September 2021

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

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...

Sentencing of Pingtung Mayor Another Example of High-Level KMT Corruption

Pingtung mayor Lin Hsieh-sung and Pingtung city council speaker Hsiao Kuo-liang, both KMT members, were sentenced on corruption charges earlier this week by the Pingtung District Court. Lin was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Hsiao was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. Lin and Hsiao, who were both found guilty of violating the Anti-Corruption Act, will also be deprived of civil rights for the next three years, with Lin found guilty of 180 corruption-related charges...

Eric Chu Wins KMT Chair Race, With Chang Ya-Chung as Runner-up, Johnny Chiang Distant Third

Former New Taipei mayor and previous party chair Eric Chu was the winner of the KMT chair elections today. Chu was the clear winner, with 83,027 votes, or 45.96% of counted votes, at press time. However, what proves significant is that after Chu, Sun Yat-Sen School head Chang Ya-chung won the second highest number of votes, with 58,980 or 32.65% of votes. After Chang was current chair Johnny Chiang, who was running for re-election, with 33,604 or 18.6% of counted votes, and in last was former Changhua county magistrate Cho Po-yuan, with 5,037 votes, or 2.79%...

LGBTQ+ Groups Celebrate Ruling Against Surgery Requirement for Legal Gender Change

This morning at 10:00 AM the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights hosted a press conference regarding yesterday afternoon’s Taipei High Administrative Court ruling against regulations requiring proof of surgical intervention to change one’s legal gender. The historic ruling in favor of plaintiff Xiao E found existing legal gender change regulations to be unconstitutional. Assuming that this ruling does not get appealed, Xiao E will be able to change her legal gender and become Taiwan’s first transgender woman to do so without submitting proof of surgery...

Second KMT Chair Debate Sees Sharp Attacks Between Eric Chu, Chang Ya-Chung

The second KMT chair debate, which took place on September 18th, had five rounds. The first round consisted of opening comments, while the second round allowed candidates to field questions from a panel of commentators that they were allowed to choose from. The third round involved questions asked by a panel of media experts, the fourth round allowed for cross-examination between candidates, and the last round consisted of closing comments. The four candidates are current chair Johnny Chiang, former party chair and New Taipei mayor Eric Chu, Sun Yat-Sen School head Chang Ya-chung, and former Changhua magistrate Cho Po-yuan...