December 2021

Ruling on Gay Adoption Case Sets Precedent, But Does Not Change Overall Laws

Brian Hioe
The Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court made a historic ruling last month, allowing a gay couple to adopt a child that neither of the two is biologically related to. At the same time, the ruling is case-specific, only applies to that couple, and does not overturn current laws in Taiwan, which only allow gay couples to jointly adopt if the child is the biological child of one of the couple...
December 2021EnglishGender/SexualitySocial Movements6 min read

Yen Kuan-heng Attacks Media Over Increased Scrutiny

Brian Hioe
Yen Kuan-heng, who is the KMT’s candidate for the by-election to fill the seat formerly occupied by Chen Po-wei of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, has taken to alleging media bias against him. In particular, Yen filed forty-five complaints at the National Communications Commission alleging unfair media coverage that has disproportionately focused on him in national television networks...
December 2021EnglishPolitics7 min read

Code Pink Webinar With Carl Zha on Taiwanese Skips Most of the Last Century, Has No Taiwanese Speakers

Brian Hioe
Anti-war organizations Code Pink and Massachusetts Peace Action held a webinar on the possibility of war in the Taiwan Straits late last month, featuring Chinese podcaster Carl Zha and Madison Tang from Code Pink. The event proved a striking example of the sort of discussion of Taiwan one gets from elements of the anti-war left when they speak over Taiwanese voices, with neither Zha nor Tang being Taiwanese. Zha was the main speaker, with Tang moderating...
December 2021EnglishPolitics10 min read

No, the KMT Did Not Lose in the Referendum Because of Wang Leehom

Brian Hioe
The national referendum held last Saturday resulted in a defeat for the KMT, with the four referendum proposals that the KMT advocated all being voted down. As such, the Tsai administration has a much stronger position going into the 2022 midterm elections, with the DPP having called for all four proposals to be voted down. The four issues that were voted on were the relocation of a liquified natural gas terminal off the coast of Datan, Taoyuan, the restart of nuclear reactor #4, US pork imports, and whether referendums are held on the same date as elections...
December 2021EnglishPolitics5 min read