Category: May 2018 | New Bloom Magazine

Poaching Of Diplomatic Allies Will Only Push Taiwan Further Away From China

Brian Hioe05/31/2018

News that Burkina Faso has broken ties with the Republic of China has provoked ire in Taiwan over China’s poaching of its few remaining diplomatic allies. Nevertheless, it is also important to note that the effects of such diplomatic poaching will probably accomplish the exact opposite of what China hopes it will do...

Cross StraitEnglishInternationalMay 20186 min read

Hong Kong-Taiwan Murder Case Complicated By Issues Of Sovereignty

Brian Hioe05/30/2018

A murder case from earlier this year involving a Hong Kong student murdered in Taiwan by her boyfriend, also from Hong Kong, may go unpunished due to legal loopholes regarding Taiwan’s lack of official recognition by Hong Kong and the lack of any extradition treaty. The case raises a number of issues that could affect relations between Hong Kong and Taiwan going forward...

EnglishMay 2018Politics6 min read

Backlash Against Reported Plans To Censor Chinese Books Shows High Value Placed On Free Speech In Taiwan

Brian Hioe05/28/2018

Reflexive anger from Taiwanese publishers after reports earlier this month by the United Daily News that the Ministry of Culture was planning on screening Chinese books allowed to be published in China shows in microcosm the dilemmas facing free speech in Taiwan. Yet this also shows why free speech is aggressively defended in Taiwan and unlikely to come under threat from the government anytime soon...

EnglishMay 2018Politics6 min read

Can The Trump-Kim Meeting Still Take Place?

Brian Hioe05/28/2018

Much uncertainty prevails about what will be next for the two Koreas seeing as, last week, American president Donald Trump called off a planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un originally slated to take place in Singapore on June 12th. Yet Trump now suggests the meeting could still take place. This raises broader questions for the region at large...

EnglishInternationalMay 2018Regional Tensions5 min read

Chinese Pressure Leads To Censorship Of Taiwanese Students’ Artworks In Australia

Brian Hioe05/27/2018

The decision by an Australian city council earlier this month to remove the words “Taiwan” and colors resembling those of the ROC flag from fish artwork on a bull statue in the city of Rockhampton in Central Queensland by Taiwanese-born high schoolers proves a telling incident...

EnglishInternationalMay 2018Regional Tensions6 min read

“499 Chaos” Has Roots In Low Salaries And Dominance Of “Big Three” Telecom Companies

Brian Hioe05/26/2018

The recent “499 Chaos” ultimately proves no laughing matter given that it has its roots in the poor salaries faced by Taiwanese and the dominance of major Taiwanese industries by a small number of powerful companies...

EnglishMay 2018Politics8 min read

The Broken Dreams Of Hong Kong’s Young: An Interview With Nora Lam, Director Of Lost In The Fumes

Jasmine Chan05/24/2018

Nora Lam is most recently the director of Lost in the Fumes, a documentary about Hong Kong localist Edward Leung. Lam has also worked on films including directing Midnight in Mong Kok and co-directing Road Not Taken. The following interview was conducted on May 9th by New Bloom editors Brian Hioe and Symin Chan during a visit by Lam to Taiwan...

EnglishInterviewsMay 201845 min read

Vague Attempts By Tsai To Pacify Taiwanese Activists?

Brian Hioe05/24/2018

As the two year anniversary of the Tsai administration taking power was on May 20th, recent comments by Tsai Ing-Wen on what she has accomplished to date in the two years of her presidency suggest that Tsai has not wholly abandoned attempts to keep the civil society groups that took public prominence after the Sunflower Movement happy...

EnglishMay 2018Politics5 min read

香港年輕世代的幻滅：專訪《地厚天高》導演林子穎

Jasmine Chan05/23/2018

林子穎導演近期的紀錄片作品《地厚天高》，主要拍攝香港本土派人士梁天琦。林子穎另有其他影像創作，執導《旺角黑夜》，並擔任《未竟之路》其中一位導演。  以下是破土成員詹斯閔與丘琦欣和她的訪談。...

InterviewsMay 2018中文7 min read

World Health Organization Sees Calls By Taiwan For Inclusion

Brian Hioe05/22/2018

As with past years, Taiwan’s lack of membership in the World Health Organization has become a matter of controversy again. Taiwan is currently blocked from participating in the World Health Organization and the WHO’s governing body, the World Health Assembly, due to Chinese pressure...

EnglishMay 2018Politics6 min read

Arts/Culture

Chinese Rapper Row Reveals Cross-Strait Dynamics

A Snapshot on Public Art: An Interview with Cal Y Canto Dance Group

Looking Back at “Olive It!: A Drag Cabaret in Support of Gazans”

International

In Response to Grey-Zone Tactics, Taiwanese Coast Guard Calls for Volunteers as Move Toward Transparency

Maritime Border Incidents Point to Conflicting Imperatives for Government

KMT and TPP Take Stand Against Proposed Motion on UN Resolution 2758

Interviews

緬甸華語報導最前線，專訪「邊境之眼」記者楊智強

Reporting on the Frontlines of Myanmar for the Chinese-Language World: An Interview with Border Eyes

“Trying to Gain More Autonomy in Our Narrative”: An Interview with René Hà on Stamped

Politics

Typhoon Holiday Leads to Partisan Contention

Taiwan Railways Union Contends Bonuses Paid as Vouchers

KMT, TPP Aim to Block Budget, Freeze Constitutional Court

Social Movements

May 2018

Poaching Of Diplomatic Allies Will Only Push Taiwan Further Away From China

Hong Kong-Taiwan Murder Case Complicated By Issues Of Sovereignty

Backlash Against Reported Plans To Censor Chinese Books Shows High Value Placed On Free Speech In Taiwan

Can The Trump-Kim Meeting Still Take Place?

Chinese Pressure Leads To Censorship Of Taiwanese Students’ Artworks In Australia

“499 Chaos” Has Roots In Low Salaries And Dominance Of “Big Three” Telecom Companies

The Broken Dreams Of Hong Kong’s Young: An Interview With Nora Lam, Director Of Lost In The Fumes

Vague Attempts By Tsai To Pacify Taiwanese Activists?

香港年輕世代的幻滅：專訪《地厚天高》導演林子穎

World Health Organization Sees Calls By Taiwan For Inclusion

Migrant Fishermen Forced to Stay Aboard Vessels During Typhoon

Typhoon Holiday Leads to Partisan Contention

緬甸華語報導最前線，專訪「邊境之眼」記者楊智強

In Response to Grey-Zone Tactics, Taiwanese Coast Guard Calls for Volunteers as Move Toward Transparency

Typhoon Holiday Leads to Partisan Contention

緬甸華語報導最前線，專訪「邊境之眼」記者楊智強

In Response to Grey-Zone Tactics, Taiwanese Coast Guard Calls for Volunteers as Move Toward Transparency

Taiwan Railways Union Contends Bonuses Paid as Vouchers