Category: February 2021 | New Bloom Magazine

China Signals More Direct Intervention in Hong Kong with New Measures

Brian Hioe02/26/2021

Comments by Xia Baolong, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, earlier this week signaled that new measures would be aimed at ensuring that only “patriots” run Hong Kong in the future. By “patriots”, Xia was referring to individuals loyal to the Chinese government...

EnglishFebruary 2021Self-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements6 min read

Datan Gas Terminal Development Proves Another Issue the DPP and KMT Have Traded Places On

Brian Hioe02/24/2021

Construction plans for the No. 3 liquified gas terminal by the Central Petroleum Company near the coast of the Datan Borough, which is located in the Guanyin District of Taoyuan, has led environmental groups to call for a national referendum on the issue. But what has provoked a number of strong reactions among environmental groups in recent days is that the KMT has jumped onto supporting the referendum proposal...

EnglishEnvironmentalFebruary 2021Social Movements7 min read

KMT Begins to Call for Tsai Administration to Accept Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

Brian Hioe02/24/2021

The latest front on which the KMT has sought to attack the Tsai administration’s response to COVID-19 has been on the issues of vaccines...

EnglishFebruary 2021Politics10 min read

Jaw, KMT Traditionalists Likely to Align Against Chiang in KMT Chair Race

Brian Hioe02/22/2021

It proved surprising last week when current KMT chair Johnny Chiang was named to the Time 100 Next 2021 list, a list of up-and-coming leaders named by Time Magazine. That is, the precise question facing Chiang is whether he will be consigned to irrelevance if he loses his reelection bid in the upcoming KMT chair election...

EnglishFeaturedFebruary 2021Politics8 min read

China Likely to Retaliate Against Asylum Measures to Assist Hongkongers

Brian Hioe02/21/2021

The Chinese government announced late last month that it would no longer accept the BNO passport as a valid travel document. This move was announced as retaliation to new provisions that would allow holders of BNO passports a path to UK citizenship...

EnglishFebruary 2021Politics7 min read

Recent Incidents Highlight Risks Faced by Migrant Workers

Jay Chen02/20/2021

Two recent incidents highlight the dangers facing migrant workers in Taiwan, pointing to lax legal regulation and how that has resulted in dangerous and inhumane working conditions for migrant workers...

EnglishFeaturedFebruary 2021LaborSocial Movements5 min read

Few Surprises in Lunar New Year Phone Call Between Biden and Xi, Comments by Tsai

Brian Hioe02/19/2021

Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke with newly inaugurated American president Joe Biden by telephone over the Lunar New Year in the first telephone call between the American and Chinese presidents to take place since the Biden administration came to power...

EnglishFeaturedFebruary 2021Politics5 min read

Minister of Health Suggests Vaccine Delay May Be Due to Chinese Interference

Brian Hioe02/17/2021

Taiwanese Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung stated during a radio interview with Hit FM this afternoon that plans to purchase five million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had possibly been blocked because of Chinese government interference...

EnglishFeaturedFebruary 2021Politics8 min read

ROC Framework Impedes Expansion of Transnational Gay Marriage to Cover Chinese Nationals

Brian Hioe02/15/2021

After draft legislation by the Judicial Yuan to expand the scope of transnational gay marriage, this has led the Mainland Affairs Council to state that it will research what legal options are available to allow for same-sex marriages between Taiwanese and Chinese...

EnglishFebruary 2021Politics6 min read

Despite Acquisition of Five Million Doses, Tsai Administration Will Still Face Questions on Vaccine Strategy

Brian Hioe02/10/2021

The Central Epidemic Command Center, which coordinates Taiwan’s response to COVID-19, has been increasingly questioned on the timeline for vaccine availability in past weeks...

EnglishFebruary 2021Politics8 min read

Arts/Culture

Review: Classmate Minus (同學麥娜絲)

Review: Little Big Women (孤味)

Review: Memories to Choke on, Drinks to Wash Them Down (夜香・鴛鴦・深水埗)

International

Biden Administration Surprises with Statement, Deployment of Carrier Group After Chinese Flyovers of Taiwan

Taiwan Policy for Biden Complicated by Last-Minute Nature of Lifting of Restrictions by Pompeo

What Now for Taiwan, After the Biden Inauguration?

Interviews

Interview: Simon Cheng (鄭文傑)

Interview: James Griffiths on The Great Firewall of China

Politics

KMT Begins to Call for Tsai Administration to Accept Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

Jaw, KMT Traditionalists Likely to Align Against Chiang in KMT Chair Race

China Likely to Retaliate Against Asylum Measures to Assist Hongkongers

Social Movements

February 2021

KMT Begins to Call for Tsai Administration to Accept Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

Jaw, KMT Traditionalists Likely to Align Against Chiang in KMT Chair Race

China Likely to Retaliate Against Asylum Measures to Assist Hongkongers

Few Surprises in Lunar New Year Phone Call Between Biden and Xi, Comments by Tsai

Minister of Health Suggests Vaccine Delay May Be Due to Chinese Interference

ROC Framework Impedes Expansion of Transnational Gay Marriage to Cover Chinese Nationals

Despite Acquisition of Five Million Doses, Tsai Administration Will Still Face Questions on Vaccine Strategy

China Signals More Direct Intervention in Hong Kong with New Measures

Datan Gas Terminal Development Proves Another Issue the DPP and KMT Have Traded Places On

KMT Begins to Call for Tsai Administration to Accept Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

Jaw, KMT Traditionalists Likely to Align Against Chiang in KMT Chair Race

KMT Begins to Call for Tsai Administration to Accept Chinese COVID-19 Vaccines

Jaw, KMT Traditionalists Likely to Align Against Chiang in KMT Chair Race

China Likely to Retaliate Against Asylum Measures to Assist Hongkongers