Timeline

Academics Call for Academia Sinica Name Change

Brian Hioe
Proposals for Academia Sinica to change its name have been floated several times in the past. For example, the idea came up in March 2020 in the Taiwanese legislature after the Chinese government sought to take credit for a virus reagent developed by Academia Sinica scientists to test for COVID-19. Since then, pan-Green lawmakers have continued calls for a name change on several occasions. The issue was floated again recently, however, after the circulation of a Chinese-language petition by two dozen Academia Sinica researchers...
EnglishOctober 2021Politics5 min read

Misleading Claims About Taiwan’s ADIZ Attempt to Blame Taiwan for Reacting to Chinese Air Incursions

Brian Hioe
Taiwan has seen a significant uptick in the number of incursions into its ADIZ by Chinese warplanes in the past week. In the five days from October 1st to October 5th, Taiwan saw 150 incursions. At the same time, one has seen the circulation of an unusual claim online—that Taiwan is, in fact, reporting flights that occurred over the Chinese mainland. It is indeed true that Taiwan’s ADIZ extends into the Chinese mainland. And so, this misinformation/disinformation claim mixes fact with falsehood to make it appear as though Taiwan is overreacting to the ADIZ incursions and suggests that Taiwan is simply ratcheting up tensions for its own purposes by playing the victim...
Cross StraitEnglishInternationalOctober 20217 min read

“Taiwan Agreement” Comments by Biden Lead to Confusion

Brian Hioe
US president Joe Biden raised eyebrows today after stating that he and Chinese president Xi Jinping had “agreed to abide by the Taiwan agreement”, following a phone conversation about China’s recent military actions with Chinese president Xi Jinping. Namely, there is no agreement between the US and Taiwan known as the “Taiwan agreement,” though Biden’s comments could be misleading, nor do the US and China share agreement on Taiwan’s status...
America and the Asia PacificEnglishInternationalOctober 20216 min read

Flag Removal in Swimming Competition Latest Incident Regarding Taiwan’s Participation in International Sporting Events

Brian Hioe
Many in Taiwan were surprised by a wave of support from international countries after the ROC flag was removed from the livestream of a swimming competition on Wednesday. This took place because of displeasure from Chinese authorities, who blocked the livestream because the ROC flag is not allowed to be shown in China...
EnglishOctober 2021Politics6 min read

Rally in Support of Hongkongers, Other Groups Facing Oppression from China Held to Mark Chinese National Day

Brian Hioe
Groups rallied today in front of the legislature to call attention to the Chinese government’s authoritarianism and to call on the Taiwanese government to take stronger action for Hongkongers in need of assistance. The rally took place today because October 1st is Chinese National Day...
EnglishOctober 2021Self-DeterminationSocial MovementsYouth Movements7 min read

Manichaeism with Chinese Characteristics: A Look Back on the “China and the Left” Conference

Brian Hioe
The Qiao Collective, Monthly Review, and People’s Forum came together to hold a conference on the topic of “China and the Left” on September 18th in New York City, an event featuring such luminaries of the tankie left ranging from Max Ajl to Mark Tseng Putterman and Vijay Prashad. Reportedly around 150 were in attendance, though many hundreds more attended online by livestream, and videos of the event accumulated thousands of views in the days afterward...
EnglishSelf-DeterminationSeptember 2021Social MovementsYouth Movements46 min read