August 2025

Lai Administration Continues Moves Increasing Regulations Over Chinese Spouses of Taiwanese

Brian Hioe
A proposal from the Ministry of the Interior would require Chinese spouses of Taiwanese applying for permanent residency in Taiwan to provide a notarized certificate showing that they do not have or are not applying for a Chinese passport, as well as that they have already given up their Chinese passport. This proves the latest move by the Lai administration to tighten legal regulations applying to Chinese spouses of Taiwanese residing in Taiwan...
August 2025EnglishPolitics4 min read

Civil Society Groups Criticize Lack of Prosecution for Fishing Vessel

Brian Hioe
A group of scholars and civil society organizations released a statement earlier this month about the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office’s decision not to prosecute the vessel owners of the You-fu. Specifically, the statement criticizes the failure of Pingtung prosecutors to charge the vessel owners on charges of human trafficking. The signatory organizations were the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Taiwan Labour Front. Serve the People Association, International Center of Cultural Studies, and Work Better Innovations...
August 2025EnglishLaborPoliticsRaceSocial Movements4 min read

Partisan Contestation to Continue in Aftermath of Recalls

Brian Hioe
The aftermath of the recalls is gradually taking shape. In particular, the pan-Blue camp is likely to persist with further attempts to attack the DPP. A new proposal from the TPP, which is supported by the KMT, would tie national referendums to elections. This would likely drive up turnout in a way that would make it more likely that referendums would meet benchmarks to be binding...
August 2025EnglishPoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements4 min read

Historical Memory of the End of Pacific War Contested Between the KMT and DPP

Brian Hioe
Commemorations in Taiwan regarding the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War earlier this month have proven politically charged between the DPP and KMT. This may not be surprising, insofar as present-day concerns have been projected onto World War II, and Taiwan is sometimes discussed as a potential flashpoint for another global conflict along the lines of past world wars...
August 2025EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions5 min read

The Hypocrisy of “The Hypocrisy of Recognizing Palestine But Not Taiwan”

Brian Hioe
A recent op-ed in the Washington Post by Vincent C. Chen–“The hypocrisy of recognizing Palestine but not Taiwan”–criticizes Western countries for moving toward the recognition of Palestine but not Taiwan. The article proves a remarkable exercise in nationalist parochialism. Rather than take the view that Taiwan should see its cause in a similar light to Palestine’s and that the two causes support each other, the suggestion is that Palestine is undeserving of recognition, and Taiwan is more deserving...
August 2025EnglishFeaturedPoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements6 min read

How the Recall Failure Affected Pro-Recall Taiwanese

Aleksandrs Gross
The Great Recall Movement has been described by some as the beginning of a new wave of Taiwanese activism—the greatest since the Sunflower Movement. The first wave of recall elections failed to recall even one of the 24 targeted KMT politicians from office, dealing a heavy blow to the pro-recall movement. Such a turn of events raises the question: how have the recall results affected pro-recall Taiwanese? And more importantly, what does this mean for the future of Taiwanese activism?...
August 2025EnglishPoliticsSelf-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements16 min read