January 2018

Sit-In By EVA Flight Attendants Continues Into Third Day

An ongoing sit-in by EVA flight attendants, with several hundred EVA workers congregating outside EVA headquarters, continues the unionization drive in Taiwan’s airline industry most dramatically expressed in in the 2016 China Airlines strike, led by the Taoyuan Flight Attendant’s Union. EVA was one of the airlines which sought to unionize in the aftermath of the strike, despite that EVA has historically forbidden labor unions. The sit-in began on January 21st and has lasted for over 72 hours at this point...

Questions After Residential Eviction Near Songshan Airport

The demolition last week of the home of Guo Tai-Song, the head of the Songshan Airport Forced Eviction Self-Help Organization, has raised questions for some. However, despite the demolition occurring in the middle of winter, as compared to other cases of forced residential eviction cases in urban areas, the case has received less attention from Taiwanese activists...

Arrest Of Umbrella Movement Activists Is A Another Sign Of Political Repression

The arrest of leading Umbrella Movement figure Joshua Wong in Hong Kong, alongside other Umbrella Movement activists, probably surprises few. In particular, while Wong is currently out on bail from a six month jail sentence related to the Umbrella Movement, Wong was sent back to jail on a second set of charges, regarding Wong being held responsible for failing to comply with a police order to clear the Mong Kok encampment in Mong Kok...

Comments By Wang Ping-Chung In Global Times Provoke Outrage

Comments by Wang Ping-Chung of the New Party in an op-ed submitted by Wang to a Chinese state-run media outlet, the Global Times, have provoked outrage, due to Wang stating outright in the op-ed that “China cannot wait for unification". Wang, a prominent figure of the New Party, is currently under scrutiny due to charges that he operated a news outlet for China aimed at pro-unification views in Taiwan, with the aim of eventually developing an espionage network for China...

China Steps Up Attempts To Intimidate Taiwan Militarily

Recent moves by China suggest that China is stepping up military action aimed at intimidating Taiwan. This includes frequent incidents in which Chinese fighter planes have entered into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, the unilateral declaration by China of the M503 civilian flight route which would pass along the center of the Taiwan Straits, and sailing China’s sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, through the Taiwan Straits...