March 2023

Make-Up Work Days Lead to Backlash

There has been increased criticism of the make-up holiday system in Taiwan after a series of six-day works in the last two months. Current provisions specify that when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, the government moves the date of the holiday to create a long weekend, but then a Saturday in another week becomes a work day...

“Anti-War Working Group” Reproduces US-Centrism of Western Left, Fails to Consider Multipolar World

A recent press conference held by a number of senior left-wing scholars, calling for an “anti-war” stance for Taiwan, proved an exercise in not only naivete about China but profound US-centrism–that is, a preoccupation with the US and western powers and failure to see the world outside of a Euro-American framework...

Will Honduras Break Ties with Taiwan?

Honduran president Xiomara Castro surprised last week with a tweet announcing that she had instructed her country’s foreign ministry to begin the process of switching recognition to China. This would mean that Taiwan loses one of its diplomatic allies shortly before a planned trip to visit Central American allies by President Tsai Ing-wen, which would involve a stopover in the US. It is expected that Tsai will speak at the Hudson Institute and meet with US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy as part of this trip...

Deepfakes Present Issues for Legislation in Taiwan

DPP legislators Fan Yun and Kao Chia-yu held a press conference late last year to call for stronger action on the misuse of sexually explicit images, such as revenge porn, deepfakes, or images otherwise taken without consent and used for coercive purposes. The press conference was held jointly with civil societies such as the Judicial Reform Foundation, Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, and Garden of Hope Foundation, the latter two of which are prominent women’s groups in Taiwan. The press conference was to call for changes to a draft bill from the Executive Yuan on the issue...