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“The Taiwanese People Should Stand With the People of Swaziland”: A Conversation with Tanele Maseko

New Bloom editor Brian Hioe interviewed Tanele Maseko, human rights defender from Swaziland and the wife of Thulani Maseko. Thulani Maseko, an opposition politician and human rights lawyer, was killed by unidentified gunman in January of this year. As this took place after comments by Swazi monarch King Mswati III suggesting that critics of his should be killed, it is thought that this killing was ordered by the monarch. Tanele Maseko was visiting Taipei for the Oslo Freedom Forum on October 18th. Despite the questionable human rights record of Swaziland, which was renamed Eswatini by Mswati III in April 2018, it is one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies. Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen most recently visited Eswatini this September. ...

Possible TPP Candidate Comes Under Scrutiny for Alleged CCP Links

The TPP has come under fire for a possible party list candidate that the DPP claims to have formerly been a CCP member. The prospective candidate in question is Xu Chunying, the chair of the Taiwan New Residents Development Association, which advocates for the rights of foreign-born spouses in Taiwan. Xu is naturalized to Taiwanese nationality through marriage to a Taiwanese man...

Annual Pride Parade Draws Estimated 176,000 in Taipei

The annual pride parade that takes in Taipei at the end of October, Taiwan LGBT Pride, was held today. An estimated 153,000 participated in the parade according to organizers, which is up from 120,000 last year. This was the twenty-first year that the pride parade was held. The uptick in attendance may be due to the opening of borders after the end of COVID-19, which had led to lower attendance in past years. ...