finances by the KMT party assets investigation committee, highly reminiscent of earlier controversy regarding the Chinese Women’s Corps, points to the difficulty separating civil society organizations with KMT links from former organs of the former party-state...
Recent attempts by the KMT to attack the DPP on the issue of desinicization have been suitably bizarre, with claims that missing ROC flags from government websites or official invites is a sign of the DPP attempting to peel back the symbols of the ROC. This largely seems to be a sign of desperation on the part of the KMT...
