December 2017

Tsai Recognizes Authoritarian Regime Reminiscent Of The Past KMT In Honduras

Brian Hioe
The irony, not to mention hypocrisy, of Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen acknowledging Juan Orlando Hernandez as president of Honduras is deep. Namely, Honduras is presently in the midst of a voter fraud scandal, with Hernandez accused of having won the election through fraud, much as how the past KMT once controlled Taiwan through stolen elections. This would be Hernandez’s second term as president and under Hernandez's rule, the Honduran police is accused of killing political dissidents, and allowing organize crime to freely carry out street killings, leading Honduras to have one of the world's highest murder rates...
December 2017EnglishInternationalRegional Tensions9 min read

Detention Of Maoist Intellectual Reveals Hypocrisy Of Chinese State, But Ultimately Not Surprising

Brian Hioe
The arrest of 24-year-old Maoist intellectual Zhang Yunfan, a graduate student at Peking University in philosophy, is nothing really surprising. Despite Maoists advocating for strengthened state powers to regulate the economy and perhaps seen themselves as a loyal opposition to the state, the flip side of this is that the state could still turn on them when it sees them as threats...
December 2017EnglishLaborSocial Movements9 min read

Green Terror Accusations Nothing More Than Outright Denial Of White Terror

Brian Hioe
Accusations by the KMT that the DPP is instituting a “Green Terror” of political persecution against the pan-Blue camp that is equal to or worse than the White Terror perpetrated by the KMT during the authoritarian period are groundless and ridiculous. Such accusations are ultimately a form of historical denial, but they may gain traction due to historical amnesia in "post-fact" times...
December 2017EnglishPolitics7 min read

Outrage From Activists Over Police Actions During Labor Demonstration

Brian Hioe
Outrage continues from Taiwanese activists regarding the actions taken by police against demonstrations against the Tsai administration’s planned labor laws on December 23rd. Outrage has centered around the kettling of activists without any legal justification provided by police for detaining the freedom of movement of citizens, an incident in which the clothes of a woman being dragged onto a police bus were torn off and her hands were bound with a belt, and the arrest of lawyers...
#20December 2017EnglishLaborSocial Movements9 min read

Protests Against Labor Law Changes See Clashes Not Seen Since Sunflower Movement

Brian Hioe
The protests against planned labor law changes by the Tsai administration that took place yesterday may end up being remembered as historic for Taiwanese labor, in marking the start of what will be remembered as a new era of labor militancy. There probably has not been any protest as dramatic or intense since the Sunflower Movement, even if protests ended with a number of arrests....
#20December 2017EnglishLaborSocial Movements16 min read

10,000 Occupy Major Taipei Intersection To Demonstrate Planned Labor Law Changes

Brian Hioe
Demonstration against the Tsai administration’s planned changes to the Labor Standards Act began today have been intense Protests began at noon outside DPP headquarters. After three hours of speeches, at which point demonstrators swelled to over 10,000, the demonstration marched towards the Legislative Yuan along Zhongxiao West Road. After being blocked by police from proceeding further, demonstrators instead occupied the intersection of Zhongxiao West Road and Zhongshan North and South Roads, where they remain...
#20December 2017EnglishLaborSocial Movements7 min read

Charges Facing Ma Ying-Jeou Complicated By New Party Scandal

Brian Hioe
Former president Ma Ying-Jeou of the KMT, who saw the eruption of the Sunflower Movement against his policies aimed at directing the unification of Taiwan and China under his term, continues to come under fire for actions that took place during his presidency. In particular, Ma is currently facing lawsuits regarding the underselling of former state-owned enterprises and former KMT party assets. But this has been complicated by the recent scandal regarding the detention of high-profile New Party members...
December 2017EnglishSocial MovementsYouth Movements8 min read