Social Movements

Taiwan Sees Rise in Anti-Gender Discourse Online

October was especially difficult for Taiwan’s transgender community, as a wave of anti-gender discourse flooded social media as a result of Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights’ strategic litigation plaintiff Lisbeth Wu finally changing her legal gender without providing proof of sexual organ removal surgery on October 8th. Wu’s case challenging compulsory surgery for legal gender change was initiated on Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2020 and finally received a favorable ruling by the Taipei High Administrative Court ruling on August 26th earlier this year. Before this court case, TAPCPR began representing Wu in 2018 for her then lawsuit against Chang Gung University for refusing to house her in women’s dormitories, which she won on June 25, 2021...

Nvidia Power Requirement Claims From Pan-Blue Legislators Reflect Pan-Blue Views on Green Energy

Claims by pan-Blue lawmakers that Nvidia sought to purchase 10 terawatt-hours of green energy for its first Asian research center and Taipei-1 supercomputer bring together several thematics in efforts by the pan-Blue camp to sow doubt in the Lai administration. Such allegations were made by TPP legislator Chang Chi-kai, who alleged that these requests were made by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang of Minister of Economic Affairs JW Kuo...

DPP Again Suggests Openness to Nuclear Energy

The Lai administration has continued to be strategically ambiguous regarding nuclear energy. In comments to Bloomberg late last month, Premier Cho Jung-tai expressed a willingness to use nuclear energy to meet energy demands for AI. It is expected that Taiwan may play a key role in the growing AI sector, particularly regarding the use of chips, seeing as Taiwan already plays a preeminent role in global semiconductor manufacturing. Cho stated that as long as there was social consensus on nuclear energy, particularly regarding the disposal of nuclear waste, that it was fine to proceed...

Politics of Nuclear Fission: A Critique of the Nobel Peace Prize 2024

After decades of fighting for a nuke-free world, the organization Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a press conference, Toshiyuki Mimaki, one of the representatives of Hidankyo, expressed his gratitude, but soon added that he thought the Nobel Peace Prize would go to those who help the children in Gaza, since “in Gaza, children in blood are being held. It's like in Japan 80 years ago"...

Criticisms of Obasan Alliance After Gaza March Show Partisan Divisions in Taiwanese Politics

After a march marking the one-year anniversary of the start of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza earlier this month, the Obasan Alliance has come under criticism from pro-independence groups over the third party being perceived as standing with pro-unification groups. This has included allegations that the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), which is associated with the Bamboo Union organized crime group, was in attendance at the march. This is not true, in that the CUPP was not present...