As governments across East and Southeast Asia tighten restrictions on activism and association, civic space is rapidly shrinking. Leah Lin, founder of the Asia Citizen Future Association, explains how Taiwan’s democracy faces its own contradictions and why slowing the decline of freedoms may be the most radical act left...
Taiwan’s democracy is increasingly defined by what happens online. As cyberattacks, surveillance, and opaque data practices test the boundaries of digital freedom, the Open Culture Foundation (OCF) works to keep the internet open, transparent, and accountable...
Taiwan is often celebrated as one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. Yet behind its progressive image, death penalty, stalled refugee protections, and labor exploitation tell a more complicated story — one where human rights remain negotiable when national security is invoked....
Yesterday morning during a memorial event entitled “Love, Faith, Courage: A Memorial for Charlie Kirk in Taiwan” organized by the Formosa Republican Association (FRA, 福和會) and co-organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Party (TSP, 台聯黨), the Taiwan Teachers’ Union (台灣教師聯盟), Taiwan Liberty Society (台灣自由學會), and the Taiwan Human Rights and Cultural Association, student protestors from National Chengchi University, National Taiwan Normal University and Soochow University disrupted the event and were promptly met with physical violence...
A vigil for Palestine was held in Liberty Plaza in Taipei today, on the second anniversary of the attacks conducted by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. After the attacks, the Israeli government began an extermination campaign directed against Palestinians in Gaza, with over 60,000 killed since then, and the decimation of infrastructure across Gaza, including all hospitals. Around fifty were in attendance...
Activists on Saturday staged a demonstration outside the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition, accusing dozens of participating companies of profiting from Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza and urging the government to block arms-related exports linked to alleged war crimes...
Starting in late August, protests have broken out in cities across Indonesia. The demonstrations initially broke out in anger against luxurious housing subsidies received by members of the legislature, to which Indonesian police responded with overwhelming force. But after a delivery driver, Affan Kurniawan, was killed by police, this led to a new wave of demonstrations. To shed light on the situation, New Bloom's Brian Hioe spoke to Iftitah Sari, researcher at the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform...
